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Further Education: Business Rates

Asked by Damian HindsConservativeTreasuryTabled Answered 10 March 2026UIN 116733

The question

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the change in business rates liability for the further education college sector in 2026/7 relative to 2024/5.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson

At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since the pandemic, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties as they recover from the pandemic.

In recognition of the impact of the revaluation on bills, the Government introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion, to protect against ratepayers seeing large overnight increases in bills. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down next year. This also means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.

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