In the Autumn Budget 2025, the Chancellor announced a series of business rates changes and new property tax measures that will reshape how businesses and some property owners are taxed over the next few years. For many organisations, the focus is on new business rates multipliers and reliefs. For individuals with high-value homes, a new High Value Council Tax Surcharge becomes an extra cost to factor into long-term plans. In addition, landfill tax is rising, which matters for waste-intensive sectors.
Below is a summary of the main announcements and what they could mean in practice.
New business rates multipliers for retail, hospitality and leisure
From 2026/27, the government will introduce permanently lower business rates multipliers for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These multipliers sit 5p below the national equivalents:
- The small business RHL multiplier becomes 38.2p.
- The standard RHL multiplier becomes 43p.
These cuts are designed to support smaller high-street and leisure businesses by reducing the effective rates bill per pound of rateable value.
However, larger properties will contribute more. For premises with rateable values of £500,000 and above, the government sets the multiplier at 2.8p above the national standard multiplier, giving a rate of 50.8p in 2026/27. Major retail, hospitality and leisure venues therefore shoulder a bigger share of the overall business rates bill.
Transitional relief and support for smaller businesses
To prevent sharp jumps in liability, the government is creating a three-year transitional relief scheme. This scheme covers some of the largest businesses, including airports and major hospitality operations, and phases higher bills in over time.
Alongside this, a supporting small business scheme helps the smallest businesses with rising bills. Crucially, the scheme expands to businesses that lose RHL relief, so they do not face an abrupt jump in their rates liability.
For ratepayers who receive neither transitional relief nor support under the small business scheme, there is an extra measure:
- The government adds a 1p transitional relief supplement for these ratepayers.
- This supplement applies for one year from 1 April 2026.
Taken together, these steps create a more layered business rates system, with targeted support for smaller and RHL businesses while larger and higher-value properties pay more.
Landfill tax: rate increases and frozen differential
The Budget also raises landfill tax from April 2026. The new rates are:
- Standard rate: £130.75 per tonne
- Lower rate: £8.65 per tonne
Although both rates increase, the gap between the two rates stays the same. In other words, the incentive to divert waste from the standard rate to qualifying lower-rate material remains, even as the absolute cost of landfill rises.
Consequently, businesses that send significant volumes of waste to landfill – for example, in construction, manufacturing and waste management – will see higher disposal costs and may be encouraged to invest more in recycling and alternative waste strategies.
High Value Council Tax Surcharge (HVCTS)
From April 2028, the government introduces a High Value Council Tax Surcharge (HVCTS) in England. This charge applies to residential properties worth £2 million or more, based on updated valuations that identify homes above the threshold.
Key features are:
- The surcharge starts at £2,500 a year.
- For properties valued above £5 million, the charge rises to £7,500 a year.
- The surcharge falls on property owners, not occupiers.
- Local authorities collect the charge on behalf of central government.
This measure adds an extra layer of property tax for owners of the most valuable homes, sitting alongside standard council tax bands.
What these business rates changes mean for you
Overall, these business rates changes and property tax measures will not affect everyone equally, but clear patterns emerge:
- Smaller RHL businesses may benefit from lower multipliers and support schemes, even while bills rise elsewhere.
- Larger and high-value properties face higher effective rates through increased multipliers and the new HVCTS.
- Waste-intensive businesses will deal with higher costs as landfill tax rates increase.
- Owners of high-value residential property in England need to budget for an additional annual surcharge from 2028.
For a detailed breakdown of the Budget’s key components, you can view the full document here.