Under the Local Government Finance Act 1988 we have a discretionary power to award up to 100% rate relief to businesses that are experiencing hardship. We'll only do this in exceptional circumstances.
To award hardship relief we have to be satisfied that:
- the ratepayer will suffer hardship if relief is not granted
- any hardship being experienced isn't a normal business risk or within the ratepayer’s control
- there's a direct benefit to the ratepayer, or the community, and there's no adverse impact to other ratepayers or the community as a result of awarding the relief
See our discretionary relief policy (from April 2016) or our previous discretionary relief guidelines (prior to April 2016) for more information.
How to apply
You can apply for hardship relief by filling in our online form.
You’ll also need to provide the following, which you can upload using our evidence upload form after submitting your claim:
- current and previous two years' audited accounts
- bank statements for the last three months
- income and expenditure over the last three months, if not covered in your audited accounts