Businesses across England will face a £2.5bn increase in property taxes from April 2026, as inflation and a new government levy combine to raise business rates bills, according to analysis by global tax firm Ryan.
A nationwide revaluation of business rates will take effect from 1 April 2026, resetting rateable values to reflect the property market at 1 April 2024. Revaluations are revenue neutral at a national level meaning the overall tax take remains broadly unchanged, with bills redistributed between sectors and regions depending on relative rental performance.
However, even in a revaluation year, the total business rates yield rises in line with inflation. Each September, the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) sets the increase for the following financial year. Earlier this month, the Bank of England cut interest rates for the fifth time this year but warned that climbing food prices would push inflation higher in 2025.
The bank now forecasts CPI at 4% in September 2025, up from a previous estimate of 3.75% and 3.8% in the 12 months to July 2025. That increase alone would add £1.11bn to the business rates burden in England according to analysis by Ryan.
On top of this, from April 2026 the Government will introduce a supplementary multiplier of up to 10p on properties with a rateable value above £500,000 estimated to affect 17,000 properties nationwide.
This measure is designed to fund permanently reduced multipliers for retail, hospitality and leisure premises but, in practice, transfers the £1.38bn annual cost of current high street discounts from the Exchequer onto larger ratepayers.
The 2026 revaluation, including the final level of the multipliers, will be confirmed in the Autumn 2025 Budget, ahead of bills landing the following spring.
Alex Probyn, practice leader of Property Tax, Europe and Asia-Pacific, at global tax firm Ryan, said: “With the UK already having the highest property taxes in the developed world, this £2.5bn increase risks undermining the UK’s competitiveness at a critical time for the economy.”