If you rent a shop, salon chair, studio, kitchen unit or small office in Birmingham, one line in the headlines this week could change your overheads. Reports ahead of the Autumn Budget on Wednesday 28 October 2026 say Chancellor John Healey is expected to raise the rateable value threshold for small business rates relief from £12,000 to £18,000. The Treasury has not confirmed it, and says tax decisions are for the Chancellor to set out at fiscal events. But if it happens, thousands of the smallest premises could stop paying business rates altogether.
For Black-owned businesses, this is worth understanding properly. Many of us trade from modest premises, fund growth from our own pockets and have had less access to outside capital. A fixed cost like business rates therefore bites harder, and a change that removes it matters more. Here is what has been reported, what is already available today, and how to get ready.
What Has Been Reported About Business Rates Relief
Let us be clear about what is fact and what is speculation.
- The reported plan: According to Morning Advertiser’s report on 19 October 2026, the Chancellor is expected to lift the small business rates relief threshold from £12,000 to £18,000 rateable value. Reports suggest this could take around 75,000 properties in England out of business rates, including roughly 2,600 pubs, 2,500 restaurants and 1,600 cafés.
- Conflicting figures: An earlier Business Matters report (19 September) said the threshold might instead rise to £17,096, which is the current figure uprated for inflation, and mentioned other options such as tapered relief for properties up to £20,000 and longer transitional relief.
- The official line: The Treasury declined to comment on the reports. Healey has said the Budget will give businesses “a bit of breathing space”.
- Start date: Not confirmed. Nothing is decided until the Budget is delivered.
Not everyone is impressed. Some pub and hospitality operators quoted by Morning Advertiser called the measure a “token gesture” or said VAT is their main tax problem. That is a fair reminder that rates relief helps the very smallest premises most, and larger sites with higher rateable values may see little change.
What You Can Claim Right Now
You do not need to wait for the Budget. Small business rate relief already exists in England, and plenty of eligible businesses never claim it.
Small business rate relief today
- If your property has a rateable value of £12,000 or less and it is your only property, you pay no business rates.
- From £12,001 to £15,000, the relief tapers gradually from 100% to 0%. For example, a rateable value of £13,500 gets 50% off.
- If you use more than one property, you may still qualify under the second-property rules. The relief on your main property can be kept for 12 months if you took the second property before 27 November 2025, and for 36 months if you took it on or after that date.
- Businesses with a rateable value below £51,000 who do not qualify still pay the lower small business multiplier, which is 43.2p in the pound from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027.
- If you lost some or all of your relief because of the 1 April 2026 revaluation, you may be eligible for supporting small business relief.
These details come from GOV.UK. To apply, you contact your local council, which in our case is Birmingham City Council (or Sandwell, Solihull, Dudley, Walsall or Wolverhampton if you trade elsewhere in the region). Birmingham’s own business rates pages list reliefs for small businesses, retail, hospitality and leisure, businesses facing large increases, and those in financial difficulty. If you think you are eligible but are not getting relief, contact the council and ask.
Check your rateable value
Your rateable value is set by the Valuation Office Agency, not the council. After the 2026 revaluation it may have changed. Check it on your business rates valuation account, and if it looks too high compared with similar premises nearby, you can challenge it. Many owners never look, so this is one of the cheapest wins available to you.
Why This Matters for Black Entrepreneurs Specifically
We are more likely to bootstrap
A Channel 4 and Clear Channel study published in February 2023 found that 56% of Black-owned businesses receive funding only after they have already built a successful business, compared with 35% of white-owned businesses. The same research found that Black-led businesses attract just 0.24% of total venture capital investment. When outside money arrives late or not at all, trading income pays for everything: stock, wages, marketing and premises costs. Every pound removed from fixed costs is a pound that can go into growth.
Many of us start young and start small
The same study found that 62% of Black and Multi-ethnic entrepreneurs started their businesses before the age of 30, and one in eight started as teenagers, twice the rate of white owners. Early-stage owners tend to rent small units and operate on thin margins, exactly the group that threshold changes are designed to reach.
Relief does not apply itself
Relief has to be claimed and kept up to date. If you started out in a smaller unit, moved premises, or took on a second space, your entitlement may have changed without anyone telling you. In a community where many people are running their first business without an accountant on retainer, missed relief can quietly cost thousands of pounds.
The Bigger Picture: Mood and Mentoring
This week’s business news is not only about the Budget. A Centre for Policy Studies poll of 500 businesses, reported by the CPA, found nearly six in ten believe the Government is not on their side, and more than half said tax and compliance burdens have risen since Labour took office. Uncertainty is making owners cautious.
There is a quieter finding too. Enterprise Nation’s report Mentoring Matters: Four Years On, which draws on 3,406 responses from seven surveys since spring 2023, found that 57% of small business owners have never had a mentor, rising to 63% among sole traders. Among those who do have a mentor, 53% expect to hire in the coming year, compared with 36% of those without. The same research found that around a third of owners have a second job, and many businesses start as a side hustle.
This is a general finding for all small businesses, not specific to Black owners, but it has particular weight for us. When capital is harder to reach, advice and connections become the resource you can still build. A mentor who has already been through a rates revaluation, a VAT registration or a tough Christmas can save you months of trial and error. Our community is rich in that experience.
Your Action Plan Before and After 28 October
This week
- Find your rateable value. It is on your business rates bill, and you can look it up on GOV.UK using your postcode.
- Check which relief you are getting. Look at your latest bill. If there is no relief line and your value is under £15,000, contact the council.
- Gather your paperwork. Have your lease or licence, your account reference number and details of any other premises to hand.
- Review your revaluation. If your bill rose in April 2026, ask whether you qualify for supporting small business relief or a transitional cap.
On Budget day
- Listen for whether the threshold rises, and to what figure (£17,096 or £18,000 are the two numbers in the reports).
- Check the start date, which has not been reported so far.
- See whether any tapered relief or longer transitional protection is included for premises just above the line.
- Look for other small business measures, such as changes to the marketplace VAT plan or the trading allowance.
After the Budget
- Re-run your numbers. Work out your annual saving and decide what it should fund: stock, a hire, marketing or a cash buffer.
- Tell your network. A barber who finds out they qualify should tell the salon next door.
- Find a mentor, or become one. Ask someone a few steps ahead of you to meet for coffee once a month, and make time for someone a few steps behind you.
Where to Get Help
- Birmingham City Council business rates team for relief applications and bill queries.
- GOV.UK for the official small business rate relief rules and the Valuation Office Agency service for challenging your rateable value.
- Business Growth West Midlands and other local business support services, which list free and funded events for businesses in our region. Check their current offer before relying on it.
- An accountant or adviser for how any change fits your wider tax position.
Conclusion
Nothing is certain until the Chancellor stands up on 28 October. But there is no reason to wait to find out whether you are already entitled to relief you are not receiving. For Black-owned businesses in Birmingham, where the funding gap means we rely on our own trading income more than most, controlling fixed costs is one of the few levers fully in our hands. Check your rateable value, claim what you are owed, prepare for the Budget and share what you learn.
This article is general information, not tax or legal advice. The measures described are reported plans, not law, and may change. Check GOV.UK or speak to a qualified adviser about your own circumstances.
Join the Conversation
Do you run a shop, salon, studio or restaurant in Birmingham? Have you ever claimed small business rate relief, or been surprised by a bill? Join the Black Owned Birmingham Facebook group and share your experience, ask questions and help another owner save money.
