Charitable and discretionary relief

Business rates fact sheet

Organisations whose main aims are charitable, educational, religious, recreational, social welfare, literary or concerned with the fine arts may qualify for charity relief.

There are two types of relief - mandatory and discretionary.

We give mandatory relief to charities (or the trustees of a charity) or to organisations which do not have to register with the Charities Commission (if the property is being totally or mainly used for charitable purposes). In these cases, we will reduce the business rates by 80%.

Since April 2008 discretionary relief will only be given to the following:

• Hammersmith & Fulham tenants and residents associations, that are charities can be considered for 'top up relief' at 20%, where they provide beneficial services to borough residents
• non profit-making Hammersmith & Fulham tenants and residents associations, that are not charities but provide beneficial services to borough residents, can be considered for discretionary relief at 100% 
• Hammersmith & Fulham voluntary aided schools, that are charities can be considered for 'top up relief ' at 10%, where they provide beneficial services to borough residents  

If you would like to claim charity relief, please telephone 020 8753 1542 to ask for an application form.