Charity relief

Charity 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)
• registered amateur sports clubs
• organisations which do not have to register with the Charities Commission (if the property is being totally or mainly used for charitable purposes).

 The property must be occupied by the charity or club and wholly or mainly used for the charitable purposes of the charity (or that and other charities), or the purposes of the club (or that and other clubs). In these cases, we will reduce the business rates by 80%.

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

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

Charity relief application form  (pdf)

Ways to contact us about business rates