MHCLG has published interesting data on the number of charity properties receiving mandatory (93,247) & discretionary (27,373) business rate relief, in England, in 2019.

It also breaks it down by billing authority. The data identifies the local authorities that have the most charity properties entitled to mandatory business rates relief, with the top five being Cornwall, Birmingham, Westminster, Leeds and Wiltshire.

It is also possible to rank billing authorities by the percentage of properties eligible for mandatory rates relief (80%) that also receive discretionary rates relief (20%). Basingstoke, Wirral, Dudley, Cheshire West and Fareham make up the top 5. 71/316 billing authorities gave discretionary relief in 50% of cases, in 2019.

By contrast 15 local authorities award no discretionary rates relief to charities at all including Plymouth, Oxford, Croydon, Newham, Reading and Southampton. This highlights again the postcode lottery of discretionary rates relief for charities.

You can review the data and assess how well your billing authorities rank using CTG’s charitable rates table (England, 2019).