Business rates for warehouses: GIA, eaves height, yards and empty relief

How is a warehouse's rateable value worked out?

The VOA collects rents paid for your warehouse and similar units nearby, works out a price per square metre, and multiplies it by the gross internal area. It also takes account of the unit's size, age, location, land and features such as eaves height and heating.

Your rateable value (RV) is the VOA's estimate of what your warehouse would have let for on the open market, per year, on 1 April 2024. That is the valuation date for the rating list that started on 1 April 2026. It assumes the unit is vacant, in reasonable repair and let on terms where the tenant pays repairs, insurance and rates.

Warehouses, factories and workshops sit in local valuation schemes with similar industrial property. The VOA's guidance lists the things it considers:

• Size: the floor area, measured to GIA.
• Age: an older unit with a lower specification is not worth the same per m² as a modern one.
• Location: where the unit is, compared with the other units in the scheme.
• Land: yards, external storage and parking that come with the building.
• Features: the VOA names eaves height and heating as examples.

The price per m² is multiplied by the floor area, and some items (plant and machinery, car parking and land) may appear as separate lines in the calculation. Your summary valuation on GOV.UK shows how the figure was built up, which is the first thing to look at if your bill seems high.

What does gross internal area include for a warehouse?

Gross internal area is the floor area measured to the inside face of the perimeter walls on each floor. Unlike the net internal area used for shops and offices, it includes internal walls and partitions, columns, stairwells, lift shafts and entrance halls. It leaves out the thickness of the outside walls, external projections, canopies and open-sided external walkways.

The difference between GIA and NIA matters when you are reading a warehouse valuation. On an office valuation you might spot columns or stairwells that should have been left out (see our guide to business rates for offices). On a warehouse, those areas count. The useful checks are different:

Practical points for warehouses:

• Canopies and loading areas outside the building line are not part of the GIA. If a covered loading area has been added to the floor area, query it.
• Measurements are to the inside of the outside walls, so an area taken from external dimensions or a site plan may be too big.
• Floor levels: the VOA treats the floor at street level as the ground floor.
• Extensions and demolitions: make sure the area reflects the building as it is, not as it was before you took down a lean-to or added a bay.

How are the offices, mezzanines and yard in a warehouse treated?

A warehouse valuation is often split into parts, such as the warehouse floor, any offices within it, mezzanine floors and the land outside. Each part can be described and valued differently, so the descriptions and areas in your summary valuation should match how the unit is actually built.

Most warehouses are not one empty box. The VOA's check guidance for factories, workshops and warehouses picks out several parts it wants to know about.

Offices inside the unit

A warehouse with a two-storey office block at the front is usually described as warehouse space plus office space. Changing how you use an area does not automatically change how the VOA values it: if you start using an office as storage, it will still be described and valued as an office unless you have made physical alterations, such as to the quality of the finish. If you have stripped out an office and it is now plain storage, send photos showing the change with your check.

Mezzanine floors

Mezzanines are recorded, and the space underneath may be described as an "area under supported floor". If you have removed a mezzanine, the VOA asks you to say what the space underneath is now used for, for example a workshop or an office. If a mezzanine still appears in your valuation after it has gone, or the recorded area is bigger than the one you have, raise it in a check.

Yards, land and parking

Land is one of the factors the VOA considers for industrial property, and land and car parking may be shown separately in the calculation. Check that:

• the yard or land included is land you actually occupy, not shared estate roads or another tenant's area;
• land you have given up, or that has been built on, has been taken out. The VOA asks what happened to the area, with plans or photos, and if you rent and do not know, your landlord's details;
• parking spaces match your lease, and are not counted twice, once in the main valuation and again as a separate entry.

Does plant and machinery affect business rates on a warehouse?

It can. Some plant is reflected in the price per m², such as heating and air conditioning, and other items may be valued separately. Only plant covered by the Plant and Machinery Regulations is included in the rateable value, and the VOA asks occupiers to report missing or incorrect items.

Industrial property is where plant and machinery comes up most. The VOA describes plant and machinery as equipment a business uses for its operations and keeps for long-term use, not the land and buildings themselves and not stock bought or made for sale. To be part of the rateable value, an item has to fall within the current Plant and Machinery Regulations.

Items the VOA lists as commonly found in factories, workshops and warehouses, with what it wants to know about each:

Heating: say whether the unit is fully or partly heated and, if partly, which areas, for example a gas-fired space heater in the warehouse and storage heaters in the offices. Free-standing plug-in heaters do not need to be declared. A warehouse recorded as fully heated when only the offices are heated is worth checking.

Seeing what plant is recorded: the plant and machinery details may not all be in the summary valuation. The VOA's guidance says you can request them by emailing [email protected] with the subject "DVR - P&M only".

How much are business rates on a warehouse? Worked examples

Multiply the rateable value by the multiplier, then take off any reliefs. A warehouse with an RV of £120,000 in England pays the 48p multiplier in 2026/27: £120,000 × 0.48 = £57,600 a year before reliefs. A large distribution unit with an RV of £500,000 or more pays the higher 50.8p multiplier.

The prices per m² below are made-up figures for illustration, not real rates for any area. They show how the area and the multiplier band drive the bill.

On a big unit, small differences add up. If the 2,000 m² unit had been measured at 1,900 m², the RV would be £114,000 and the England bill £54,720. On the large unit, a property just over £500,000 pays 50.8p on its whole RV rather than 48p, so it is worth being sure the area and land behind that figure are right.

A small industrial unit with an RV of £30,000 in England would pay the small business multiplier: £30,000 × 0.432 = £12,960. Warehouses do not get the retail, hospitality and leisure multipliers. The legal definition used for those multipliers expressly excludes storage and distribution for online sales.

2027/28: at the Budget on 28 October 2026 the government announced multipliers due from 1 April 2027 of 44.7p (small business), 49.7p (standard) and 52.5p (high-value, RV £500,000+), subject to regulations. On the examples above that would be £59,640 and £315,000 before reliefs.

You can try your own figures in the business rates calculator.

Do you pay business rates on an empty warehouse?

Not at first. In England an empty warehouse usually gets 3 months free of business rates from when it becomes empty, plus a further 3 months because it is industrial, so 6 months in total. After that, full rates are normally charged. Wales also gives 6 months for industrial property.

Warehouses often sit empty between tenants, so the empty rules matter more than for many property types.

England

• 6 months for industrial premises such as warehouses (3 months plus a further 3), starting from when the property becomes empty. Offices and shops get 3 months.
• Listed buildings and properties with an RV under £2,900 are relieved until they are reoccupied.
• After the relief ends, the owner normally pays full rates. Empty properties are charged on the ordinary multipliers (43.2p, 48p or 50.8p depending on RV).
• Tell your council when the unit becomes empty and ask whether you qualify for extended relief.

Wales

• 3 months, or 6 months if classified as industrial. To qualify, the property must have been occupied for more than 26 weeks immediately beforehand; shorter periods of occupation are ignored.
• No empty rates on listed buildings, scheduled monuments, properties with an RV under £2,600, or where occupation is prohibited by law, among other exemptions.
• From 1 April 2026 you must tell the council within 60 days when a property becomes empty or occupied, or when you become the ratepayer. There is a £500 penalty for not doing so.

Partly empty units and works

• Partly empty: if part of the warehouse is empty for a short time, councils in England and Wales have discretion to give relief on the empty part. Ask your council whether it does this.
• Repairs or refurbishment: if the building cannot be used because of works, tell the VOA through your business rates valuation account. If it decides the unit cannot be used, you will not pay business rates until it can.
• Disrepair: as a rule disrepair does not reduce the RV, because the valuation assumes reasonable repair. The exception is where repairs would be uneconomic for a reasonable landlord. The VOA's own example is that the expected standard of repair for an old warehouse is much lower than for a modern office.

What business rates reliefs can a warehouse get?

Warehouses are not retail, hospitality or leisure, so they do not get the lower RHL multipliers. Small units may qualify for small business rate relief, and transitional relief or supporting small business relief may limit increases after the 2026 revaluation. Improvement relief, enterprise zone and freeport relief can also apply in some cases.

• Small business rate relief (England): for occupied properties with an RV under £15,000, usually where the business has only one property. An RV of £12,000 or less means nothing to pay; between £12,001 and £15,000 the relief tapers. Small starter units are where this most often applies.
• Small business rates relief (Wales): 100% up to an RV of £6,000, tapering to nothing at £12,000, for up to two properties per business in each council area.
• Transitional relief (England): caps how fast a bill can rise after the 2026 revaluation, applied automatically by the council. For an RV over £100,000 the cap is 30% in 2026/27. Wales phases increases over £300 instead.
• Supporting small business relief (England): for ratepayers whose bill rose at the 2026 revaluation and who lost some or all of their small business rate relief or certain other reliefs.
• Improvement relief (England): one year of relief for improvements completed on or after 1 April 2024 that increase the RV and either add floor space or add features such as heating, air conditioning or CCTV, where you occupy the property during and after the works.
• Enterprise zones and freeports: some industrial sites are in an enterprise zone or freeport tax site where relief may be available. Ask your council whether your site qualifies.

Most reliefs are given by the council, not the VOA. If you think you are missing one, contact the council that sends your bill.

What errors are common in warehouse valuations?

Areas that do not match the building, mezzanines or offices that have been removed, heating recorded for the whole unit when only part is heated, plant that is no longer there, and land or parking that is not yours or is counted twice are all worth looking for.

Go through your summary valuation with your lease plan, a measured survey if you have one, and a walk round the unit. Things worth checking:

1. Floor area: is it GIA to the inside of the outside walls, without canopies or external loading areas?
2. Descriptions: is each part described as it is now (warehouse, office, workshop), and do the office areas still exist?
3. Mezzanines: are listed mezzanines still there, and are their areas right?
4. Eaves height and specification: does the VOA's record of eaves height and heating match the building as it is?
5. Plant: request the plant details if they are not shown and check that removed cranes, compressors or tanks are not still recorded.
6. Land and parking: is the yard area the land you occupy, and is parking counted only once?
7. Comparables: use "Find a business rates valuation" on GOV.UK to compare the price per m² with similar units of a similar age and size nearby.

When is it worth challenging a warehouse's rateable value?

It may be worth a check if the floor area, mezzanines, yard, heating or plant recorded for your warehouse looks wrong, if similar units nearby have a lower price per m², or if something outside your control is affecting the property. You can check and challenge free yourself, or a rating surveyor can do it for you.

On larger units even a modest error in area or specification can make a noticeable difference, and on a unit close to the £500,000 line it can decide which multiplier applies. Reasons warehouse occupiers commonly look again include:

• Factual errors such as the ones listed above.
• Assessment errors: two units you occupy as one that have separate RVs, or the other way round, or a yard shared with neighbours included in yours.
• Material change of circumstances: changes outside the property that affect its value, such as the reconstruction or demolition of a neighbouring property or long-term disruptive roadworks. If the issue is temporary, report it while it is still happening.

The process is Check, then Challenge, then Appeal, through your business rates valuation account. A check corrects the facts, with plans and photos as evidence, and you must make one before you can challenge. A challenge generally has to be made within 4 months of the check decision and needs your reasons, evidence, a proposed rateable value and rent details, including rent-free periods. The RV can go up, down or stay the same. Our step-by-step guide to challenging business rates covers the deadlines.

You can do all of this yourself at no cost. Some warehouse occupiers use a rating surveyor instead, because surveyors know local industrial rents, how plant and land are dealt with and the evidence the VOA expects. Fees are agreed directly with the surveyor.

Related guides

Business rates for warehouses: frequently asked questions

Sources

We checked the facts on this page against these official sources on 11 November 2026:

• How factories, workshops and warehouses are valued for business rates (GOV.UK)
• Helping you make a Check for factories, workshops and warehouses (GOV.UK)
• How non-domestic property is valued (GOV.UK)
• Business rates relief (GOV.UK)
• Repair and rateable value (GOV.UK)
• Empty property rates relief (Business Wales)

This guide is general information for properties in England and Wales, not advice. Business Rates Hub is an independent guide. We are not your council, the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) or any government service. You can check and challenge your rateable value yourself, free of charge, through the government's business rates valuation account.

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