Non-Domestic Rating – Revaluation 2026

All non-domestic properties, other than those excluded by legislation, will be revalued on 01 April 2026. This means that the fourteen Assessors across Scotland, including the Orkney & Shetland VJB will set new Net Annual and Rateable Values for all such non-domestic properties in their areas based on rental levels as at 01 April 2025. non-domestic properties in their areas based on rental levels as at 01 April 2025. This continues the pattern of three-yearly revaluations designed to ensure rateable values more accurately reflect market trends and avoid the dramatic variations sometimes associated with longer revaluation periods.

 

The combined draft Valuation Rolls will be published on the Scottish Assessors Association’s website (www.saa.gov.uk) on 30^th November 2025. Draft valuation notices specific to the subject will be sent to proprietors, tenants, or occupiers on or before 30 November 2025 and will detail the Net Annual and Rateable Value provisionally set to take effect from 01 April 2026. Valuation notices will then be sent by your assessor on or before 15 March 2026, and these will contain the final Rateable Value (which may be different from the 'draft' value) that non-domestic rates bills will be based on. Draft and final valuaion notices are not rates bills which will be issued by the relevant billing authority after publication of the final valuation roll on 01 April 2026.

 

If a ratepayer believes a draft valuation notice is wrong, they can contact their local assessor and explain why the rateable value is wrong. This is known as making representations and the assessor may adjust the rateable value based upon the information given to them. The draft valuation notice contains information on how to contact the relevant Assessor's office should this be required. Once the final valuation roll is published, ratepayers can submit a proposal if a valuation is considered inaccurate although this will need to be done in a prescribed form and within a specific timeframe.

 

Ratepayers also have the option of entering into discussions with Assessors to pre-agree the Valuation Roll entries for which they have an interest. The aim of prior agreement is to give certainty of value and billing over the three years of the revaluation. The window for engagement is now open until 20 February 2026 and interested parties are invited to contact their local assessor for more information.

 

It is important that ratepayers contemplating appointing a rating agent to act on their behalf select a reputable one. Appointing an advisor who is a member of a professional body may provide extra reassurance as they will be subject to that body's rules and regulations. Membership of Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), Institute of Revenues, Rating and Valuation (IRRV) or Rating Surveyors' Association (RSA) will most likely provide such reassurance.

 

Non-domestic rates bills are sent by the relevant billing authority who will use the final Rateable Value to arrive at the bill for the financial year 2026/27. Bills are calculated by multiplying the Rateable Value by a rate set by the Scottish Government known as the ‘poundage’. Information on billing and reliefs can be found at www.gov.scot/policies/local-government/non-domestic-rates/