This briefing paper provides an overview of recent planning policy news and recent / emerging consultations or changes within the Central London boroughs, as well as updates from the Mayor of London and the Government in relation to the capital.

Q3 Planning Policy Headlines

• The GLA has reopened a further period of consultation on Towards a New London Plan, covering policies on housing, employment, transport, and open space, open until 2 November 2025.
• The Draft Camden Local Plan was submitted to the Planning Inspector on 3 October 2025 for examination, which is likely to be ongoing over the coming months, with adoption expected for Winter 2026.
• Westminster City Council have published all representations regarding the proposed Main Modifications to the City Plan Partial Review, with adoption expected later this year. Further Retrofit guidance has been published for consultation to support the new policy.
• Westminster City Council has opened a ‘Call for Sites’ (open until 20 November 2025) for locations that can deliver 50+ homes, 2,500 sqm of commercial floorspace, qualifying mixed-use schemes, or infrastructure identified in its Infrastructure Delivery Plan, to help them produce the new City Plan.
• LB Wandsworth have completed Regulation 19 consultation and independent examination for the Local Plan Partial Review, which will be subject to public hearings in November 2025.

Click below to read the update in full.

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The research uses the established benchmark of the Quarterly MSCI UK Property Index, which contains £24.8bn of retail properties, £26.8bn of offices and £40.7bn of industrial & logistics. This provides valuation-based estimates of market rental growth, broken down by segment and location, over the three years to 1 April 2024 by sector.

The segments show very divergent patterns, a result of the impact of various broader movements on the differing property markets and geographies. In broad terms, logistics, driven by the growth of online retail and the move to greater inventories, has seen very strong rental growth; offices has seen positive, but very modest growth (behind inflation); and retail is still falling, albeit modestly and with a divergence between a relatively robust out-of-town and a more troubled in-town segment.

Within the following pages, we do not address likely value movement for properties valued with reference to build cost or profit (and this range of properties is extensive) however, we do anticipate:

Properties valued with reference to their land and build costs – likely to see above-inflationary increases reflecting a number of factors, primarily:

• Build costs, which according to BCIS have risen by approximately 19% over the three-year period since the last Revaluation
• Labour costs, where the Office for National Statistics points to a growth of 15-20% across the period

Properties valued with reference to their profitability – often linked to properties with a high degree of public interaction, 2021 values frequently reflected Covid restrictions and consequential trading impact. April 2024 values will reflect the post-Covid bounce back, which is likely to mean significant increases for many.

Forecasting liability

Understanding rateable value and multiplier movement is critical in forecasting likely movement in liability at individual property and portfolio levels.

The VOA will publish the Draft Rating List in late 2025, which will be the first time it publicly reveals its views on value levels at a local, regional and national level.

Until this stage, it is not possible to predict individual property values accurately. Instead, the following pages provide greater clarity in respect of likely trends in regional and national value movement and consequential rate multipliers using averages across a broad range of properties.

In summary, we forecast an overall weighted increase in value of 9.1% across the prime property classes: office, retail and industrial & logistics.

Notwithstanding the above, we anticipate that the overall % growth in the aggregate rateable value included in the Rating List to be greater than this, reflecting additional sectors not listed above and specifically those valued with reference to their build cost or profitability. As a result, we estimate that the overall increase will be in the range of 12.5%-15%.

The conclusions of our research are explored in more detail on the following pages.

Rate Multiplier

The current standard multiplier is 55.5p/£ (49.9p/£ where the RV is less than £51,000).

The Revaluation will rebase the multiplier to reflect national movement in rateable values.

The general principle in resetting the multiplier is that other than to reflect inflation, the process should be revenue neutral, ie Treasury collecting the same amount in real terms in 2026/7 as they had in 2025/6 (the last year of the 2023 Rating List).

Assuming an overall increase in Rateable Value of say 15% and reflecting current CPI inflationary levels we are predicting a standard rate multiplier of approximately 50p.

It is important to note that lower multipliers currently exist for properties with RVs below £51,000 and individual property liabilities will be impacted by reliefs and supplements; for 2026 there will be the added complication of differential multipliers.

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First, understand where your assessment might move to. Although draft values will not be made public until autumn, a preliminary review before then can highlight areas of likely concern.

Second, explore early opportunities to mitigate. Ideally, the system should not be complicated by reliefs and differential multipliers, but in reality, ratepayers should make sure they make the best use of them to their own advantage.

Finally, it is more important than ever to ensure the facts upon which the Valuation Officer has based their assessment remain correct. Until such time as the planned ‘Duty to Notify’ of physical changes to the property or its tenure is widely introduced from April 2029, the potential remains for rateable value to be based on historic, incorrect data. Ratepayers would be well placed to review their current valuations and ensure the best starting point for future reviews

The system will continue to change. With further statutory reforms and duties planned, this pace is only set to increase. Challenging as it is, the more that businesses do now to get ahead, the more manageable the impact of these 2026 changes will be, both in terms of the accuracy of bills and the time to forecast, prepare and mitigate for their impact.

DOWNLOAD THE 2026 HANDBOOK

DOWNLOAD THE 2026 HANDBOOK

DOWNLOAD THE 2026 HANDBOOK

DOWNLOAD THE 2026 HANDBOOK

As always, liabilities may change as a consequence of the Revaluation and wider Government initiatives. While this is a perennial challenge, volatile changes in property values between valuation dates and the introduction of differential multipliers make this a far more difficult exercise when it comes to the 2026 Revaluation. A number of factors beyond ‘normal’ inflationary movements will impact value and liability from April 2026, including:

Post-Covid bounce-back

• Return to the office amid ongoing structural shifts, higher environmental standards and accelerated obsolescence in the wider market.
• Improved trading compared to April 2021, particularly relevant for properties valued with reference to their turnover/profit
• Changing consumer behaviours and an ongoing move away from the high street
• The continued strength of the industrial and logistics market, albeit slowing somewhat more recently

Government Initiatives

Throughout successive Revaluations, many ratepayers have been calling for reform. The retail community has been at the forefront of this, primarily through the British Retail Consortium which has lobbied for reduced liabilities and a rebalancing across different property sectors (away from retail).

Responding to this pressure, while seeking to maintain the value of the overall revenue stream in inflation-adjusted terms, the 2024 Autumn Budget saw the Chancellor announce differential rate multipliers linked to both property value and sector.

The Government has now legislated for this and its Bill provides for:

• Differential rate multipliers
• Reduced rates for retail, hospitality and leisure properties of up to 20p/£ (approx. 40%) where RV is below £500,000
• Reduced retail rates funded by increased multipliers for all properties where RV is equal or greater than £500,000, up to maximum of 10p (approx. 20%)

Treasury is now grappling with whether to implement a hard cut off at £500,000, whether to exclude certain properties (for example schools and hospitals), and where to set the discounts and supplements while achieving revenue neutrality.

The fine details of the new approach are anticipated in the Autumn 2025 Budget, less than six months from new liabilities going live.

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Government currently collects approximately £30 billion per year in business rates. This is predicted to rise to almost £40 billion by 2029, driven by a mix of inflationary growth, new properties entering the rating list and, importantly, a reduction in reliefs – particularly in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors. It is and will continue to be an important revenue stream for Government and therefore a key cost line for ratepayers.

Current business rates liabilities are based on the VOA’s opinion of rental values on 1 April 2021 (expressed as a Rateable Value – RV); these came into force two years later in April 2023 (the 2023 Revaluation). The 2026 Revaluation will rebase all Rating assessments, reflecting April 2024 market values; a process designed to ensure that rate liabilities are closely aligned to economic and occupational market conditions.

Next year’s Revaluation, which is expected to maintain similar revenue levels for Government rebased for inflation, has the potential to materially change ratepayer’s liabilities given the redistribution of burden across sectors and geographies.

Notwithstanding the above, we anticipate that the overall % growth in the aggregate rateable value included in the Rating List to be greater than this, reflecting additional sectors not listed above and specifically those valued with reference to their build cost or profitability. As a result, we estimate that the overall increase will be in the range of 12.5%-15%.

The conclusions of our research are explored in more detail on the following pages.

 

 

We created this handbook to help businesses navigate the upcoming 2026 Business Rates Revaluation with clarity and confidence.

Whether you’re a property owner, occupier, or advisor, this guide outlines what to expect from the revaluation process, how rateable values are assessed, and the practical steps you can take to prepare. Our aim is to ensure you’re well-informed and equipped to manage your business rates effectively.

Why Montagu Evans?

Established over one hundred years ago and operating nationally, Montagu Evans is one of the UK’s largest providers of Rating consultancy advice. Our 40-strong team prides itself on our longstanding client relationships and our reputation both within our market and amongst our peers. We are active contributors to key industry bodies, headed by Josh Myerson (Chair of the RICS Rating Diploma Section and Past President of the Rating Surveyors’ Association). Technical excellence is at the heart of how our partnership works. A significant number of our team are RICS Rating Diploma holders, the ‘gold-star’ qualification in rating practice and procedure, and both HM Treasury and the Valuation Office Agency seek our input on operational and policy matters.

NAVIGATING THE HANDBOOK

There are three ways to view the handbook:

1. Click the box below to open the PDF
2. Download the PDF within the above method and read in your own PDF viewer or by printing
3. View online by navigating the chapters

We hope you find this helpful, and if you have any further questions, talk to our experts here.

Although only three years since the last Rating Revaluation, April 2026’s new Rating List is expected to provide some dramatic changes in individual property valuations. This, together with fundamental changes in the approach to business rate multipliers, is likely to have a material impact on annual rate liability for many of the UK’s businesses.

Occupying or owning property is expensive, often one of the largest financial commitments for any business. Contentious and increasingly onerous, business rates remain a major and complex element of the overall cost of occupation.

From 1 April 2026, businesses are facing potentially large changes in this liability (both up and down), but with limited ability to plan ahead accurately. This impact can be serious: forecast too high and valuable resources will be diverted from growth/investment decisions; pitch too low and an unavoidable cost will sit in the corporate P&L.

This uncertainty is never welcome, especially in our current challenging global economic environment. The position will only be fully clear as we move toward the end of 2025, giving ratepayers less than six months to meaningfully prepare.

But anticipating future movement and thinking now about how to mitigate the potential impact can significantly support businesses’ forward planning.

With this in mind, Montagu Evans has undertaken a review of market activity to provide greater clarity on the likely direction of valuations.

This report provides a high-level view of how values and liabilities may be impacted and what businesses should do now to best prepare themselves before the end of March 2026.

It focuses on the three main property asset classes: retail, office and industrial & logistics. Impacts will vary considerably for each, reflecting not just the nature of each property but its location. The final details are yet to be confirmed, but some may benefit from falling rate liabilities, while others, particularly occupiers of larger properties, could see very significant increases.

We also include an overview of the Government’s timeline, background on the likely changes, advice from our sector experts and a checklist to help prepare.

On top of this, we would encourage businesses to speak to our business rates specialists to (a) better understand next year’s impact on their particular circumstances and (b) develop appeal strategies to identify and challenge liabilities at the earliest opportunity.”