Citation, application and commencement

1. This Order, which applies to England only, may be cited as the Non-Domestic Rating (Small Business Rate Relief) (England) (Amendment) Order 2009 and shall come into force on 1st April 2009.

Amendments to the Non-Domestic Rating (Small Business Rate Relief) (England) Order 2004

2. For the purposes of applications under section 43(4B)(a)(iii) of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 in relation to financial years beginning on or after 1st April 2009, the Non-Domestic Rating (Small Business Rate Relief) (England) Order 2004(2) is amended as follows.

Maximum rateable value to be eligible for small business rate relief

3. Article 2 is omitted.

Conditions for relief

4. In article 3–

(a) for paragraph (3) substitute–

"(3) The second condition is that the rateable value of the hereditament as shown in the local non-domestic rating list for the chargeable day is not more than–

(a) for a hereditament situated in Greater London, £21,499;

(b) for a hereditament situated outside Greater London, £14,999."; and

(b) in paragraph (6)(c) for "article 2" substitute "paragraph (3)".

Amount of E

5. In article 6(1)(c), for "article 2" substitute "article 3(3)".

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order removes the requirement that, to be eligible for small business rate relief, a ratepayer must occupy a hereditament with a rateable value of no more than £21,499 in Greater London, or £14,999 outside Greater London, on the first day of each financial year in which relief is sought. It does this by amending the Non-Domestic Rating (Small Business Rate Relief) (England) Order 2004, which prescribes the conditions for entitlement to small business rate relief.

This Order also makes consequential amendments to the 2004 Order so that the rateable value of the hereditament in respect of which a ratepayer is seeking relief must still be no more than £21,499 in Greater London, or £14,999 outside Greater London, on every day for which relief is actually sought.

The amendments made by this Order apply for the purposes of applications for small business rate relief in respect of days in the financial year which begins on 1st April 2009 and subsequent financial years.

A full impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is available from the Department for Communities and Local Government´s Business Rates and Valuation Division (telephone 020 7944 4224) and is annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum which is available alongside the instrument on the OPSI website (www.opsi.gov.uk).