Research from Ryan, which recently acquired the global property tax business of Altus Group, showed London will foot 31.1% of the additional total business rates bill after losing support while the south-east will pay the next most of 15.4% while north-east will only pay 3.1%.
The slashing of business rates discounts for embattled high streets in England will cost an extra £1.03bn in tax for retail, leisure and hospitality firms.
The new tax demands means business discounts – which have fallen from 75% from 2023 to 2025 to just 40% in 2025-26 – for high street businesses will be cut from £2.41bn to £1.38bn.
140% rise
The breakdown on the business rates costs payable after losing a huge chunk of support in each area in England, according to Ryan, will be:
South-east - £157,849,097
East Midlands - £57,851,800
East of England - £105,124,850
London - £309,650,473
Yorkshire and The Humber - £71,410,525
South-west - £106,391,207
West Midlands - £77,578,650
North-west - £110,457,807
North-east - £31,456,916
Total - £1,027,771,325
Ryan property tax expert Alex Probyn said: “The upshot is that the average shop, pub or restaurant will see their business rates bill rise by 140% in less than a month and that will disproportionately affect small and independent businesses across sectors already struggling.”
Breaking down the costs within London, Westminster will face the largest business rates increase of £45.3m through the cut to the discount followed by those businesses in Camden, home to Sir Kier Starmer’s Holborn and St Pancras constituency, which will lose £24.3m through the cut.
Tsunami of other costs
The cost of the business rates discount cut during 2025-26’s 10 biggest losers by council area in England are:
Westminster - £45,249,958
Camden - £24,305,584
Kensington & Chelsea - £23,579,365
Birmingham - £20,368,628
Tower Hamlets - £17,111,115
North Yorkshire - £16,498,921
Manchester - £15,953,741
Cornwall UA - £15,270,965
Liverpool - £13,801,485
Newham - £12,305,124
Probyn added: “This comes on top of a tsunami of other rising costs making it a complex and challenging environment to operate within.”
Inflationary pressures are rising, higher employer national insurance contributions, higher national living wage, and a new packaging levy all come into effect on 1 April.
Ryan estimates councils across England will raise £27.8bn in business rates income for the 2025-26 financial year, up 5.7% from £26.3bn during 2024-25 with two thirds of that increase coming from the cut in the discount for retail, leisure and hospitality firms.
Business rates are devolved to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.