Legalize / United Kingdom / Scotland / Scottish-Statutory-Instrument

The Non-Domestic Rates (Levying and Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2026

Type Scottish-Statutory-Instrument

Publication 2026-02-10

State In force

Jurisdiction Scotland

Department King's Printer for Scotland

Source legislation.gov.uk

Reform history JSON API PDF

Made: 10th February 2026

Laid before the Scottish Parliament: 12th February 2026

Coming into force: 1st April 2026

The Scottish Ministers make the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by section 153 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994[^f00001] and all other powers enabling them to do so.

PART 1 — General

Citation and commencement

1

These Regulations may be cited as the Non-Domestic Rates (Levying and Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2026 and come into force on 1 April 2026.

PART 2 — Levying Regulations

Interpretation of Part 2

2

In this Part—

“the 1962 Act” means the Local Government (Financial Provisions etc.) (Scotland) Act 1962[^f00002],

“the 1966 Act” means the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1966[^f00003],

“the 1975 Act” means the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1975[^f00004],

“the 1997 Act” means the Local Government and Rating Act 1997[^f00005],

“the 2022 Order” means the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022[^f00006],

“the 2022 Regulations” means the Non-Domestic Rates (Relief for New and Improved Properties) (Scotland) Regulations 2022[^f00007],

“the 2025 Regulations” means the Non-Domestic Rates (Levying and Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2025[^f00008],

“the 2026 Regulations” means the Non-Domestic Rates (Transitional Relief) (Scotland) Regulations 2026[^f00009],

“advertisement” means a sign, placard, board or device, whether illuminated or not, used wholly or mainly for the purpose of advertisement,

“agricultural landholding” has the meaning given in section 1(1) of the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 1991[^f00010],

“betting” means making or accepting a bet on— the outcome of a race, competition or other event or process, the likelihood of anything occurring or not occurring, or whether anything is true or not,

“betting intermediary” means a person who provides a service designed to facilitate the making or acceptance of bets between others,

“croft” has the meaning given in section 3(1) of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993[^f00011],

“cumulative rateable value” means the total rateable value of all lands and heritages in respect of which an individual ratepayer is liable to pay rates,

“electric vehicle charging point” means a device intended for charging a vehicle that is capable of being propelled by electrical power derived from a storage battery (or for discharging electricity stored in such a vehicle),

“lands and heritages” has the meaning prescribed by and under section 42 of the Lands Valuation (Scotland) Act 1854[^f00012],

“parking place” means a place where vehicles may wait,

“part residential subjects” has the meaning prescribed by and under section 99(1) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992[^f00013],

“payday lending” means, in the course of a business involving lending, the making of, or advertising the availability of, loan agreements in relation to which the credit provided is to be repaid or substantially repaid over a period that does not exceed 12 months and being loan agreements with an annual percentage rate of interest equal to or exceeding 100%,

“rateable value”, in relation to lands and heritages and a particular date, means— in the case of part residential subjects, the rateable value entered in the roll for that date and apportioned to the non-residential use of those subjects, and in any other case, the rateable value entered in the roll for that date in respect of those lands and heritages, and includes a rateable value so entered with retrospective effect,

“rates” means non-domestic rates levied under section 7B of the 1975 Act[^f00014],

“reference amount” means the total amount of any relevant increases under section 2A(5) of the 1975 Act[^f00015] made in respect of the lands and heritages taking effect on a day within the previous 12 months,

“relevant year” means the financial year 2026-2027,

“revaluation” means the calculation of the rateable value of lands and heritages in connection with the making up of a valuation roll under section 1(1) of the 1975 Act,

“small landholding” means the land comprised in a lease under which the tenant is a small landholder for the purposes of the Small Landholders (Scotland) Acts 1886 to 1931 or a statutory small tenant for the purposes of section 32(1) of the Small Landholders (Scotland) Act 1911[^f00016],

“the roll” means a valuation roll made up under section 1(1) of the 1975 Act.

Amount payable as rates – lands and heritages with rateable value of less than £20,000 (single entries)

3

(1) Subject to paragraph (5), this regulation applies to lands and heritages on any day in the relevant year where—

(a) they comprise a single entry in the roll,

(b) they have a rateable value of less than £20,000, and

(2) Where there is an entitlement to relief under both this regulation and regulation 7 of the 2026 Regulations, relief under paragraph (1) is to be applied to the amount of rates payable after regulation 7 of the 2026 Regulations is applied.

(3) Subject to paragraph (4), where the rateable value of the lands and heritages falls within one of the ranges specified in Column 1 of the table below, the amount of rates payable is to be reduced by the percentage specified in, or calculated in accordance with, the corresponding entry in Column 2 (where RV is the rateable value of the lands and heritages on the relevant day).

Column 1 Rateable value range (single entry in the roll)	Column 2 Percentage of rate relief
£12,000 or less	100%
£12,001 to £15,000	Relief percentage = $100-75×15000-RV3000$
£15,001 to £19,999	Relief percentage = $25×20000-RV5000$

(4) The amount of rate relief calculated under paragraph (3) is to be reduced by the amount of any—

(a) reduction by virtue of one of more of the following enactments—

(i) section 4(2) of the 1962 Act[^f00017],

(ii) section 4(5)(c) of the 1962 Act[^f00018],

(iii) section 24A of the 1966 Act[^f00019],

(iv) section 4 or 5 of the Rating (Disabled Persons) Act 1978[^f00020],

(v) paragraph 3(1) of schedule 2 of the 1997 Act[^f00021], or

(b) determination in accordance with sections 6(1) and 7B(2) of the Valuation and Rating (Scotland) Act 1956[^f00022],

but only to the extent that the amount of such rate relief is reduced to nil.

(5) This regulation does not apply to—

(a) lands and heritages which—

(i) are unoccupied,or

(ii) are used wholly or mainly for—

(aa) the accommodation of one or more advertisements,

(bb) the provision of facilities for betting (whether by making or accepting bets, or by acting as a betting intermediary),

(cc) the provision of one or more parking places, or

(dd) payday lending,

(b) lands and heritages which are wholly or mainly used for a purpose for which a short-term let licence is required, in accordance with article 4 of the 2022 Order, but for which no such licence has been obtained,

(i) deer forests on which—

(aa) shooting rights are exercised solely for the purposes of environmental management or for preventing damage to woodland or to agricultural production, or a combination of those purposes, and

(bb) any deer shot are made available for human consumption as venison, and

(ii) deer forests on which shooting rights are not exercised in practice, or

(d) shootings, except—

(i) shootings which are crofts, agricultural landholdings or small landholdings,

(ii) shootings which are leased on a commercial basis to a person who, in accordance with the Rural Development (Scotland) Regulations 2015[^f00023], is in receipt of support under the Scottish Rural Development Programme, on account of being a new entrant to farming,

(iii) shootings which are leased in accordance with the model lease for environmental purposes made available by the Scottish Ministers in terms of section 11 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2025[^f00024],

(iv) shootings on which—

(aa) shooting rights are exercised solely for the purposes of environmental management or for preventing damage to woodland or to agricultural production, or a combination of those purposes, and

(bb) any deer shot are made available for human consumption as venison, and

(v) shootings on which shooting rights are not exercised in practice.

Amount payable as rates – lands and heritages with rateable value of £35,000 or less (multiple entries)

4

(1) Subject to paragraph (5), this regulation applies to lands and heritages on any day in the relevant year where—

(a) they comprise multiple entries in the roll,

(b) a single ratepayer is liable to pay rates in respect of them, and

(2) Where there is entitlement to relief under both this regulation and regulation 7 of the 2026 Regulations, relief under paragraph (1) is to be applied to the amount of rates payable after regulation 7 of the 2026 Regulations is applied.

(3) Subject to paragraph (4), where the cumulative rateable value of the lands and heritages falls within one of the ranges specified in Column 1 of the table below, the amount of rates payable is to be reduced by the percentage specified in, or calculated in accordance with, the corresponding entry in Column 2, (where RV is the rateable value of the lands and heritages on the relevant day).

Column 1 Cumulative rateable value range (multiple entries in the roll)	Column 2 Percentage of rate relief
£12,000 or less	100%
£12,001 to £35,000	25% on each individual property with a rateable value of £15,000 or less For individual properties with rateable value £15,001 to £19, 999 relief percentage = $25×20000-RV5000$

(4) The amount of rate relief calculated under paragraph (3) is to be reduced by the amount of any—

(a) reduction by virtue of one or more of the following enactments—

(i) section 4(2) of the 1962 Act,

(ii) section 4(5)(c) of the 1962 Act,

(iii) section 24A of the 1966 Act,

(iv) section 4 or 5 of the Rating (Disabled Persons) Act 1978,

(v) paragraph 3(1) of schedule 2 of the 1997 Act, or

(b) determination in accordance with sections 6(1) and 7B(2) of the Valuation and Rating (Scotland) Act 1956,

but only to the extent that the amount of such rate relief is reduced to nil.

(5) This regulation does not apply to—

(a) lands and heritages which are—

(i) unoccupied, or

(ii) used wholly or mainly for—

(aa) the accommodation of one or more advertisements,

(bb) the provision of facilities for betting (whether by making or accepting bets, or by acting as a betting intermediary),

(cc) the provision of one or more parking places, or

(dd) payday lending,

(b) lands and heritages which are wholly or mainly used for a purpose for which a short-term let licence is required, in accordance with article 4 of the 2022 Order, but for which no such licence has been obtained,

(i) deer forests on which—

(aa) shooting rights are exercised solely for the purposes of environmental management or for preventing damage to woodland or to agricultural production, or a combination of those purposes, and

(bb) any deer shot are made available for human consumption as venison, and

(ii) deer forests on which shooting rights are not exercised in practice, or

(d) shootings, except—

(i) shootings which are crofts, agricultural landholdings or small landholdings,

(ii) shootings which are leased on a commercial basis to a person who, in accordance with the Rural Development (Scotland) Regulations 2015, is in receipt of support under the Scottish Rural Development Programme, on account of being a new entrant to farming,

(iii) shootings which are leased in accordance with the model lease for environmental purposes made available by the Scottish Ministers in terms of section 11 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2025,

(iv) shootings on which—

(aa) shooting rights are exercised solely for the purposes of environmental management or for preventing damage to woodland or to agricultural production, or a combination of those purposes, and

(bb) any deer shot are made available for human consumption as venison, and

(v) shootings on which shooting rights are not exercised in practice.

Amount payable as rates – lands and heritages with rateable value exceeding £51,000 but not exceeding £100,000

5

(1) This regulation applies to lands and heritages on any day in the relevant year where they have a rateable value exceeding £51,000, but not exceeding £100,000.

(2) Subject to paragraph (4), the ratepayer liable to pay rates in respect of the lands and heritages must pay, for each day in respect of which this regulation applies, an additional amount calculated in accordance with paragraph (3).

(3) The additional amount is to be calculated in accordance with the formula—

$$AARP=RV×SD$ Where— AARP is the additional amount of rates payable, RV is the rateable value of the lands and heritages on that day, S is the additional factor of 0.054, and D is the number of days in the relevant year.$

(4) No additional amount is payable under this regulation for—

(a) any day on which relief under regulation 7 of the 2026 Regulations has effect in respect of the lands and heritages in question, or

(b) any day on which—

(i) the lands and heritages are granted relief under any of the following regulations of the 2022 Regulations—

(aa) regulation 10[^f00025],

(bb) regulation 10A[^f00026],

(cc) regulation 10B[^f00027],

(dd) regulation 10C[^f00028], and

(ii) the rateable value of those lands and heritages, minus the reference amount, does not exceed £51,000.

(5) This regulation does not prejudice the operation of any other enactment that provides for relief from non-domestic rates.

Amount payable as rates – lands and heritages with rateable value exceeding £100,000

6

(1) This regulation applies to lands and heritages on any day in the relevant year where they have a rateable value exceeding £100,000.

(2) Subject to paragraphs (4) and (5), the ratepayer liable to pay rates in respect of the lands and heritages must pay, for each day in respect of which this regulation applies, an additional amount calculated in accordance with paragraph (3).

(3) The additional amount is to be calculated in accordance with the formula—

$$AARP=RV×SD$ Where— AARP is the additional amount of rates payable, RV is the rateable value of the lands and heritages on that day, S is the additional factor of 0.067, and D is the number of days in the relevant year.$

(4) No additional amount is payable under this regulation for—

(a) any day on which relief under regulation 7 of the 2026 Regulations has effect in respect of the lands and heritages in question, or

(b) any day on which—

(i) the lands and heritages are granted relief under any of the following regulations of the 2022 Regulations—

(aa) regulation 10 (relief granted – lands and heritages in respect of which a relevant increase has been made within the previous 12 months),

(bb) regulation 10A (relief granted - financial year 2024-25 – lands and heritages in respect of which a relevant increase has been made within the previous 12 months),

(cc) regulation 10B (relief granted – financial year 2025-2026 - lands and heritages in respect of which a relevant increase has been made within the past 12 months), or

(dd) regulation 10C (relief granted – financial year 2026-2027- lands and heritages in respect of which a relevant increase has been made within the past 12 months), and

(ii) the rateable value of those lands and heritages, minus the reference amount, does not exceed £51,000.

(5) If the rateable value minus the reference amount does not exceed £100,000, but exceeds £51,000, the additional amount payable under this regulation is to be calculated using the formula in paragraph (3) but where “S” is the additional factor of 0.054 instead of 0.067.

(6) This regulation does not prejudice the operation of any other enactment that provides for relief from non-domestic rates.

Amount payable as rates – newly re-occupied lands and heritages with rateable value of £100,000 or less

7

(1) Subject to paragraph (3) and to regulation 9, no rates are payable in respect of lands and heritages on any day in the relevant year where the conditions set out in paragraph (2) are met.

(2) The conditions referred to in paragraph (1) are—

(a) the lands and heritages have a rateable value of £100,000 or less,

(b) the lands and heritages were unoccupied but became re-occupied on a date on or after 1 April 2025,

(c) the lands and heritages were continuously unoccupied for a period of six months or more immediately prior to becoming re-occupied,

(d) no more than 12 months have elapsed since the date on which the lands and heritages became re-occupied, and

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