Recover Business Rates Savings Sooner: The Case for Early Engagement in the 2026 Cycle

From 1 April 2026, new rateable values went live, liabilities were reset, and the next business rates cycle began. But while the system has moved forward, behaviour across the market often hasn’t. If history tells us anything, it is that what happens next could matter far more than what has just happened. 

Revaluation Is the Reset That Drives Action 

The 2026 revaluation establishes a new starting point for business rates, but it does not guarantee that every assessment is accurate. 

The 2026 rating lists use an antecedent valuation date (AVD) of 1 April 2024. By the time the lists came into force on 1 April 2026, the valuation assumptions underpinning them were already two years old. Every year that passes without engagement widens the gap between the valuation date and the point at which any correction is secured. 

Government modelling indicates that a significant proportion of valuation corrections will not be realised until late in, or even beyond, the life of the list. In some cases, liabilities based on April 2024 market evidence could remain uncorrected for five to eight years unless action is taken early. 

Across thousands of properties and every sector of the economy, there will inevitably be over-assessments, inconsistencies between locations, and valuation approaches that do not fully reflect market reality. The commercial question is therefore not simply whether inaccuracies exist, but how quickly they are identified and corrected. 

Why the Same Cycle Keeps Repeating 

The Valuation Office’s Check, Challenge, Appeal (CCA) process provides ratepayers with a structured route to correct their liabilities. Yet experience from previous rating lists shows a consistent pattern: engagement remains relatively low during the earlier stages before accelerating sharply as statutory deadlines approach. 

This was evident again at the end of the 2023 rating list. In England, 129,810 Checks were registered during the final three months, almost five times the 26,170 registered in the preceding quarter.  

As more cases enter the system late in the cycle, workloads increase and greater pressure is placed on the CCA process. Resolution times can lengthen, extending the period before liabilities are corrected. 

For occupiers, that delay is rarely cost-neutral. Every month an over-assessment remains unresolved is another month in which the business continues paying too much in business rates. 

Recovering business rates savings sooner is therefore not simply about receiving a refund earlier. It is about releasing capital back into the business sooner, improving cash flow, and strengthening financial certainty. 

A Different Approach to CCA 

Ryan has deliberately built its approach around early engagement. 

Rather than allowing activity to accumulate towards the latter stages of a rating cycle, we review assessments as early as possible, including draft rating lists where appropriate. Where further investigation is warranted, appropriate cases can be supported by robust evidence and progressed through CCA without waiting for statutory deadlines to drive activity. 

The principle is straightforward: the earlier opportunities are identified, the sooner they can be progressed and value can potentially be returned to clients. 

That matters because CCA is sequential. A case cannot simply enter the process at Challenge or Appeal when a deadline approaches. Check comes first. Where appropriate, it is followed by Challenge and, if an agreement cannot be reached, Appeal. Time spent waiting before entering that process cannot subsequently be recovered. 

The Evidence Behind Early Engagement 

The 2023 rating list provides powerful evidence of how differently Ryan has engaged with the statutory framework. 

By the time the list closed to new Checks on 31 March 2026, Ryan accounted for: 

• 71.2% of all agent-represented Appeals across England and Wales 

• Almost 2.5 times as many Appeals as every other agent combined 

• In England, almost 23 times as many Appeals as the next most active agent 

The significance of this goes beyond scale or market share. Appeal is the third and final stage of CCA. Cases reaching Appeal must first have progressed through Check and Challenge, so the data provides independent evidence of how far Ryan’s cases had already progressed through the statutory framework by the time the list closed. 

The timing is particularly significant. While the wider English market produced an almost fivefold increase in Checks during the final quarter, Ryan already accounted for the clear majority of agent-represented Appeals across England and Wales. 

Appeal volumes do not measure case outcomes or time to resolution, and not every appropriate case needs to reach Appeal. What the data demonstrates is earlier progression through CCA at substantial scale.  

That is precisely what an approach built around early engagement should be expected to demonstrate. 

The Capability Behind the Ryan Way 

Delivering early engagement across large and complex portfolios requires more than simply deciding to act sooner. 

Ryan’s approach combines one of the most extensive tenure datasets in the market with proprietary technology, machine learning, market intelligence, and experienced rating professionals. Together, these capabilities allow large portfolios to be interrogated efficiently, potential valuation issues to be identified earlier, and appropriate cases to be supported by robust evidence. 

Where properties share common valuation characteristics or issues, portfolios can also be analysed strategically rather than purely reactively, providing insights that would be difficult to achieve if properties were considered only individually or as statutory deadlines approach. 

Technology is not the differentiator in isolation. Its value lies in what Ryan does with it: combining data and technology with professional expertise to identify opportunities earlier and progress appropriate cases effectively through the statutory framework. 

Scale matters, but scale alone is not the unique selling point. The differentiator is what Ryan does with that scale—moving earlier through the statutory framework and creating the opportunity to return value to clients sooner. 

From Earlier Engagement to Earlier Financial Value 

For clients, the commercial significance ultimately comes down to time and cash. 

Two identical valuation corrections can produce very different commercial experiences depending on when they are secured. A correction achieved earlier releases capital earlier.

The same correction achieved years later may ultimately deliver the same reduction, but only after the business has funded the higher liability for considerably longer. 

For organisations managing significant property portfolios, that difference can be substantial. Earlier engagement can also provide greater visibility over potential liabilities and savings, allowing finance and property teams to plan with greater certainty. 

The commercial value of a business rates strategy should therefore not be measured solely by the eventual quantum of savings achieved. Timing matters too. 

What This Means for the 2026 Rating List 

The 2023 data is retrospective, but its relevance is prospective. 

The 2026 rating list provides businesses with a new starting point and a choice: engage early and begin progressing appropriate cases while there is time to use CCA effectively or repeat the late-cycle behaviour seen under previous lists. 

That decision is particularly important with the move to three-year revaluation cycles. There is less time between one revaluation and the next, while CCA remains sequential and takes time to navigate. 

For Ryan, early engagement is not a new strategy developed for 2026. The evidence from the 2023 list demonstrates that it is already embedded in how we manage business rates for our clients. 

The Bottom Line 

Every ratepayer operates under the same statutory framework: the same legislation, stages, and rights. 

The difference is when and how that framework is used. 

For organisations choosing a business rates adviser, that distinction matters. Every adviser can review assessments and identify potential savings. The more important question is whether they have the expertise, data, and operational capability to identify legitimate opportunities early and progress them effectively rather than allowing statutory deadlines to determine when action is taken. 

The independent evidence from the 2023 rating list shows Ryan’s cases had progressed materially further through CCA, at substantially greater scale, by the same point in the rating cycle.  

Recovering the correct amount of business rates will always matter. But there is another commercially important question: 

Not simply, “Can savings be achieved?” but “How quickly can they be recovered?” 

Ryan’s answer begins with early engagement and an approach designed to recover business rates savings sooner.