How much notice does the VOA give before a revaluation?

The VOA gives no individual notice before a revaluation, because none is required: revaluations now run every three years on a fixed cycle, and the draft values for the whole 2026 list were published in November 2025 — roughly four months before the new rateable values took effect on 1 April 2026. If a draft value or a new value looks wrong, the notice you got is the instruction to check it, not a bill you must accept.

Why this matters

A revaluation resets every rateable value in England and Wales at once. The 2026 revaluation took effect on 1 April 2026 and drew its values from open market rental evidence at 1 April 2024, so a bill can move even though nothing changed at your premises. Ratepayers who treated the draft list of November 2025 as their window had four months to check values before bills landed; those who first saw the number on a 2026-27 bill are now inside a three-year list, and the value follows them to 31 March 2029 unless it is challenged.

How much notice does the VOA give before a revaluation?

There is no statutory notice letter to each ratepayer. The cycle itself is the notice: revaluations are fixed every three years, the Valuation Office Agency publishes a draft rating list in advance, and councils then bill on the new values from 1 April. For the 2026 list the sequence ran like this:

Four months is the practical gap between the draft list and billing day, not a promise. The VOA may also contact you directly for rent and lease details as it compiles values — answering those requests accurately is part of the process, not optional.

What the 2026 values are built on

Every 2026 rateable value reflects rents as at 1 April 2024. A lease signed after that date does not change the value; a lease signed before it, at a rent the valuer can see, does. The draft list put total rateable value across England and Wales at £84.4 billion against £70.8 billion on the 2023 list, and the movement was not even: industrial and logistics values rose sharply while prime retail stayed flat. Your own movement depends on your sector and location, which is why the draft value — not the bill — is the point to check. How to survey floor area and correct the record covers the most common factual error behind a wrong value.

The 2026-27 multipliers the values feed into

• 43.2p for properties with a rateable value below £51,000
• 48p between £51,000 and £499,999
• 50.8p at £500,000 or above
• 38.2p and 43.0p instead, for qualifying retail, hospitality and leisure premises

A value that crosses one of those thresholds changes the multiplier as well as the bill, so a small valuation error can have a step effect. Which 2026-27 multiplier applies to you runs through eligibility for the lower figures.

What to do when you first see a new value

1. Look the property up on the VOA's online service and confirm the recorded details — floor area, use, layout
2. Compare the value against your own rental evidence and comparable premises
3. Correct factual errors first; a wrong floor area poisons everything built on it
4. If the value itself is wrong, start the challenge route rather than waiting for 2029
5. Keep paying the bill while the challenge runs; a successful outcome is refunded

What changed about notice going forward

From the 2029 revaluation the burden shifts: a planned duty to notify will require ratepayers to report property and occupation changes to the VOA within set timeframes, phased in through to 2029. In other words, less waiting for the VOA to find changes, more responsibility on the ratepayer to keep the record current — and another reason to have the 2026 value checked while the old system still applies.

What if you missed the draft list window

The draft list is not the only chance. Formal challenges to the 2026-29 list opened on 1 April 2026 and stay open while the list runs, so a value first seen on a 2026-27 bill can still be checked and challenged now. The difference is timing: a draft-stage query is settled before the bill arrives, while a challenge after billing runs alongside payments that continue until the value changes. Because the list runs to 31 March 2029, a value left unchallenged is charged in every billing year until it is corrected — the cost of waiting is measured in billing years, not months.

FAQ

One last thing

The draft list is the cheapest appeal window you will ever get. Values can be queried before they become binding, evidence is easier to assemble before a bill exists, and the VOA corrects straightforward factual errors without a full challenge. The next draft list is expected in the run-up to the 1 April 2029 revaluation — diary it now.

Related guides

• How long does a business rates appeal take?
• VOA Challenge to Valuation Tribunal for England: 2026 workflow