 To give relief to properties considered vital to rural communities, a combination of compulsory and discretionary reliefs exist in England.The Welsh scheme was incorporated into small business rates relief from 1 April 2007.Properties of a given rateable value (£7,000 in England from 2005) can receive the relief if they are in a rural settlement (defined as a population of 3,000 or less, within designated rural areas), and are the only general store or post office, or food store in the settlement.