@Gordon356 Firstly you need to know if you are in Wales, Scotland or England as the rules differ.
In the past it was easy to swap to business rates by just contacting the Valuations Office Agency or your local council. We did it during Covid which complicated matters. Our Business Rates were applied retrospectively to the date we applied.
Nowadays it seems that people have to prove they have achieved the threshold number of nights before they will be flipped to business rates. What is not clear to me is if the rates are then applied retrospectively. The only thing I can recommend is call the council and the VoA and ask them.
One warning - we were lucky that our 3 properties were all in the same building. The zero cost business rates will not apply if the rateable value is high OR if you have multiple properties in different buildings.
And finally - Technically you will need private refuse collection once on business rates and you may not qualify for domestic utility supplies hence losing protection from any price caps.
