Comment on Autumn Budget 2024

Although around £40bn of tax increases were announced in Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ first budget, they are spread across a wide range of areas, largely sparing property and construction from any specific impacts.

Property tax expert Alun Oliver, Managing Director of E³ Consulting, explains how the changes are likely to affect the sector.

Land Remediation Tax Relief

Potentially, the most interesting news is the upcoming Spring consultation on how Land Remediation Tax Relief both influences the regeneration of brownfield sites and is value for money, given relief can be up to 150%.

The complexity of the rules and certain restrictions that HMRC applies in practice means that providing evidence about qualifying relief in areas such as former mine workings or long-term derelict land is challenging and may become even more difficult over time. The Prime Minister has already announced that £68 million will go directly to 54 councils who will be able to use the money to turn neglected land into new homes. The funding will enable councils to clear empty buildings, former car parks and industrial land to make way for housing developments. It’s expected this will result in 5,200 new homes being built.

In other budget property news:

Future of Freeports and Investment Zones

Funding for Investment Zones and Freeports across the UK has been confirmed, with the approval of the East Midlands Investment Zone to support advanced manufacturing and green industries, and news of five new customs sites in existing Freeports.

Capital Allowances

The 100% full expensing (FE) and Annual Investment Allowances (AIA) were left intact. There will be consultation following the fallout of the Gunfleet Sands offshore wind farm case decision - that created some concern on major infrastructure projects.

The Chancellor proposed extending 100% FE to leased assets - but not yet.

The 100% Capital Allowances for Electric Vehicle Charging Points (EVCP) have been extended to 31 March 2026. This further supports the move to NetZero and the transition of the UK car fleet from carbon-rich fuels to electric and renewables.

Business Rates

There will be a transitional period for rate changes for retail, leisure and hospitality sectors. However, this still involves significant costs to many operators and the £110,000 cap is relatively low given the impact of the increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions.

Alun Oliver, Managing Director of E³ Consulting, comments:

“More noise than substance! To us, there were no stand-out points that will markedly help growth and resilience and many that could concern many SME businesses, particularly those in the Retail, Leisure and Hospitality sectors – despite the limited measures – clearly aimed to appear more supportive than perhaps the reality.”

Please see the document download to the right of the page to read in more detail the relevant property tax measures from the Autumn Statement.