Land Remediation Relief on contaminated land

For developers of land, Land Remediation Relief enables them to offset some of the costs of dealing with contamination on potential sites thereby strengthening the commercial case to develop brownfield land. VHE has successfully created the development platforms for many developers looking to build new housing on brownfield sites across the UK; you can view further information on some our recent projects in other News items.

Land Remediation Relief is a relief from corporation tax only. It provides a deduction of 100%, plus an additional deduction of 50%, for qualifying expenditure incurred by companies in cleaning up land acquired from a third party in a contaminated state.

Land or buildings are in a contaminated state if there is contamination present as a result of industrial activity such that:
• It is causing relevant harm; or
• there is a serious possibility that it could cause relevant harm, or
• it is causing, or there is a serious possibility that it could cause, significant pollution in the groundwater, streams, rivers or coastal waters.

“Relevant harm” includes significant adverse impact on the health of humans or animals or damage to buildings that has a real impact on the way the building is used.

Qualifying expenditure includes the cost of establishing the level of contamination, removing the contamination or containing it so that the possibility of relevant harm is removed. There is, however no relief if the remediation work is not carried out.

The relief can be available for both developments and regeneration projects, as well as fit-outs and refurbishments.

For help in costing the treatment of a wide variety of contaminants and understanding the remediation options available, call VHE on 01226 320150 and speak to one of our team.