Section 2

Investment Zones

Investment Zones are government-designated areas offering tax relief, grant funding and streamlined planning to attract business investment in five priority sectors: advanced manufacturing, life sciences, green industries, digital & tech, and creative industries. Each English zone carries an £80 million funding envelope over five years.

England (8 designated areas)

• Greater Manchester Combined Authority
• Liverpool City Region Combined Authority
• South Yorkshire Combined Authority
• West Yorkshire Combined Authority
• Tees Valley Combined Authority
• West Midlands Combined Authority
• East Midlands Combined County Authority
• North East Combined Authority

Scotland (2 areas)

• Glasgow City Region Regional Economic Partnership
• North East of Scotland Regional Economic Partnership

Wales (2 areas)

• Cardiff & Newport — South East Wales Corporate Joint Committee
• Wrexham & Flintshire — North Wales Corporate Joint Committee

Incentives typically include a 100% first-year capital allowance on qualifying plant and machinery, an enhanced structures & buildings allowance, and business rates relief within designated tax sites, plus simplified planning consent covering up to 600 hectares across up to three sites per zone.

Programme detail is finalised locally per Combined Authority — confirm current tax-site boundaries directly with the relevant authority. Reliefs apply only inside mapped tax sites, not the wider local-authority area. See transaction taxes for how this sits next to SDLT.