Compliance 8 min read

Twenty-Eight Days to 21 September: Predevelopment Costs and Land Remediation Relief

As of 24 August 2026, HMRC’s consultations on the tax treatment of predevelopment costs and reforming Land Remediation Relief close in twenty-eight days on 21 September — after the 7 September Finance Bill draft-clause window.

HM Treasury’s consultations on the tax treatment of predevelopment costs and on reforming Land Remediation Relief both close on 21 September 2026. As of Monday 24 August, that is twenty-eight calendar days away — and it sits after the Finance Bill 2026-27 draft-clause technical consultation closes on 7 September.

The predevelopment consultation follows the Supreme Court’s Orsted West of Duddon Sands judgment on capital allowances for early-stage project costs. Land Remediation Relief reform seeks views on how the relief should work for brownfield regeneration. Neither consultation is a Finance Bill draft clause pack — treat them as separate response workstreams.

Who should respond before 21 September

Developers, infrastructure sponsors, and tax advisers who capitalise or expense predevelopment costs should review the Orsted-driven consultation options and TIINs.

Landowners, remediation contractors, and advisers claiming or advising on Land Remediation Relief should read the reform options before drafting comments.

Practices already triageing Finance Bill draft clauses to 7 September should keep predevelopment and LRR on a second September track — do not let the earlier cut-off absorb the later one.

Twenty-eight-day response checklist

List which consultation questions affect live projects or client files — generic “support reform” replies carry less weight than evidence-backed drafting notes.

Read each consultation document and any linked Capital Allowances Manual updates before commenting.

Submit responses through the channels listed on each GOV.UK consultation page before 21 September.

Keep aligning NICs recovery time limits (closes 12 October 2026) on a separate October track after these September windows.

How FinnAccountings helps while consultations stay open

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Related reading

Yesterday’s twenty-nine-day predevelopment and LRR briefing still maps both consultation pages.

Predevelopment & LRR: 29 days to 21 September →

Finance Bill draft clauses still close fourteen days earlier on 7 September.

Finance Bill draft clauses: fourteen days left →

NICs recovery alignment is now a forty-nine-day track into October.

NICs recovery consultation: 49 days to 12 October →

Sources & references

This article draws on official guidance from the sources below.

  1. Tax Treatment of Predevelopment costs
    HM Treasury · Accessed 2026-08-24
  2. Consultation on Reforming Land Remediation Relief
    HM Treasury · Accessed 2026-08-24
  3. Finance Bill 2026-27 — draft legislation and technical tax documents
    HM Treasury · Accessed 2026-08-24

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