BUDGET 2011: Government's new enterprise zones - full list of locations

Published 23rd Mar 2011

The government has confirmed plans to set up 21 enterprise zones across the UK.

In the Budget today, chancellor George Osborne has announced the government is launching eleven zones today.They will benefit from reductions in business rates and less planning restrictions.

They enterprise zones will be in:

* Birmingham and Solihull
* Leeds City Region
* Sheffield City Region
* Liverpool City Region
* Greater Manchester
* West of England
* Tees Valley
* North Eastern
* The Black Country
* Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire
* London

The government has also launched a competition for local enterprise partnerships to pitch to set up ten more enterprise zones, which will be announced this summer.

Enterprise zones include incentives for growth including a 100% business rate discount worth up to £275,000 over a five year period; all business rates growth in the zone for 25 years to go to the local authority; simplified planning rules; and support to ensure superfast broadband is rolled out in the area.

Ian Hyde, property tax partner at law firm Pinsent Masons said the government’s incentives show it is taking a similar approach to the enterprise zones set up in the 1980s and 1990s, which had mixed success.

“Interestingly the Government has not listened to criticism of the original regime and moved to income tax and national insurance reliefs rather than 100% capital allowances on new buildings,” he said.

Richard Grass, head of public sector at Colliers International, said enterprise zones need to be located in areas with potential for growth.

He said: “The main criticisms of previous enterprise zones were that some of them were in areas of long term structural decline, and that jobs created were simply displacing employment from elsewhere and disappearing when the incentives ran out. To have any lasting impact these incentives need to be focussed on areas with high growth potential and which can deliver near term employment rather than just shiny new buildings on derelict land.”

Source: ' Property Week '

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