Land deals inside the Flintshire and Wrexham Investment Zone will qualify for Land Transaction Tax (LTT) relief from 12:01 a.m. on Friday 21 November 2025, with the window running until 30 September 2034. The change is set by the Land Transaction Tax (Modification of Special Tax Sites Relief) (No. 3) (Wales) Regulations 2025 (WSI 2025/1210), following Senedd approval under the affirmative procedure. Welsh Government papers confirm the 10‑year window and start date.

What exactly is in scope? The UK Treasury’s designation of “special tax sites” for the Flintshire and Wrexham Investment Zone covers mapped areas at Deeside, Warren Hall and Wrexham Industrial Estate. LTT relief applies to qualifying purchases of land and buildings within these mapped boundaries once the Welsh regulations take effect. In practice, buyers should check the official maps referenced in SI 2025/1080 before exchanging.

How the relief works. If 100% of the consideration is for qualifying land inside the site and intended for qualifying commercial use, LTT is reduced to zero. Where less than 100% qualifies, LTT is reduced proportionally, with two useful thresholds: if at least 90% of the site consideration is qualifying, it’s treated as 100%; if under 10% is qualifying, none of the site consideration counts. Relief must be claimed on the LTT return within 30 days.

Qualifying use is commercial. The Welsh Revenue Authority (WRA) says land qualifies if it’s used, developed or redeveloped for a commercial trade or profession, including a property rental business. Residential use is excluded, with a narrow carve‑out for dwellings provided to caretakers or security staff on‑site.

Mind the control period. Relief can be clawed back if the land stops being used in a qualifying way within three years, unless reasonable steps are being taken to restore qualifying use or dispose of the interest. If use changes, a further return and any tax due must be filed within 30 days.

What this could save. At current non‑residential LTT rates in Wales, a straightforward £6 million freehold purchase outside a special tax site would generate about £337,750 of LTT. Inside the investment zone, a qualifying deal would pay £0-freeing cash for fit‑out or working capital. On £2.5 million, the saving is around £132,750. These figures use the standard non‑residential bands: 0% to £225,000; 1% to £250,000; 5% to £1,000,000; 6% above £1,000,000.

Leases count too. Rent under a new lease can qualify for relief on the same basis as other consideration, provided the effective date falls within the relief window and the land is qualifying at that time. For occupiers weighing lease vs. freehold, this can materially alter the net present cost of long leases on Deeside or Wrexham sites.

Timing matters for completions after the window closes. If a contract is substantially performed within the relief period but title transfers later, the completion transaction may still avoid LTT if that later completion is the only reason tax would be chargeable. Deal teams should document substantial performance carefully.

Policy context and funding. The Explanatory Memorandum confirms Welsh Ministers have extended the tax‑incentive window to 10 years and that each Investment Zone has up to £160 million of UK funding between 2025‑26 and 2034‑35, net of the cost of tax incentives. For Flintshire and Wrexham, the LTT relief cost is estimated at £1–2 million over the period.

What this means on the ground. In North Wales, most non‑residential LTT receipts come from a small number of higher‑value deals each quarter. Removing LTT on qualifying site purchases could improve hurdle rates for advanced manufacturing, logistics and R&D projects positioned around Wrexham Industrial Estate and Deeside, where land assembly and build costs have been the main friction. Recent WRA statistics show non‑residential activity is sensitive to a handful of million‑pound‑plus transactions-exactly the bracket most likely to benefit here.

A practical checklist for buyers and SMEs. First, confirm the plot is inside one of the designated maps cited in SI 2025/1080 and that intended use meets the WRA’s “qualifying manner” test. Second, line up evidence of use plans for your conveyancer and keep it for the control period. Third, model scenarios using the 90%/10% rules to avoid surprises if only part of a site qualifies. Finally, ensure the claim is included in the LTT return within 30 days of the effective date.

Case study, simplified. A Wrexham engineering SME acquiring a £3.8 million plot within the Wrexham Industrial Estate tax site to build a new facility intends full commercial use. Outside a special tax site, LTT would be roughly £207,750. With full relief, that is eliminated. The firm redirects the saving into power upgrades and automation, bringing forward its production start date by a quarter. For banks and local suppliers, that cash‑flow shift is the difference between go‑slow and go‑now.