BUILDING OUR FUTURE LOCATIONS PROGRAMME
HMRC (reports to the Treasury) · HMRC_0015_1617-Q1
Department page: HM Treasury
| Data as at | Rating | End date | Whole-life cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 2024 | Amber (the department's own assessment) | 5 April 2031 | £2,836m (price basis not stated) |
| March 2025 | Amber (the department's own assessment) | 5 April 2031 | £2,884m (price basis not stated) |
| March 2026 | Green (the department's own assessment) | 5 April 2031 | £2,831.53m (in 2024/25 prices) |
Each year’s cost is shown with its price basis. Costs are not compared between years: the March 2024 and March 2025 reports state no price basis, and from March 2026 costs are in 2024/25 prices.
The department’s commentary
This is the department’s own commentary. It may use different prices from the table above, so its figures may not match.
March 2026
Rating: The programme’s Delivery Confidence Assessment improved from Amber to Green following a National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) review in July 2025. This reflects strong confidence in the programme’s governance, capability and delivery approach. In April 2026, the programme moved from NISTA GMPP reporting to Major Project status, with assurance now led by HMRC. The programme continues to secure and deliver long‑term locations that retain critical skills, minimise redundancies and rehire costs, and provide best value for money, supporting HMRC’s long‑term workforce sustainability and operational effectiveness.
Schedule: Compared to financial year 24/25-Q4, the programme's end-date at 25/26-Q4 remained the same - 05/04/2031. Whilst the current assumption remains that the Locations Programme will close in 2030/31, the programme continues to undertake rigorous planning to ensure a smooth, well‑coordinated programme closure that protects delivery confidence and organisational readiness.
Cost: The programme was originally planned to complete within 10 years but is now expected to run for 15 years. In 2018/19, the business case was updated and the Whole Life Costs (WLC) were extended to a 25-year period, in line with industry standards. This approach has been used consistently in all subsequent business cases. As a result of the longer programme duration, the discounted HM Treasury WLC increased, but it remains within the overall WLC envelope set out in the original programme.
March 2025
Rating: Compared to financial year 23/24-Q4, the Infrastructure Project Authority's Delivery Confidence Assessment rating at 24/25-Q4 remained at AMBER. This is primarily due to the following factors‚ The programme has successfully delivered 12 award winning, greener offices enabling smarter working and accommodating over 40 government departments. We are continuing to secure long term locations to ensure HMRC retains the required skills, in the right locations while minimising redundancies, loss of knowledge and cost of rehire. In 2024/25, we successfully completed the refurbishment of our Dover Specialist Site. The construction of the Newcastle Regional Centre is progressing as planned and we are entering the delivery phase for our Portsmouth and Telford offices. For our remaining sites, we have scheduled the delivery of the Outline Business Cases to enable us identify solutions that offer the best value for money and ensure HMRC retains the required skills in the right locations.
Schedule: Compared to financial year 23/24-Q4, the project's end-date at 24/25-Q4 remained at 05/04/2031. This is primarily due to the following factors‚ We are continuing to secure long term locations for HMRC. Taking this into consideration, the current assumption remains that the Programme will close in 2030/31.
Cost: Compared to financial year 23/24-Q4, the project's departmentally agreed Whole Life Cost at 24/25-Q4 (measured in £m) increased from 2836 to 2884. This is primarily due to the following factors‚ Programme delivery was expected to conclude within a 10 year timeframe whereas the current programme is for 15 years. Given the extended life of the programme, discounted HMT WLC cost have increased but are still within the original programme WLC.
Source: NISTA Annual Report 2024-25 (data)
March 2024
Rating: Compared to financial year 22/23-Q4, Senior Responsible Owner's Delivery Confidence Assessment rating at 23/24-Q4 increased from Green to Amber. This is primarily due to the following factors. The programme successfully completed the first phase of its delivery of Phase One of Government Hubs. It has opened 12 award winning, greener offices enabling smarter working and accommodating 48 government departments. We are continuing to secure long term locations to ensure HMRC retains the required skills, in the right locations while minimising redundancies, loss of knowledge and cost of rehire._x000D_ _x000D_ In 2023/24, we obtained approval and progressed our solutions for Portsmouth, Telford and Dover. Ourremaining projects are at astage where we are still considering options andOutline Business Cases will be produced during the next financial year.
Schedule: Compared to financial year 22/23-Q4, the project's end-date at 23/24-Q4 increased from 2026-03-31 to 2031-04-05. This is primarily due to the following factors. We are continuing to secure long term locations for HMRC. Taking this into consideration, the current assumption is that the Programme will close in 2030/31.
Cost: Compared to financial year 22/23-Q4, the project's departmental-agree Whole Life Cost at 23/24-Q4 remained at 2836m. This is primarily due to the following factors. Whilst there have been in-year costs variances, the overall cost of the programme remains unchanged.
Source: IPA Annual Report 2023-24 (data)
Names, figures, dates, ratings and commentary are as the department reported them. Where a rating, cost or date is withheld, the file’s wording is shown. Every major project →