Six years after a property is acquired under a Compulsory Purchase Order, the right to third party determination is lost unless a reference to the Lands Chamber has been made in time. Negotiations can of course continue but with no right to third party determination, negotiating strength is very poor. We have known one claimant (not one of our clients) …

If agreement cannot be reached be reached on the compensation due, the Council or the homeowner may apply to the Lands Chamber. Prior to doing so, both sides are encouraged to consider alternative forms of dispute resolution. The Lands Chamber is only an available option once the property has been lost to a Compulsory Purchase Order at the last stage. …

At the end of the period specified in the General Vesting Declaration (stage 12), the property is owned by the Council. Whoever occupies it would therefore be trespassing unless they have signed a tenancy or licence agreement to remain. If they are trespassing, they can be removed by an accelerated court sheriff process similar to court appointed bailiffs.

This request can be made after stage 11 if required but is more common after stage 12. A request is made under Section 52 of the Land Compensation Act 1973 for an advance payment. This is 90% of the Council’s opinion of the value of the claim. The Council’s opinion may of course be different from our own opinion or …

The GVD is a Statutory notice which provides a date at which properties it is served on are acquired under the Compulsory Purchase Order. This can be in as little as three months. Sales by agreement can complete until the date specified in the notice. After that date, it is not possible to sell as the Council will already own …

The Council will now place public notices and write to affected parties, confirming that they now have Compulsory Purchase powers. See our guide on Confirmation of a Compulsory Purchase Order here.

If the Secretary of State (or by delegation the Inspector) permits the Compulsory Purchase Order to be confirmed, this means the Council are granted Compulsory Purchase powers. Any remaining objections are overruled so are affectively then null and void. The Council will still try to buy properties by agreement but will now know they can acquire them by force if …

The Government appointed Inspector will write up his or her report to the Secretary of State, advising whether to Confirm the Compulsory Purchase Order or to not confirm it. Amendments can also be made. On occasion, the Secretary of State will delegate approval or otherwise to the Inspector. The report can often take a few weeks to be submitted and …

If there are outstanding objections, Government will call a Public Inquiry to assess the merits of the Compulsory Purchase Order. In preparation for this, the Council and its’ partners will produce various professional Statements of Case and summary documents of the same. This is their evidence put forward to the Inquiry to  make their case for why they should receive …

Once the CPO has been made, people with qualifying interests will be able to make an Objection to the Order, submitted to the Secretary of State for the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government. There will be a period of time, typically about 28 days where objections can be made. If there are no qualifying objections to the Order …

When the Council make a Compulsory Purchase Order, what they are affectively doing is requesting permission from Government for Compulsory Purchase powers. These are needed for if agreement cannot be reached with affected parties on a voluntary basis. The CPO will comprise of a cover letter, a schedule of interests (information found out during the land referencing) and a Statement …

For a Council to make a Compulsory Purchase Order, it must find out who is legally entitled to be informed. They do this by a process called Land Referencing which is a questionnaire sent to every property. This will be supplemented by checks of ownership at the Land Registry. Questions include who owns a property, who lives there and who …

Decisions to regenerate an Estate should not be taken lightly. As such, a number of Councillors within a Council will be consulted on proposals. They will make a resolution to decide whether to pursue Compulsory Purchase or not. Some Council’s will have this decision made by its Cabinet of Councillors and some will have it made by a Cabinet member …

The Council along with their development partners will create a blueprint for what they expect the regenerated estate to look like and a routemap for how they will get there. Often, a homeowner guide is produced around this time as well to explain how individuals are affected. Consultation will often step up as well.

The majority of Council’s choose to work with a Developer and a Housing Association. Some decide to go it alone. Where there is a development partner, Council’s will normally undertake a procurement process where tenders are submitted. The more restrictive the tender process is, the less attractive the proposition will be to developers. Developers will of course have their own …

Council begins consulting with affected parties on broad principle of regeneration. Consultation will continue through most of the process. At this stage, little may be known about the regeneration scheme. What will be built, when it will be built and when properties will be demolished may not yet be known.