The Law Commission has recently issued a consultation on their proposal to reform the law around compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) with an accompanying 359-page topic paper. The paper sets out a useful summary of the current position and their suggested changes to the existing law.

One of the primary problems that the Law Commission has identified is that the law has become ‘fragmented, hard to access and in need of modernisation’. It is not an uncommon sentiment that the law surrounding compulsory purchase can be complex and difficult to understand because it is structured in a fragmented way across a number of statutes. 

The consultation quotes a senior judge as describing the system as “Byzantine” in its complexity and whilst I may not go that far, it does seem clear that the law can be difficult to understand, especially if your property is subject to a CPO. 

Current position

At present, the law is split between several statutes and regulations all of which have been heavily amended over the years, including:

• Land Compensation Act 1961 
• Compulsory Purchase Act 1965
• Land Compensation Act 1973
• Acquisition of Land Act 1981
• Compulsory Purchase (Vesting Declarations) Act 1981
• Compulsory Purchase of Land (Prescribed Forms) (Ministers) Regulations 2004

And that is without mention of the statutes providing the ‘enabling power’ to acquire land compulsorily. This includes heavy hitters like the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 but there are far more obscure acts that confer this power. For example, Section 13 of the Land Powers (Defence) Act 1958 gives the Secretary of State for Business and Trade the power to compulsorily acquire land ‘for the construction of oil installations which in his opinion are essential for the defence of the realm’.

What does the consultation propose?

The consultation proposes a new single code of CPO law and suggests simplifying the existing procedures. For example, the Law Commission suggests removing the choice between the ‘notice to treat’ procedure or general vesting declaration route for acquiring interests in land and instead having one single approach to implementing a CPO. 

It would be helpful for the rules on compulsory purchase to be codified and updated to use modern language both for those whose proprieties are affected by compulsory purchases but also for those who want those in local government who are proposing a scheme requiring a CPO.

The Labour Government appears to be keen on encouraging the use of CPOs (referring to reforming the law in their first King’s Speech) and it seems likely that this is an area that both lawyers and council officers will need to become more familiar with in the coming years. With that in mind, this is a good opportunity to give your input on how a potential new consolidated compulsory purchase code would function. 

The consultation is open until 31 March 2025 and can be viewed here.

For more information

For more information on the consultation, or CPOs in general, please contact me.