The Land Compensation Act 1961
c 33
is an

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, which concerns

English land law English land law is the law of real property in England and Wales. Because of its heavy historical and social significance, land is usually seen as the most important part of English property law. Ownership of land has its roots in the feudal ...

and

compulsory purchase Compulsion may refer to: * Compulsive behavior, a psychological condition in which a person does a behavior compulsively, having an overwhelming feeling that they must do so. * Obsessive–compulsive disorder, a mental disorder characterized by i ...

. The majority of this Act was brought into force on 1 August 1961, with Part V s.42 coming into force on 22 July 1961. The Act consolidated several earlier Acts of Parliament which concerned compensation for compulsory purchase, most notably the Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act 1919.

Part I – Determination of Questions of Disputed Compensation

Section 1 provides that where land is acquired under compulsory purchase, any disputed compensation should be decided by the

Upper Tribunal The Upper Tribunal is part of the administrative justice system of the United Kingdom. It was created in 2008 as part of a programme, set out in the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, to rationalise the tribunal system, and to provide a ...

in accordance with this Act, as amended by

The Transfer of Tribunal Functions (Lands Tribunal and Miscellaneous Amendments) Order 2009 ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

. Section 4A was inserted by the

Housing and Planning Act 2016 The Housing and Planning Act 2016 (c. 22) is Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that makes widespread changes to housing policy and the planning system. It introduces legislation to allow the sale of higher value local authority homes, intro ...

Part II – Provisions Determining Amount of Compensation

Part II sets out the provisions which must be applied to determine the amount of compensation owed to owners of land which has been acquired under the compulsory purchase scheme. Section 5 Rule 2 provides that the owner of an interest in land (e.g. a freehold, leasehold, or easement as in ''

Re Ellenborough Park was an English land law case which reformulated the tests for an easement (the scope of the law of easements). It found an easement to use a communal garden to be a valid easement in law. There is no requirement for all of the houses to be imme ...

'') should receive the open market value of the property. This is defined as the "value of the land... if sold on an open market by a willing seller". The amount of compensation owed to the landowner is not affected by the land acquisition being compulsory, the special suitability of the land for a particular purpose or any unlawful existing use. However, this does not exclude additional compensation owed to the landowner for disturbance. The

Neighbourhood Planning Act 2017 A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural ar ...

inserted an additional Rule 2A, which requires the compensation to be calculated in accordance with the no-scheme rules in sections 6A. This codified the ruling in the case of ''

Pointe Gourde Quarrying & Transport Co v Sub-Intendent of Crown Lands Pointe technique ( ) is the part of classical ballet technique that concerns ''pointe work'', in which a ballet dancer supports all body weight on the tips of fully extended feet within pointe shoes. A dancer is said to be ''en pointe'' () whe ...

''. The

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

ruled that that compensation could not include any increases which were the result of the scheme for which the acquiring authority was purchasing the land. In addition, the no-scheme rules in the Act disregard any decrease in value which is the result of the scheme. The land must be valued as if there was never any scheme, and the valuers must imagine what developments would or would not have occurred in its place. The original planning assumptions in sections 14-17 of the Act were amended by the

Localism Act 2011 The Localism Act 2011 (c. 20) is an Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom, Act of Parliament that changes the powers of local government in England. The aim of the act is to facilitate the devolution of decision-making powers from central gov ...

. They allow land to be valued for its existing use, or valued by taking into account any

planning permission Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...

which was in force on the valuation date, the potential future grant of planning permission, or appropriate alternative development.

Part III – Certification By Planning Authorities of Appropriate Alternative Development

Section 17 says that either the acquiring authority or the landowner can ask the

local planning authority A local planning authority (LPA) is the local government body that is empowered by law to exercise urban planning functions for a particular area. They exist in the United Kingdom and India. United Kingdom Mineral planning authorities The role ...

for a certificate which states whether there is a development which would satisfy the test for appropriate alternative development.

Part IV – Compensation where Permission for Additional Development Granted after Acquisition

This Part was omitted by the Neighbourhood Planning Act 2017.

Part V – Miscellaneous and General

Notes

{{reflist, 2

References

*K Gray and SF Gray, ''Land Law'' (7th edn 2011) Ch 11 *K Gray and S Gray, ‘Private Property and Public Propriety’, in J McLean (ed), ''Property and the Constitution'' (Hart 1999) 36-7 English land law United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1961

Contents