A group of compulsory purchase experts are campaigning for the government to change the way councils work how compensation is calculated when compulsory purchase orders (CPO) are exercised.
The Compulsory Purchase Association (CPA) has been lobbying the government to change the rules since 2008. The CPA’s proposals have now been adopted in an amendment to the Localism Bill which is due to become law later this year.
The main aims of the proposals are to close a loophole that allows owners to claim large amounts of money in “hope value” and to simplify the way compensation is calculated.
At present councils have to work out the value of the site being compulsorily purchased by working out how much it would have been worth when the CPO was first proposed. In some situations this could have been more than five years ago. Under the proposed changes the valuation dates will not be linked to the when the CPO was first proposed.
The changes will also close the loophole which has seen councils paying excessive prices for sites following long legal battles.
The CPA argue that the changes will save councils time, money and possible legal claims.