For further information contact
Legal Services.
What every property owner and occupier should know.
What are compulsory purchase and statutory rights?
This is when the government, local council or utility company has
the legal right to buy or take rights over your private
property in circumstances where acquisition of the land is for
the benefit, improvement or development of its area or for the
purpose of exercising any of its functions. An example of this
might be when it falls within a public or private construction
project such as:
- airport expansions
- housing developments
- electricity pylons and cables
- flood defence works
- sewer, water or gas pipe schemes
- rail or road building projects
Different compulsory purchase or statutory powers are needed to
implement the above schemes. For example, water pipes are laid
under statutory rights under the Water Industry Act 1991 and a road
bypass will have its own compulsory purchase order through the
Acquisition of Land Act 1981.
In all cases, the owners and occupiers of the properties to be
acquired or affected by the scheme will be served notices, with
differing expiry times. All the schemes provide compensation to
owners and occupiers directly affected by the
scheme.