Govt publishes Compulsory Purchase Order consultation

Local councils will be able to buy cheaper land through Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs) with the removal of “hope value” from land under consultation proposals published today (December 19).

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s Compulsory Purchase Process and Compensation Reforms consultation seeks views on a range of technical reforms to the compulsory purchase process and compensation rules.

MHCLG’s proposed changes will allow councils, mayoral combined authorities and other public bodies including Homes England to take direct control of vacant and derelict land from landowners, creating “thousands of more homes” and infrastructure.

They will not be subject to “hope value” costs – where it is estimated how much the land could be worth if developed on in the future - “where they are delivering in the public interest”, with this applying in more circumstances where social and affordable housing is being delivered.

This, MHCLG indicated, would spare councils from paying “thousands of pounds more” to buy land for development. And the change would make good use of “unsightly, vacant land”.

Under other proposals for CPO revisions, MHCLG aims to accelerate decision making, reduce the cost of the process and ensure the compensation paid to …