Acquisition of Land Act 1981

Part I — General

Final day for making objections

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• (1) In this Act “compulsory purchase” means a compulsory purchase of land, being—

• (a) a compulsory purchase to which this Act applies by virtue of any other enactment, whether or not passed or made before this Act, or

• (b) a compulsory purchase under an enactment specified in subsection (2) below.

• (2) The enactments referred to in subsection (1)(b) above are—

• section 2 of the Metropolitan Police Act 1886,

• section 1(3) of the Military Lands Act 1892,

• sections 25(1) and 39(1) of the Small Holdings and Allotments Act 1908,

• section 5(1) of the Development and Road Improvement Funds Act 1909 as it applies to acquisition by local authorities (as defined in section 7(1) of this Act) or the Secretary of State,

• ...

• . . .

• section 530(1) of the Education Act 1996,

• . . .

• (3) In this section “enactment” includes any statutory instrument.

Compulsory purchase

Procedure for authorisation

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• (1) The authorisation of a compulsory purchase shall be conferred by an order (in this Act called a “compulsory purchase order”).

• (2) A compulsory purchase order authorising a compulsory purchase by an authority other than a Minister is to be—

• (a) made by that authority,

• (b) submitted to the confirming authority, and

• (c) confirmed in accordance with Part 2 of this Act.

• (3) A compulsory purchase order authorising a compulsory purchase by a Minister shall be made by the Minister in accordance with Schedule 1 to this Act.

Minerals

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Schedule 2 to this Act (exception of minerals from purchases etc.) shall have effect.

Assessment of compensation

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• (1) In relation to a compulsory purchase the Land Compensation Act 1961 shall have effect subject to the provisions of this section.

• (2) The Upper Tribunal shall not take into account any interest in land, or any enhancement of the value of any interest in land, by reason of any building erected, work done or improvement or alteration made, whether on the land purchased or on any other land with which the claimant is, or was at the time of the erection, doing or making of the building, works, improvement or alteration, directly or indirectly concerned, if the Upper Tribunal is satisfied that the creation of the interest, the erection of the building, the doing of the work, the making of the improvement or the alteration, as the case may be, was not reasonably necessary and was undertaken with a view to obtaining compensation or increased compensation.

Supplemental

Local inquiries

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• (1) For the purposes of the execution of his powers and duties under this Act, a Minister may cause to be held such public local inquiries as are directed by this Act and such other public local inquiries as he may think fit.

• (2) Subsections (2) and (3) of section 250 of the Local Government Act 1972 (giving of evidence on inquiries) shall apply to a public local inquiry held in pursuance of this Act.

• (3) In relation to—

• (a) a proposed acquisition of land by an authority other than a Minister, or

• (b) the proposed extinction under Part VI of this Act of a right of way over land acquired or proposed to be acquired by an authority other than a Minister,

subsections (4) and (5) of the said section 250 (defraying of costs of inquiries) shall apply to a public local inquiry held in pursuance of this Act.

• (4) In relation to each of the matters mentioned in paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (3), section 250(5) of the Local Government Act 1972 also applies—

• (a) where arrangements are made for a public local inquiry to be held in England in pursuance of this Act but the inquiry does not take place;

• (b) to the costs of a party to a public local inquiry held in England in pursuance of this Act who does not attend the inquiry.

Service of documents

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• (1) Any notice or other document required or authorised to be served under this Act may be served on any person either by delivering it to him, or by leaving it at his proper address, or by post, so however that the document shall not be duly served by post unless it is sent by registered letter, or by the recorded delivery service.

• (2) Any such document required or authorised to be served upon an incorporated company or body shall be duly served if it is served upon the secretary or clerk of the company or body.

• (3) For the purposes of this section and of section 7 of the Interpretation Act 1978 the proper address of any person upon whom any such document as aforesaid is to be served shall, in the case of the secretary or clerk of any incorporated company or body, be that of the registered or principal office of the company or body, and in any other case be the last known address of the person to be served:

• (4) If the authority or Minister having jurisdiction to make the order in connection with which the document is to be served is satisfied that reasonable inquiry has been made and that it is not practicable to ascertain the name or address of an owner, lessee , tenant or occupier of land on whom any such document as aforesaid is to be served, the document may be served by addressing it to him by the description of “owner”, “lessee” , “tenant” or “occupier” of the land (describing it) to which it relates, and by delivering it to some person on the land or, if there is no person on the land to whom it may be delivered, by leaving it or a copy of it on or near the land.

• (5) Any notice or other document required or authorised to be served on a person under this Act may be served by sending it to an email address or uploading it to a website at which the person has agreed in writing to receive notices or documents for the purposes of the compulsory purchase order to which the notice or document relates.

• (6) Any notice or other document required or authorised to be served under this Act on—

• (a) an acquiring authority,

• (b) a confirming authority,

• (c) an inspector,

• (d) a local authority, or

• (e) a statutory undertaker,

may also be served electronically by a method mentioned in subsection (7).

• (7) The methods of electronic service are—

• (a) sending the notice or document to an appropriate email address, or

• (b) uploading the notice or document to an appropriate website.

• (8) For the purposes of subsection (7)—

• (a) an email address or website is an appropriate one for the service of notices or documents if the person being served has—

• (i) provided the email address or details of the website to the sender for the purposes of communicating with them about land subject to the compulsory purchase order or about the order itself, or

• (ii) published the fact that the email address or the website may be used for those purposes;

• (b) an email address is also an appropriate one for the service of notices or documents if the person being served has previously used it for the purposes of communicating with the sender about land subject to the compulsory purchase order or about the order itself.

• (9) A notice or other document sent electronically is, unless the contrary is proved, to be treated as having been received on the working day immediately following the day on which it was sent.

• (10) In this section—

• “inspector” means a person appointed under section 14D;

• “local authority” means a local authority within the meaning of section 7(1) or section 17(4);

• “statutory undertaker” includes the persons mentioned in section 16(3) and in the definition of statutory undertaker in section 17(4);

• “working day” means a day other than a Saturday, a Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday or a bank holiday under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 in England and Wales.

• (11) This section does not apply to a communication required or authorised to be sent under this Act to the High Court.

Interpretation

Interpretation

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• (1) In this Act, except where the context otherwise requires—

• “acquiring authority”, in relation to a compulsory purchase, means the Minister, local authority or other person who may be authorised to purchase the land compulsorily,

• “appropriate website”, in relation to a notice about a proposed compulsory purchase, means a website which members of the public could reasonably be expected to find on searching on the internet for information about the scheme or project that underlies the proposed purchase,

• “compulsory purchase order” means an order under section 2(1) above,

• “confirming authority”, in relation to a compulsory purchase, means, where the acquiring authority is not a Minister, the Minister having power to authorise the acquiring authority to purchase the land compulsorily,

• “land”—

• (a) includes messuages, tenements and hereditaments, and

• (b) in relation to compulsory purchase under any enactment, includes anything falling within any definition of the expression in that enactment,

• “local authority” means—

• (a) a billing authority or a precepting authority, as defined in section 69 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992;

• (a1) the London Fire Commissioner;

• (aa) a fire and rescue authority in Wales constituted by a scheme under section 2 of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 or a scheme to which section 4 of that Act applies;

• (b) a levying body within the meaning of section 74 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 ;

• (c) a body as regards which section 75 of that Act applies;

• (d) any joint board or joint committee if all the constituent authorities are such authorities as are described in paragraphs (a) to (c); and

• (e) the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple or the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple,

• “National Trust” means the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty incorporated by the National Trust Act 1907,

• “owner” in relation to any land, means a person, other than a mortgagee not in possession, who is for the time being entitled to dispose of the fee simple of the land, whether in possession or in reversion, and includes also a person holding or entitled to the rents and profits of the land under a lease or agreement, the unexpired term whereof exceeds three years and a person who would have power to sell and convey or release the land to the acquiring authority if a compulsory purchase order were operative,

• “prescribed”: see subsection (2) below.

• (2) Anything which, by Part II or III of this Act, or Schedule 1 or 3 of this Act, is required or authorised to be prescribed shall be prescribed by regulations made by the Secretary of State by statutory instrument.

• (3) But an instrument containing regulations made for the purposes of section 13A or 13BA or section 15A(11) or paragraph 4A or 4AA of Schedule 1 is subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

• (4) So far as anything is required or authorised to be prescribed as mentioned in subsection (2) in relation to orders that fall to be made or confirmed by the Welsh Ministers—

• (a) the reference in that subsection to the Secretary of State is to be read as a reference to the Welsh Ministers, and

• (b) the reference in subsection (3) to either House of Parliament is to be read as a reference to Senedd Cymru.

Statutory undertakers

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• (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, “statutory undertakers” means—

• (a) any person authorised by any enactment to construct, work or carry on—

• (i) any railway, light railway, tramway, road transport, water transport, canal or inland navigation undertaking, or

• (ii) any dock, harbour, pier or lighthouse undertaking, or

• (iii) any undertaking for the supply of . . . , . . . , or hydraulic power, or

• (b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the Civil Aviation Authority or a person who holds a licence under Chapter I of Part I of the Transport Act 2000 (to the extent that the person is carrying out activities authorised by the licence), or

• (c) a universal service provider in connection with the provision of a universal postal service . . . ,

• and in this subsection “enactment” means any Act or any order or scheme made under or confirmed by an Act.

• (1ZA) The undertaking of a person who holds a licence under Chapter I of Part I of the Transport Act 2000 shall not be considered to be a statutory undertaking for the purposes of this Act except to the extent that it is the person’s undertaking as licence holder; and references in this Act to the person’s undertaking shall be construed accordingly.

• (1A) The undertaking of a universal service provider so far as relating to the provision of a universal postal service shall be taken to be his statutory undertaking for the purposes of this Act; and references in this Act to his undertaking shall be construed accordingly.

• (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (3) In this Act “the appropriate Minister” means, in relation to any statutory undertakers, the Secretary of State.

• (4) If any question arises under this Act which Minister is the appropriate Minister, the question shall be determined by the Treasury.

Land held inalienably

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For the removal of doubt it is hereby declared that any power conferred—

• (a) under this Act, or

• (b) by or under the Acquisition of Land (Authorisation Procedure) Act 1946, or any enactment passed before the commencement of that Act,

to purchase land compulsorily is, except in so far as any express provision of any such enactment restricts the exercise of the power, exercisable notwithstanding any other enactment providing that the land shall be inalienable.

Part II — Purchases By Local And Other Authorities

Preliminary

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• (1) This Part of this Act has effect except where a Minister is the acquiring authority.

• (2) The compulsory purchase order shall be in the prescribed form and shall describe by reference to a map the land to which it applies.

• (3) Before submitting the order to the confirming authority the acquiring authority shall comply with sections 11 and 12 below.

Notices prior to submission of order to confirming authority

Notices in newspapers

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• (1) The acquiring authority shall—

• (a) in two successive weeks publish a notice in the prescribed form in one or more local newspapers circulating in the locality in which the land comprised in the order is situated , and

• (b) for a period of at least 21 days ending with the day specified under subsection (2)(d), publish a notice in the prescribed form on an appropriate website.

• (2) The notice notices shall—

• (a) state that the order has been made and is about to be submitted for confirmation,

• (b) describe the land and state the purpose for which the land is required,

• (c) name a place within the locality where a copy of the order and of the map referred to therein may be inspected, and

• (ca) specify a website on which those copies may be viewed, and

• (d) specify the time (not being less than twenty-one days from the first publication of the notice) within which, and the manner in which, objections to the order can be made.

• (d) specify the final day for making objections to the order, and the manner in which objections can be made.

• (2ZA) In the case of a notice under subsection (1)(a), the requirement in subsection (2)(b) to describe the land may be met by briefly identifying the land (by giving its postal address or otherwise).

• (2A) If the confirming authority is satisfied that, because of special circumstances, it is impracticable for the acquiring authority to make the copies referred to in subsection (2)(c) available for inspection at an appropriate place, the confirming authority may direct that the requirement in subsection (2)(c) (together with that in section 12(1)(ba)) is not to apply.

• (3) In addition, the acquiring authority shall affix a notice in the prescribed form to a conspicuous object or objects on or near the land comprised in the order.

• (4) The notice under subsection (3) must—

• (a) be addressed to persons occupying or having an interest in the land, and

• (b) set out each of the matters mentioned in subsection (2) (but reading the reference there to first publication of the notice as a reference to the day when the notice under subsection (3) is first affixed).

Notices to owners, lessees and occupiers

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• (1) The acquiring authority shall serve on every qualifying person a notice in the prescribed form—

• (a) stating the effect of the order,

• (b) stating that it is about to be submitted for confirmation, and

• (ba) (subject to section 11(2A)) naming a place within the locality where a copy of the order and of the map referred to in it may be inspected,

• (bb) specifying a website on which those copies may be viewed, and

• (c) specifying the time (not being less than twenty-one days from service of the notice) within which, and the manner in which, objections to the order can be made.

• (c) specifying the final day for making objections to the order, and the manner in which objections can be made.

• (2) A person is a qualifying person, in relation to land comprised in an order, if—

• (a) he is an owner, lessee, tenant (whatever the tenancy period) or occupier of the land, ...

• (b) he falls within subsection (2A) , or

• (c) the person is entitled to the benefit of an obligation under a conservation covenant (within the meaning of Part 7 of the Environment Act 2021) relating to the land.

• (2A) A person falls within this subsection if he is—