Compulsory purchase
Reviewing outdated compulsory purchase laws to support a simpler and more modern land acquisition process. The consultation period for this project has now closed and the Law Commission is using the consultation responses to inform its final report and a draft Bill.
Problem (Back to top)
Compulsory purchase is a legal mechanism that enables certain bodies to acquire land without the consent of the owner.
The ability to buy land using compulsory powers is essential for large-scale projects that enhance local and national infrastructure. The number and scale of such projects is likely to intensify in coming decades, particularly in light of the UK’s net zero climate targets. Compulsory purchase powers are also needed for much-needed regeneration of towns and cities and to provide new homes.
At the same time, compulsory purchase powers can cause significant detrimental impacts on those individuals and businesses affected by them and should only be used as a last resort, when it is in the public interest.
It has been widely acknowledged for over two decades that the law of compulsory purchase in England and Wales is fragmented, hard to access and in need of modernisation. In the early 2000s, this led to a three-year project by the Law Commission, Towards a Compulsory Purchase Code, which resulted in the publication of two reports dealing with compensation and procedure respectively.
The recommendations of these reports were favourably received but not fully implemented. Since then, incremental changes to the law have been made but calls for a comprehensive modern code have continued.
Project (Back to top)
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (formerly the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities) asked the Law Commission to review the current law on compulsory purchase and compensation.
The Law Commission is reviewing the:
- procedures governing the acquisition of land through compulsory purchase orders (CPOs)
- system for assessing the compensation awarded to parties in relation to such acquisitions
The aim is to produce a draft Bill consolidating and codifying the law and making proposals for technical changes to ensure that the law is suitable for the modern era.
The consultation
We published a consultation paper on 20 December 2024 setting out initial views on the legal framework governing compulsory purchase and compensation. The paper was split into three parts: procedure, compensation and supplementary matters.
In the consultation paper, we asked questions designed to find out more about how the compulsory purchase system works in practice, as well as inviting views on our provisional proposals. The consultation period closed on 31 March 2025.
Next steps
We are currently analysing the consultation responses and will use them to develop our recommendations for reform. Our recommendations will be set out in a final report which will be accompanied by a draft Bill showing what a consolidated and reformed compulsory purchase code might look like. The final report and draft Bill are due to be published in 2027.
Documents (Back to top)
Background information
Consultation papers
Consultation and summary of consultation
Prynu gorfodol: crynodeb o’r papur ymgynghori
Updates (Back to top)
Project starts: 06 February 2023
Consultation opens: 20 December 2024
Consultation closed: 31 March 2025
Contact (Back to top)
Contact us for more information.