The number of compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) issued to push forward large scale developments increased by two-thirds last year, according to national law firm Bond Dickinson.
Fifty-eight applications for CPOs — allowing certain bodies to obtain land or property without the consent of the owner — were made during 2014, compared to just 36 the year before.
Stressing that the use of planning CPOs in 2014 still falls considerably short of pre-recession levels, Bond Dickinson says their rise is a powerful indicator of improving economic confidence. “The making of a CPO is often a key step in commitment by both the public and private sectors towards a major development scheme. These signs of renewed development activity are therefore encouraging,” its report adds.
Any organisation or body applying for a CPO can also expect a high rate of success. Of the orders determined between 2012 and 2014, over 95 per cent of planning and housing CPOs were either confirmed or facilitated acquisition by agreement.
Last year’s hot spots for compulsory purchase use remained London, the Midlands and the North West, but CPOs continue to be used nationwide. Among the planning orders made during 2014 were those for schemes such as the retail-led Whitgift Centre in Croydon, the Watford Health Campus and Phase Three of the Edge Hill project made by Liverpool City Council.
Commenting on the findings, based on responses to a Freedom of Information Act request made to UK local and unitary authorities, Bond Dickinson’s legal director, Frank Orr, said: “This significant recovery in the number of Planning CPOs submitted in 2014 — from a low in 2013 — may be a positive indicator of returning confidence in an economic upturn.
“If that trend continues then we would anticipate a continued uplift in the use of Planning CPOs through 2015, as authorities seek to facilitate a range of development projects, however there is still some way to go to match pre-recession levels.”
Orr explained that: “Acquiring authorities can take comfort from the good prospects of success, but must use CPOs with care and pay close attention to the circumstances of each case to meet legal and policy requirements.”
The Government has already voiced its support for the use of CPOs as “an effective tool for delivering socio-economic and environmental change and regeneration”. But, he warns: “There is scope and need to improve the delivery of properly made CPOs and the recently proposed streamlining of processes and decision-making timescales are to be welcomed.”
Examining the reasons why a small percentage of CPOs fail, the report claimed the commonest causes were drafting errors, the availability of alternative solutions, falling short of the need for compulsory acquisition and a failure to demonstrate that all land covered by an order was needed for a proposed development.
