Heathrow Expansion: What Business Owners Need to Know About Compensation
The ongoing expansion proposals at Heathrow Airport are creating growing uncertainty for business owners across West London and the surrounding commercial corridors. While residential impacts often dominate headlines, businesses are frequently the most directly and financially affected, facing disruption, relocation, loss of income and complex compensation processes.
If you own or operate a business from premises near Heathrow, understanding your rights and acting early is critical.
Why Heathrow expansion matters for businesses
Heathrow expansion is not just about land acquisition for a runway. For businesses, the effects can include:
Compulsory purchase (CPO) of business premises
Safeguarding directions preventing redevelopment, extension or sale
Temporary possession of land or buildings during construction
Loss of access, parking or servicing due to new infrastructure
Planning blight, making relocation or refinancing difficult
Even where your property is not immediately acquired, uncertainty can undermine trading confidence, deter customers, and weaken your business’s long-term viability.
Compensation is about more than property value
One of the most common misconceptions among business owners is that compensation is limited to the value of the building or land. In reality, business compensation can be substantial — but only if properly assessed and claimed.
Depending on your circumstances, compensation may include:
Market value of the property, assessed on an unaffected basis
Disturbance compensation, including relocation costs
Loss of profits during disruption or forced relocation
Professional fees, such as surveyors, solicitors and accountants
Temporary possession compensation, often underestimated or overlooked
Each head of claim must be justified with clear evidence. Without specialist advice, important elements are often missed.
Location value and extinguishment – two concepts businesses must understand
In compulsory purchase cases, two technical concepts frequently determine whether compensation is modest — or substantial.
Location (or “special suitability”) value
Many businesses derive value not just from the building itself, but from where it sits.
For example:
Proximity to Heathrow-dependent trade
Established customer catchment built over decades
Strategic road access or logistics positioning
Clustering benefits within an industrial estate
Under compulsory purchase principles, compensation is assessed on an unaffected basis, but in some cases the property may have special suitability or location value that is not easily replicated elsewhere.
This is particularly relevant where:
A business depends on airport-related customers
The site benefits from rare access arrangements
Planning constraints limit comparable relocation options
If that locational advantage cannot be replaced on the open market, it may materially affect the compensation negotiation. Proper valuation evidence is essential to demonstrate this.
Extinguishment of a business
In some cases, relocation is not reasonably possible. The business may effectively be extinguished.
This occurs where:
No suitable alternative premises exist
Relocation would destroy the trading model
Planning restrictions prevent re-establishment
Customer base is irretrievably lost
Where extinguishment is proven, compensation can extend beyond disturbance costs and may reflect:
Loss of goodwill
Loss of future profits
The value of the business as a going concern
Extinguishment claims are complex and heavily scrutinised. They require detailed trading analysis, financial evidence and careful coordination between valuers and accountants.
However, where justified, they can significantly increase overall compensation.
Why this matters at Heathrow
Around Heathrow, many businesses are:
Aviation-linked
Logistics-dependent
Location-sensitive
For these businesses, the issue is not simply the value of land — but whether the business can survive relocation at all.
Understanding the difference between relocation, location value, and extinguishment is critical before entering negotiations.
Business owners face unique risks
Business premises are rarely “off the shelf” replacements. Issues commonly arise where:
The business relies on location-specific trade
Premises include specialist fit-out or plant
Relocation risks loss of staff or customers
Lease terms complicate entitlement to compensation
In these cases, accepting early offers without professional input can result in significant under-compensation.
Blight, hardship and early sale options
Where a business needs certainty, there may be routes to trigger acquisition or compensation earlier, including:
Statutory blight notices where land is safeguarded
Discretionary hardship schemes where business viability is threatened
Early negotiations ahead of formal CPO confirmation
Each route has strict qualifying criteria and strategic implications. Choosing the wrong route — or acting too late — can weaken your position.
Why valuation evidence is critical
Compensation for businesses affected by Heathrow expansion is not automatic. It is negotiated, and negotiations are driven by valuation and financial evidence.
This often involves:
Analysis of comparable commercial sales and lettings
Assessment of alternative premises and relocation costs
Review of trading history and profit impacts
Clear separation of property value and business loss
Acquiring authorities will typically take a conservative stance unless challenged with robust, well-supported advice.
How Olden Property helps business owners secure the right compensation
Olden Property acts for business owners affected by major infrastructure schemes, including Heathrow expansion. Our focus is not just on property — but on protecting the business as a going concern.
We help by:
Providing independent, RICS-compliant valuations
Identifying all available heads of compensation
Advising on blight notices, hardship claims and early sale options
Working alongside solicitors and accountants to build joined-up claims
Negotiating directly with acquiring authorities and their advisers
Our experience ensures that compensation reflects the full commercial impact, not just the headline land value.
SEO takeaway for business owners
Search terms such as Heathrow expansion business compensation, Heathrow compulsory purchase business premises, and Heathrow blight business advice reflect real risks facing trading businesses today.
Early, specialist advice can materially improve outcomes, both in compensation level and in protecting your ability to plan ahead.
Speak to us early
If Heathrow expansion affects your business premises — or you are concerned about compulsory purchase, safeguarding or blight — early advice is essential. Once formal processes are underway, options narrow and leverage reduces.
If this scheme affects you or your clients, contact Olden Property to discuss how we can help you secure the right compensation, protect your business, and plan with confidence.