A Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) is a method of forced property acquisition where it would otherwise not be possible to purchase the property by agreement. It is used when your property is needed for new infrastructures projects such as a road, railway, or utilities, or to regenerate an area to provide new housing.

A CPO provides the right for the body with the compulsory purchase powers (known as an acquiring authority) to force the homeowner, business owner or land owner (known as the claimant) from their property on a set date without their agreement. The party whose property will be taken has no control over when the property or business is acquired. The price of the property or the value of the business may not be agreed upon when possession of the property is taken. It is vital if you are affected to take your own, independent advice.

Compulsory purchase compensation, sometimes referred to as CPO compensation, is the money paid to property owners and occupiers impacted by compulsory purchase. The assessment of compensation paid to homeowners and business owners is different. The main compensation items include the market value of the property, costs incurred because of the CPO, known as disturbance and statutory payments for the disruption caused. A broad principle is that the acquiring authority must commit that the affected party should be left in the same position after the compulsory purchase order as before.

Please click on the link below, which best describes your situation, for helpful government guidance relating to your situation:

Homeowner in occupation

Residential property owner not in occupation

Commercial property owner

Business in occupation

Agriculture landowner

When faced with the prospect of a CPO, advisors will regularly frame the discussion around a body of legislation known within the profession as the Compulsory Purchase Code. It would be helpful if all the legislation relating to compulsory purchase were captured in one single compulsory purchase act or book, sadly it is a lot more complex.

The Compulsory Purchase Code is a catch-all phrase for legislation, case law and common law rules relating to compulsory purchase. The current law of compulsory purchase is a patchwork of diverse rules over more than 100 years. The important thing to know is that the code protects you and ensures you are fairly compensated.

This is a difficult question to answer and definitely falls into the ‘how long is a piece of string’ category. Whatever timeframe the acquiring authority says, it is likely to be longer than that. If everything went to plan it could take approximately eighteen months from the date the CPO is made to the date possession of your property is taken, but it very rarely works out like this. In reality, it takes a lot longer and is more likely to be in the region of three to five years from the date you first hear the dreaded words ‘compulsory purchase’ to the date possession of your property is actually taken.

Factors which impact a CPO are many including local and national politics, finances of the developer or local authority, wider economic factors that will impact a timescale given the scale of many of these schemes, house prices and many more. You may choose to sell in advance of the CPO, but that will be your decision; you cannot be forced to sell before the CPO process has run its course.

A CPO should cost you nothing. If you are affected by compulsory purchase, you will be compensated for any professional fees you incur. The organisation making the CPO is obligated to pay all your legal and surveying fees in dealing with the CPO. The compulsory purchase is forced on you, and therefore there should be zero cost to you in dealing with the CPO. This includes the cost to value your property, assess the compensation claim and negotiate a settlement on your behalf, and source suitable relocation or reinvestment property. In addition to surveying fees, you are also entitled to compensation for any legal fees.

No. Increasingly local authorities try to acquire property with the ‘threat’ of a CPO in the background. This means ‘we do not have a CPO yet, but we will at some point in the future’. This is fine when the threat lasts for six to twelve months however there are local authorities where there has been a compulsory purchase in the background for over ten years.

When there is no CPO in place, you have no obligation to sell your property, irrespective of the pressure a local authority may put on you to sell. If you are in this position and feel you are being pressured to sell your property where there is no CPO in place, please read this article The Art of the Deal — Don’t be Bullied and get in touch with Tom to discuss.

A surveyor/valuer, such as Olden Property, acts on behalf of people affected by compulsory purchase (known as claimants). When searching for an advisor, you need to ensure they are RICS accredited valuers (Tom Olden is) and that they adhere to the guidance note prepared by the RICS, Surveyors Advising in Respect of Compulsory Purchase and Statutory Compensation.

Tom’s role as compulsory purchase surveyor is to advise claimants on the entire compulsory purchase process from the date the first letter comes through your door to the date the acquiring authority takes possession of the property, through to the date the final compensation settlement is agreed.

Tom will advise on the best approach to objecting to a compulsory purchase order when the CPO is made. He will then advise what compensation a claimant is entitled to, including the property value, statutory payments and additional compensation. He will negotiate on your behalf to ensure you receive the best compensation settlement possible. Tom will assist with the search for relocation or reinvestment property and act as an expert witness if the case goes to Tribunal.