Council Compulsory purchase act - use of land aquired.

[Jonathan---]

Hi,
my father had 2 derelict houses compulsory purchased by the council in the 70s. He thought their offer of �500 for 2 houses was well below valuation and a figure was never agreed. However the small row of houses were knocked down with all the other owners accepting the money. This land has still not been used for any purpose and the council are happy to sell the entire original plot back to us, BUT, they will not price the land until he has accepted the �500 plus interest coming to app �2000.
From our point of view we think it is only acceptable for the entire plot to be valued first and then his area to be deducted.
Is there a law stating CPO must use the land for a purpose within a timescale and is it worth taking the council to court if we cannot agree?
Thanks,
Jonathan

[buildersmate]

I disagree - you seem to want your cake and eat it. I don't know whose valuation you say it was below but public bodies have rules under CPO about using independent professional valuers to determine the CPO price.
If you want the land back I think you are going to have to first agree that the terms of the original CPO should have gone through. There is (and always was) a process for agreeing the price, including appeals, involving valuers.

Second point - there is no obligation on the public body to use the land within a certain time.

Third point - there is an obligation to first offer the land back to the original owner if it is decided the land is no longer needed provided the land remains broadly as it was when initially CPOed. Guidelines for Government Departments follow an obscure piece of caselaw known as Critchel Down Rules. This dates back to a case involving land acquired during WW2 by the Government and subsequently sold on many years later; the original landowner took the case to court and won.
Here is the Government Circular on CPO.
http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/planni ngandbuilding/pdf/142928.pdf

It is a massive 124 pages, applies in England and Wales, and the bit that you need to look at starts around page 108 - where it talks about Critchel Down Rules and selling back.

[Jonathan---]

Thanks for your response.
We're just concerned that if we agree to the original cpo then there is no written guarantee that we will be offered the land first or at a reasonable price.

[buildersmate]

It isn't some low-level civil servant that invents a number - the public body has to use one or more professional valuers.
Not saying that's the be all and end all, but it protects your interests to some level.