Compulsory purchase and the constructor’s conundrum

“ ‘I do regret it a bit’: Grandfather has a motorway built AROUND his house after turning down £180,000 compensation package” (Daily Mail, 24 January 2025).

As English and Guernsey property law specialists, we often come across news stories which pique our interest.  The headline above and picture below certainly made us pause.

At its most basic, and as the name suggests, ‘compulsory purchase’ is the process by which a public body, often a government, uses legislative authority to override private law rights of ownership to acquire land, in exchange for a payment or other form of compensation.

The act of compulsory purchase is generally used when offers to purchase in more traditional ways (typically negotiations) have not succeeded, and the target land in question is necessary for a significant infrastructure project, or similar.

In England, for example, compulsory purchase powers have been used in relation to the train route for HS2. Statutes and regulations around this subject area include the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023, the Planning Act 2008 and the Compulsory Purchase of Land (Vesting Declarations)(England) Regulations 2017.

In Guernsey, such powers were recently engaged by the States of Guernsey to acquire land for the airport runway extension.  Here, the governing law is the Compulsory Acquisition of Land (Guernsey) Law, 1949, as variously amended (latterly in 2010), and as supported by the Compulsory Acquisition of Land (Guernsey)(Prescribed Forms) Regulations, 2011.

As one would expect, when a public body overrides the private rights of an individual, the legal steps and protections are very complicated and complex.  The process often takes years and may be the subject of numerous legal challenges.

On a human level, many of us may know stories of people who changed the position of a skyscraper, or who altered the landscape by staying put, and such stance often attracts media interest for this reason.

As the photograph below suggests (and ignoring for the sake of artistic licence the jurisdiction of the location), compulsory purchase powers do not always work!

For any property matter in England or in Guernsey, please do not hesitate to contact Anna Douglass or Alastair Hargreaves who will be pleased to assist.