Abstract
The
guiding principle of compulsory purchase of interests in land in England
and Wales is that of fairness, best stated in the words of Lord Justice
Scott in Horn v Sunderland Corporation when he said that the owner
has “the right to be put, so far as money can do it, in the same position
as if his land had not been taken from him”. In many instances, land
acquired by compulsion subsequently becomes surplus to the requirements
of the acquiring authority. This may be because the intended development
scheme was scrapped, or substantially modified, or that after the passage
of time the use of the land for which the purchase took place is no longer
required. More controversially it may be that for ‘operational reasons’
the acquiring authority knowingly purchased more land than was required
for the scheme. Under these circumstances, the Crichel Down
Rules (‘the Rules’) require government departments and other statutory
bodies to offer back to the former owners or their successors, any land
previously so acquired by, or under the threat of, compulsory purchase.
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