Compulsory purchase in England and Wales

In England and Wales, Parliament has granted several different kinds of compulsory purchase power, which are exercisable by various bodies in various situations.

[1] Building national infrastructure, such as railways, housing, and sewerage, needs compulsory purchase, because: Historically, compulsory purchases were carried out under the inclosure acts and their predecessors,[dubious – discuss] where enclosure was frequently a method of expropriating people from common land for the benefit of barons and landlords.

[citation needed] In the Industrial Revolution, most railways were built by private companies procuring compulsory purchase rights from private acts of Parliament,[3] though by the late 19th century, powers of compulsory purchase slowly became more transparent and used for general social welfare, as with the Public Health Act 1875 (38 & 39 Vict.

Typically, either central government represented by a Secretary of State, or a local council will be interested in making a compulsory purchase.

However the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 section 226,[10] which allows compulsory purchase to "facilitate the carrying out of development, re-development or improvement" for the area's economic, social, or environmental well being, must be confirmed by the Secretary of State, and similarly the Local Government Act 1972 section 121 requires the council seek approval from the government Minister.

Utility companies have statutory powers to secure ownership or easement rights to erect electrical substations or lay sewers or water pipes on or through someone else's land.

These powers are counterbalanced by corresponding rights for landowners to compel utility companies to remove cables, pipes or sewers in other circumstances (see for example section 185 of the Water Industry Act 1991).

Because of property's social importance, either for personal consumption and use or for mass production,[15] compulsory purchase laws have met with human rights challenges.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled that the Leasehold Reform Act 1967, which allowed tenants to purchase properties from their private landlords, was within a member state's margin of appreciation.

After the enclosure movement, the Surrey Railways Act 1801 ( 41 Geo. 3. (U.K.) . c. xxxiii ) [ 2 ] used compulsory purchase to build the Surrey Iron Railway . Courts since have fought over the extent to which compulsory purchase is used for the public good.
The Grosvenor family have owned most of Mayfair and Belgravia in central London since Sir Thomas married into inheritance of the land in 1677. The Grosvenor estate lost human rights challenges to the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 , [ 12 ] giving tenants a " right to buy ", but the legislation was restricted. [ 13 ]