Compulsory Acquisition of Land by Local Authorities and Procedure at the Inquiry Tribunals
| Author | J. R. Howard Roberts |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1946.tb01957.x |
| Date | 01 September 1946 |
| Published date | 01 September 1946 |
Compulsory
Acquisition
of
Land
by
Local Authorities and. Procedure
at
the
Inquiry Tribunals
By
J.
R.
HOWARD
ROBERTS,
C.B.E.,
Solicif&
and
Pmlianientay
Ojficer
to
the
London
County
Couricif
I
SDCIAL
legislation has received a grcat
impetus
during the past century, and
it
may be said that to a large extent
the
carrying into
effect
of the changes
involved by such legislation has been entrusted to local authorities in the
respective areas of their administration.
It
is only proposed
to
deal here generally
with one matter which is today of great practical importance in view of the
Government's declared housing policy, namely, the legal position of the owner
of
land in relation to
a
local authority seelung to acquire such land'compulsorily
for the purpose of housing the working classes under the provisions
of
the
Housing Act, 1936.
COMPULSORY
ORDER PROCEDURE
The suitability
or
otherwise of land for housing purposes& an important
consideration when
a
local authority
is
dealing with the question
of
exercising
compulsory powers of purchase over
it,
and
if
it
is decided that such land is
Euitable for
the
purpose the local authority proceeds to
pass
a resolution for the
compulsory acquisition
of
the land under the provisions
of
the Housing Act, 1936,
and to make
a
compulsory purchase order in respect
of
it. The form
of
Com-
pulsory Purchase Order to be adopted will depend on whether the land is
to
be
acquired under Part
I11
of
the
Housing
Act, 1936, or
Part
V
of
that Act. The
form
of
Order relative to land to be acquired under Part
I11
is prescribed by
the Housing Act, 1936,
and
since the passing of the Acquisition of Land (Authori-
sation Procedure) Act, 1946, the form of Order appropriate
to
the acquisition of
land under Part
V
of
the 1936 Act is governed by the provisions
of
Section
I
of the Acquisition of Land (Authorkation Procedure) Act, 1946.
When
the
Compulsory Purchase Order has been made all persons interested in the land
to be acquired are notified by the local authority that a Compulsory Purchase
Order has been made, and the notice st:ates that objections
to
the Order must
be
made to the Minister
of
Health within the
time
specified
in
the notice. The
making
of
the Compulsory Purchase Order is also advertised
in
the Press
and
the advertisement contains similar information to that set out
in
the notices
served upon the persons known to be interested
in
the land. The object of
publishing an advertisement
of
the making
of
the
Compulsory
Purchase Order
is
to
bring it to the nonce
of
persons not known by the
local
authority
to
be
interested in the action taken.
A
special form
of
procedure is authorised by
Section
2
of the Acquisition
of
Land (Authorisation Procedure) Act, 1946, whereby a local authority can in
certain circumstances
contained
in
Sub-section (1)
of
Section
2
obtain author&
tion from the Minister
of
Health enabling them
to
enter
and take'possession
of
land the subject
of
the authorisation notwithstanding that the purchase
has
not
been completed. This is a temporary form
of
procedure for the speedy acquisi-
'Any
opinions or
conclusions
in
this
article
are
the
Author's
own
and in no way
represent
rhe
views.of the London
County
Council.
.-
176
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