Urgent Action Required for Agricultural Landowners to Protect Land Value

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill has reached its second reading in the House of Commons. If it gains royal assent, it will have significant implications for agricultural landowners.

The bill proposes reforms to the compulsory purchase system, aiming to reform the compulsory purchase process and land compensation rules to enable more effective land assembly, speeding up and lowering the costs of delivering housing and infrastructure in the public interest.

Notably, the bill empowers towns, parish, and community councils to remove value attributed to the prospect of planning permissions ('hope value') when using compulsory purchase order powers to facilitate affordable or social housing provision.

This change means landowners may no longer receive increased values based on potential future development, significantly affecting the market value of land subject to compulsory purchase. Landowners may receive only the agricultural land value. 

This, of course, assumes that those exercising compulsory purchase powers have the necessary funds to do so! 

In any event, landowners should act immediately by reviewing their landholdings and identifying areas at risk of compulsory purchase. Proactively promoting land through local plans or securing permissions can help mitigate these risks and protect land value.

We strongly recommend seeking professional advice to assess compulsory purchase risks and compensation rights.