[Diggers350] Planning and Infrastructure Bill: Is BlackRock office in Treasury behind Reeves new law to compulsory purchase farmland?

Mon Jun 2 23:57:30 BST 2025

Planning and Infrastructure Bill: Is BlackRock 
office in Treasury behind Reeves new law for 
transnationals to compulsory purchase farmland?

https://tlio.org.uk/is-blackrock-office-in-treasury-behind-reeves-new-law-for-transnationals-to-compulsory-purchase-farmland/

Planning and Infrastructure Bill heralds top-down State control

Emacs!

Ive just been reading the Planning and 
Infrastructure Bill, prompted to do so by what 
Id picked up from the Planning Reform Working 
Paper on Development and Nature Recovery. Yes, I 
really do know how to enjoy myself.

https://archive.is/NNqg5#selection-2675.0-2957.138

My attention was particularly drawn to the 
proposal in the working paper that developers in 
future will not be required to carry out 
environmental mitigation on site, but will pay a 
sum of money to a delivery body to carry out 
strategic works somewhere else.

The paper asserted that the government would make 
development easier, but still protect the environment.

It said that site-specific actions may be 
effective in addressing the specific impact of a 
proposal, [but] by not taking a strategic view, 
we may miss opportunities to support wider 
objectives for the environment, land use, and public amenity.

The words strategic and strategically were 
used many times, and the intention explicitly 
stated: moving more responsibility for planning 
and implementing these strategic actions onto the state.

Joy Bowes, a former solicitor, divides her time 
between Suffolk and her partners  223ha Lake 
District hill farm. It is home to a herd of 
Galloway cattle. Higher Level Stewardship 
conservation work has been carried out, with 
plans for more trees under Countryside Stewardship.

It was obvious that somewhere else will mean 
on someone elses land and, having read the 
bill, I now know that Natural England will be 
authorised to compulsorily purchase farmland, or 
indeed any sort of open land, including 
allotments, to carry out environmental works.

This may explain why, in a recent interview, 
Natural Englands chair Tony Juniper seemed 
strangely unperturbed by the curtailing of 
site-specific environmental protection.

In brief, the bill says Natural England will draw 
up and consult on an Environmental Delivery Plan 
(EDP) for an area, setting out what environmental 
features need protection, what conservation 
measures are needed, and a schedule of the levies to pay for them.

Once the EDP is in place, any development which 
will affect a protected feature will be subject to the levy.

The developer pays the levy and builds its 
development, Natural England does something 
strategic with the money, the public gets the 
houses, factories or whatever, and nature doesnt 
suffer at all. What could go wrong?

Well, during my years in local government, I saw 
how hard it could be to agree with developers 
payment for things such as highway improvements. 
And I cant imagine that agreeing the levy will be much easier.

Local people may not be happy to lose an 
established woodland on the promise of new woodland five miles away.

Habitats or wildlife lost from a site surely 
cant just be replaced or relocated elsewhere.

Then there is the matter of making sure the 
off-site mitigation is actually carried out in a 
timely fashion so we dont end up with lots of 
development yet no compensatory benefit to the environment.

I am also uneasy that so much power will be 
devolved to Natural England. Not only will it 
determine, through EDPs, what environmental works 
are needed, it will also decide what land it requires to achieve this.

The bill even provides for a second go if the 
first mitigation is ineffective. I worry that 
this will allow a state-sponsored body to 
appropriate as much land as it can, to the detriment of affected landowners.

The government argues that, at present, it is too 
easy for bats, newts and human blockers to hold up essential development.

The bill opens the door to too much top-down 
state control and a complete disregard for the 
people who have to live with the consequences.

Compulsory purchase reform ahead  whats planned?

A planning and infrastructure bill is due to be introduced early this year.

Suzie Horne 16 January 2025

https://www.fwi.co.uk/business/business-management/compulsory-purchase-reform-ahead-whats-planned

https://www.fwi.co.uk/business/business-management/compulsory-purchase-reform-ahead-whats-planned

Alongside other planning reforms, it is proposed 
to include wider compulsory purchase (CP) powers 
and restrict compensation to landowners.

A consultation published on 19 December 2024 sets 
out reforms that expand on provisions in the 
Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023.

These allow hope value to be removed in 
circumstances where social and affordable housing 
is being built, also for educational and NHS 
purposes, providing there is justification in the public interest.
What is proposed?

A key proposal is to extend this ability to 
disapply hope value to include CP orders made on 
behalf of parish, town or community councils by 
local authorities under section 125 of the Local Government Act 1972.

This would apply where the schemes involved are 
providing affordable or social housing.

Its unusual for town and community councils to 
be considering compulsory purchase because of the 
risks involved, unless they are in a joint 
venture with a developer, says planning lawyer 
Fergus Charlton, a partner with Michelmores.

This is pushing in the direction for the 
delivery of more housing and makes it more likely 
that a landowner will be served with a compulsory purchase order, he says.

The consultation refers to the governments 
desire that landowners should get a fair rather 
than elevated value for land taken by CP. 
However, fair in this instance simply means agricultural value.

Henry Church is a senior director with CBRE UK, a 
commercial real estate service and investment company.

He also has a long-standing relationship with the 
Compulsory Purchase Association, an independent 
organisation promoting best practice in the field.

Speaking in a personal capacity as a CP 
practitioner, Henry takes issue with the words fair and elevated.

What this is seeking is for there to be payment 
for existing use value, ignoring any potentiality in the land, he says.

This approach goes against the principle of 
equivalence, which says that those subject to 
compulsory purchase should be put in no worse a 
position as a result of the process.

Like many others, he thinks that the move could 
reduce the amount of land coming forward for 
housing, as those promoting it may fear spending 
to do so only to have it subsequently taken from them by CP.

By disapplying hope value, youre not getting 
rid of that value, youre giving it to someone else.

You need to be responsible about what you do 
with that value. So who does it go to  the local authority or the developer?

The cost of land is a factor in development, but 
disapplying hope value as a means of addressing 
the rate of housebuilding is too simplistic and 
risks land not being brought forward, says Henry.
Other measures

The consultation goes further in seeking to allow 
land to be compulsorily purchased without hope value.

The government is considering a general power to 
enable the secretary of state in England or the 
ministers in Wales to make a direction to remove 
hope value from compensation for a specific 
category of sites where this is justified in the public interest.

It suggests this could include land allocated for 
residential development in an adopted plan but 
which has not come forward for development.

This could bring a much wider range of farmland 
into the net of CP with no hope value, while some 
commentators have interpreted it as being aimed 
at those holding potential development land but 
not yet developing it  often referred to as land banking.
Land costs and development

The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) 
has long argued that land costs are a relatively 
small part of total development costs.

Compulsory purchase compensation aims to put 
those affected in the same position as if their land had not been taken.

However, this is rarely the outcome, says CLA chief surveyor Andrew Shirley.

The ability to remove hope value was introduced 
by the previous government and criticised by him 
as singling out land value as if that was going to solve the problem.

A key consideration for the valuation process is 
what the land might be worth if sold on the open 
market by a willing seller, he says, also 
criticising the planning process for delays and 
the recent revision of the National Planning 
Policy Framework for offering nothing to the rural economy.

Hope value is real value, not a made-up value, says Andrew.

If a developer were to buy a field they would 
pay a value to reflect its development potential. 
Removing hope value [from the CP process] means 
the only person not making money from it is the landowner.
Opportunity to develop before new laws

The planning and infrastructure bill may take one to two years to become law.

In the meantime, the CLAs message is that is if 
someone feels they have development potential on 
their land, they should promote it, submit it for 
planning and/or sell or develop it, says Andrew.

If the proposals become law, it is expected that 
one result will be more joint ventures between 
local planning authorities and developers, 
whereby the developers fund or part-fund the 
compulsory purchase process in order to access 
the development land subject to the CP order.
Compulsory purchase powers

Compulsory purchase (CP) is a legal process by 
which land can be taken without the consent of the owner.

These powers are granted to local authorities, 
government departments and to other public and private bodies by legislation.

This includes mayoral combined authorities and 
other public bodies, including Homes England.

CP powers can only be used if it is deemed that 
there is a compelling case in the public interest 
to do so  for example, for infrastructure 
projects such as railways, roads, energy, 
electricity infrastructure, schools, hospitals, 
housing, and urban regeneration.

The government says that the proposed changes to 
the CP regime aim to speed up decision-making, 
reduce the cost of the process and ensure the 
compensation paid to landowners is fair.
Other changes in the governments consultation

Where a CP is proposed and a direction to remove 
hope value is sought and opposed, the government 
wants the decision to be made by a planning 
inspector rather than the secretary of state or a minister.

Also, where a no hope value CP order has been 
made but there are no objections to the order, 
the government then the acquiring authority would 
have the power to confirm the decision, rather 
than the secretary of state or minister.

This would require an amendment to the Acquisition of Land Act 1981.
Law Commission compulsory purchase review

At the same time as the governments consultation 
on compulsory purchase, the Law Commission of 
England and Wales is reviewing the system and 
also launched a consultation on 20 December 2024.

This work began in February 2023 and will suggest 
how to consolidate, modernise and simplify 
compulsory purchase legislation, with a resulting 
draft bill proposing technical changes to 
compulsory purchase procedure and compensation.

There have been frequent calls for reform of the 
complex and dated CP legislation, some of which dates back to 1845.
How to respond to the consultation

The consultation document was available online.

Responses can also be made online or by emailing 
CompulsoryPurchaseConsultation at communities.gov.uk

or by post addressed to:

Compulsory Purchase Consultation Team
Planning  Development Management Division
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Floor 3, Fry Building
2 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DF 
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