Labour to use Compulsory Purchase Orders to buy cheap...

Labour says it will reform how land is valued under Compulsory Purchase Order powers in a bid to increase house building totals.

Under existing CPO powers - rarely used - local authorities can effectively force property owners to sell to make way for major projects.

The Financial Times says shadow housing secretary Lisa Nandy wants an extension of such powers to purchase land at a price that does not include so-called “hope value” – the additional value a site attracts through the expectation of winning consent for residential construction in the future.

Labour says this approach mirrors what already happens in Germany, France, the Netherlands and elsewhere.

In detail, Labour says that in government it would seek to overturn the 1961 Land Compensation Act, which prevents councils from buying plots for development at their agricultural value. The FT says: “At present, local authorities acquiring sites through CPOs must factor the hope value into the purchase price … In recent decades, the gap between the value of agricultural land and fields with permission has widened dramatically. Land worth £22,520 per hectare as agricultural land can on average be worth £6.2m per hectare with permission — 275 times more — according to the Centre for Progressive Policy think-tank.”

A Labour spokesperson tells the FT: “We want local areas to capture and benefit from a lot more of the uplift than they currently do when development occurs. We want to tilt the balance of power. It feels like the scales are tilted towards . . . landowners, we want to re-tilt it towards the communities that want to see more houses built.”

A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokesperson states: "We want councils to be able to unlock more land for affordable housing, which is why we are reforming compensation for compulsory purchase orders.

"The current rules can significantly increase costs for councils and our reforms will ensure the taxpayer gets best value for money, by removing 'hope value' where justified and in the public interest.

"It will ultimately be for the Secretary of State to decide whether a compulsory purchase order can be approved and if the removal of hope value is appropriate."