Summary: Mrs X complains about the way the Council managed a compulsory purchase order on land that she owned. The Council has already acknowledged it was at fault for not paying Mrs X for the land in March 2016 and has agreed to pay interest from the purchase date. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs X and make a financial payment to remedy the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about the way the Council managed a compulsory purchase order (CPO) on land that she owned. Mrs X says the Council purchased the land in 2016 but failed to make payment. Because of this Mrs X has missed out on interest she would have earnt if the Council had made payment at time of purchase.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have reviewed the information provided by Mrs X and discussed the complaint with her. I have considered the Council’s documents and correspondence with Mrs X about this matter. I wrote to Mrs X and the Council with a copy of my draft decision and invited their comments. I considered all the comments I received before reaching a final decision on this case.

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What I found

Legislation and guidance

5. A CPO is an order made by a public body under statutory powers to enable them to acquire land to carry out statutory functions, such as to develop land or construct road schemes.
6. Under section 1 of the Compulsory Purchase (Vesting Declarations) Act 1981 a local authority or other public body (‘the authority’) can acquire land by means of a general vesting declaration.

What happened

7. Below is a chronology of key events. It is not meant to show everything that happened.
8. In April 2014, the Council acquired land owned by Mr Y by compulsory purchase order (CPO). The Council assumed the purchase included a plot of land (plot A) owned by Mrs X and her sister.
9. In January 2016, Mrs X’s solicitor wrote to the Council and said plot A was not included in the CPO. The Council explained it was lawfully authorised to compulsory acquire plot A and therefore in March 2016 served a general vesting declaration (GVD) on Mrs X’s solicitors. Subsequently the Council became the legal owners of plot A on 29 March 2016.
10. In April 2016 the Council made an application to HM Land Registry to close the title to plot A and amalgamate the title into the Council’s existing freehold title of the remainder of Mr Y’s estate. HM Land Registry completed the registration in June 2016.
11. Mrs X says her solicitor wrote to the Council at the time, but no response was received. Therefore, Mrs X assumed that the CPO for plot A had not been completed. The Council says that a dialogue did take place even if at the time it did not resolve the matter to Mrs X's satisfaction.
12. In 2020 the Council commenced development work on the land acquired through the CPO, including plot A. It was at this point that Mrs X established that plot A was transferred to the Council in 2016.

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Analysis

13. It is not clear why the Council did not pay Mrs X for the plot A in 2016. However, I understand the Council has now agreed to pay Mrs X for the value of the land as at the statutory vesting date of 29 March 2016, plus interest at the statutory rate from that date. As the Council has accepted fault it is not necessary for me to investigate this aspect of the complaint further. However, I must consider whether the remedy offered by the Council is sufficient to remedy any injustice caused by the delay.
14. The Ombudsman agrees that the Council should reimburse Mrs X for loss of interest from the statutory vesting date. This should be based on the retail price index at the time. The Council should also pay Mrs X £200 for the time and trouble she has taken in pursuing her complaint. In response to my draft decision the Council confirmed that the value of the land was being negotiated with Mrs X’s professional advisers whose reasonable cost the Council had also agreed to pay.

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Agreed action

15. The Council has agreed to my recommendations and within four weeks of my final decision it will:
1. formally apologise to Mrs X for the delay in making the payment;
2. pay interest based on the retail price index as of 29 March 2016; and
3. pay Mrs X £200 for the time and trouble taken in pursuing her complaint.

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Final decision

16. I have found fault by the Council causing an injustice to Mrs X. The Council has agreed to my recommendations and I have completed my investigation on this basis.

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Parts of the complaint that I did not investigate

17. I have not investigated Mrs X’s complaint about the value of the land. This is not within the Ombudsman jurisdiction.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman