Compulsory purchase and compensation update

Last year's House of Lords decision in Waters v. WDA is one of the most important legal decisions concerning compensation for compulsory purchase for many years. It summarizes the correct approach to the valuation of land taken, and significantly changes the application of the POinte Gourde rule. It does not, however, go as far as suggested by one of the Law Lords, and abolish the rule altogether. Because of its importance, the main part of this year's briefing is devoted to analysis of the Waters case, and a subsequent Lands Tribunal decision which was among the first to adopt the principles it established.