ABSTRACT

Disturbance compensation is an element of compulsory purchase compensation; that is to say, it is a sum added to the purchase price of land compulsorily acquired. It is a separate head of compensation from land taken and severance and injurious affection. It has been evolved as a principle of case law, without express authorisation in any statute (apart from rule 6 of section 5 of the Land Compensation Act 1961, which provides that the rules governing the assessment of land value “shall not affect the assessment of compensation for disturbance …”). Nevertheless, it has a statutory origin by implication, dating back to Jubb v Hull Dock Co,1 in which a brewer obtained compensation for loss of business in addition to the purchase price of the compulsorily acquired brewery, the claim having been upheld on an interpretation of a private Act containing provisions similar to those of the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act 1845.