ABSTRACT
An advantage which local authorities have over private developers is their ability to use statutory tools to assemble land for redevelopment and to override third-party rights by converting them into a right to compensation. It is also what a local authority brings to the table in any development partnership. The key statutory tool is its power of compulsory purchase. Where the development is a joint venture between a local authority and a private sector development partner, it is likely that the costs of the compulsory purchase will be met by that development partner as a project cost. This costs presumption assumes a successful outcome for the local authority: namely that the compulsory purchase is confirmed. The initiating document in any compulsory purchase process is the officer report to the specific group of councillors with the power to authorise the making of that compulsory purchase order (CPO).
