Clause 45.—(RIGHT TO COMPENSATION IN RESPECT OF PAST PLANNING DECI SIONS, OR PAST REVOCATIONS, &C., OF PLANNING PERMISSION.)

HC Deb 22 November 1954 vol 533 cc992-5

Lords Amendment: In page 49, line 21, after "if" insert "(a)."

Commander Galbraith

I beg to move, "That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment."

It may be convenient to discuss this with the Amendment in page 49, line 22, and in page 50, line 10. It is a drafting Amendment and prepares the way for the new paragraph (b) in the Amendment in page 49, line 22.

The purpose of this Amendment and the consequential Amendments I have mentioned is to provide for cases where land subject to planning restrictions was sold between 18th November, 1952, and the coming into operation of the Bill and the claim on the £300 million fund was retained by the seller. As the Bill stands, no payment could be claimed by the holder of the claim holding in those circumstances, either under Part V or Part I, although he might have realised in the sale only a fraction of the unrestricted value of the land.

The effect of the Amendment is that the seller will be able to claim compensation for any depreciation caused by the planning decision in the same way as if he had not parted with the land. The consequential Amendments make the necessary adjustments in the ordinary procedure for determining the amount of compensation payable.

Mr. Ross

I do not know how many times another set of beneficiaries has been introduced. Could we have some indication from the Joint Under-Secretary of State as to how many cases are involved and how much it is going to cost?

Commander Galbraith

At present, as far as I know, there is only one case that is known.

Subsequent Lords Amendment agreed to: In page 49, line 22, leave Out from "land" to "interest" in line 24 and insert: or

• (b) having been entitled to an interest in any qualified land at the date of the decision or order, he sold that interest (otherwise than to a public authority possessing compulsory purchase powers) in pursuance of a contract made after that date and during the period beginning with the eighteenth day of November, nineteen hundred and fifty-two, and ending immediately before the commencement of this Act,

and the value of that interest or of another interest which has merged therein or, in the case of an interest extending to other land, the value of that or of that other.

Lords Amendment: In page 49, line 39, at end insert: (2) A person who has become entitled to the relevant holding by virtue of the exercise of any power conferred by an assignation in security shall be entitled to such compensation as aforesaid, notwithstanding that he does not satisfy the conditions set out in paragraphs (a) and (b) of the preceding subsection, if the assignor would have been entitled to such compensation if he had continued to be the holder of the relevant holding.

Commander Galbraith

I beg to move, "That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment."

This Amendment is to deal with cases where an assignee has taken an assignation of the relevant Part V claim as part of his security. As the Bill stands, neither the assignor nor the assignee would in such circumstances be able to claim under Part V of the Bill. The assignee is to be entitled to whatever the assignor could have claimed had he remained the holder of the claim holding.

Mr. Woodburn

Can the right hon. and gallant Gentleman say whether he is quite satisfied that by the time we come to the end of the Bill all the new cases coming up are likely to be covered?

Commander Galbraith

I hope that everything that is reasonable will be covered.

Lords Amendment: In page 49, line 41, after "land" insert: , or of an interest in so far as it subsisited in qualified land.

Commander Galbraith

I beg to move, "That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment."

This Amendment and the next two Amendments to Clause 45, page 50, line 1, and page 50, line 5, are consequential on the amalgamation of Clauses 23 and 24.

Subsequent Lords Amendments agreed to: In page 50, line 1, leave out "sections twenty-three and twenty-four" and insert "section twenty-three."

In line 5, leave out from "if" to "and" in line 9 and insert: the reference in subsection (1) of the said section twenty-three to Part II of this Act were a reference to this Part of this Act;

In line 13, leave out "to" and insert "(3), (4) and."

Lords Amendment: In page 50, line 16, at end insert: Provided that, in a case to which paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section applies, for the reference in the said section twenty-two to the Secretary of State's giving notice of his determination in respect of the claim for compensation there shall he substituted a reference to the making of the contract of sale. (4) In determining for the purposes of a claim for compensation under this Part of this Act whether, or to what extent, the value of an interest in land was depreciated by such an order as aforesaid—

1. (a) regard shall be had to any compensation which has become payable to the person entitled to that interest in respect of that order under section twenty of the principal Act otherwise than by virtue of the proviso to subsection (1) of that section;
2. (b) any grant of, or undertaking to grant planning permission made or given during the period between the making of the order and the time when the Secretary of State gives notice of his determination in respect of that claim, being a grant or undertaking which is in force at the end of that period, shall be taken into account as if it had been in force at the beginning of that period;
3. (c) Part VI of the principal Act shall be deemed not to have applied after the date when the order was made:

Provided that, in a case to which paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section applies, no account shall be taken of any grant or undertaking made or given after the making of the contract of sale. (5) Where the interest to which the holder of the relevant holding is entitled or, as the case may be, which he sold, is or was subject to a lease granted after the planning decision or order and on or after the eighteenth day of November, nineteen hundred and fifty-two, the preceding provisions of this section shall have effect as if that lease had not been granted

Commander Galbraith

I beg to move, "That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment."

The proviso preceding the new subsection (4) in the Amendment is introduced as a necessary adjustment of the application of Clause 22, under which the Secretary of State may undertake to grant planning permission which has the effect of excluding compensation. The new subsection (4) introduces the appropriate code for determining whether a revocation or modification order has depreciated the development value of land.

Question put, and agreed to. [Special Entry.]