Publically owned land – the Right to Contest

In a recent blog I looked at the issue of Community Right to Bid which enables local community groups to bid to purchase local property where it is deemed that this property is an ‘asset of community value’.

Another  recent change in the law known as the Right to Contest has ushered in similar community powers to force the sale of publically-owned land if it can be put to better economic purpose.

Like Community Right to Bid, the new law of Right to Contest offers potentially significant opportunities to communities but also to business operators, landowners and developers.

The background

A process known as the Public Request to Order Disposal of land (PROD) has existed for some time under Part X of the Local Government Planning and Land Act 1980.

It is currently referred to in Government publications as the Community Right to Reclaim Land and allows anyone to request that land owned by a public body is put up for sale on the open market.

This procedure was amended in recent years to make it easier to bring land back into use if it is owned by local authorities or other public bodies, for example the Environment Agency, the BBC or British Transport Police.

A request (a “PROD”) is made to the Department for Communities and Local Government stating why it is considered that: (a) the land described in the request is under-used or vacant; (b) there are no suitable, consulted upon and publicly tested plans in place, or likely to be put in place in an acceptable period of time for the land; and (c) the land should be disposed of in order to enable it to be brought back into use.

If the Secretary of State decides the land is vacant and underused and that the body has no plans to bring it into use, they will issue a disposal notice that requires the public body to dispose of the land – usually on the open market, so that community groups or others may be able to acquire the land.

How the Right to Contest is different

The Right to Contest allows the public to challenge central government to release land for better economic use.

Unlike the Community Right to Reclaim Land, which deals with unused or underused land, the Right to Contest can be used to argue that land currently in use could be put to a better economic purpose, for example, for housing or to help businesses develop or expand where operations on the land could be moved to a different location.

For more advice on this, or any other commercial property law matter, please contact Simon England on 01772 258321 or Simon.England@harrison-drury.com