Schedule 2
Housing and Regeneration Bill
10:30 am
Iain Wright (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Communities and Local Government; Hartlepool, Labour)
Thank you for that guidance and clarification, Mr. Gale, and I apologise for any confusion caused to the Committee. I want to stress that these provisions are not new, as they are modelled on the provisions for the Urban Regeneration Agency. The legislation sets out what the agency must do before it compulsorily acquires land or new rights over land. The legislation applied by schedule 2 also provides the gateway to the compensation code, which specifies the manner in which the price paid for land is to be agreed and governed. That is an amalgamation of statutes and about 150 years of case law.
Schedule 2 ensures that the Homes and Communities Agency is subject to the same statutory procedure as most other bodies that have the power to compulsorily acquire land. The procedure includes appropriate safeguards, such as the opportunity to make representations, and allows public inquiries to be held. It also ensures that the usual additional safeguards that apply to commons, open spaces and allotments apply.
Schedule 2 allows private rights of way and the laying down of equipment to be extinguished on completion of a compulsory acquisition. That practical provision ensures that the agency will be able to use the land it acquires, free from any interference from private rights over that land. Again, it is not a new provision, but is modelled on an equivalent provision for the Urban Regeneration Agency.
Government amendment No. 17 is a simple, technical amendment that ensures the correct application of the Compulsory Purchase Act 1965. It allows the Act to apply to all acquisitions by agreement, so far is applicable, as is the position for the Urban Regeneration Agency. That is important because the Act is the gateway to the compensation code that I mentioned earlier, and therefore ensures that appropriate compensation will be paid.