How to beat Compulsory Purchase Orders: Tom Barton for the Daily Telegraph

Tom Barton, a Partner at Mishcon de Reya, provided insights to the Daily Telegraph on the potential legal challenges to Sir Keir Starmer’s housebuilding reforms. The Government’s plan to reduce compensation for landowners under compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) is part of an initiative to build 1.5 million new homes but may raise issues under European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) law.

He commented: “Such sweeping changes could face challenges on human rights grounds… Landowners would almost certainly argue that removing or reducing ‘hope value’ in compulsory purchase compensations deprives them of fair market value for their property and infringes their human rights.”

The article also explores the potential impact of these changes on the property development sector and the process of land promotion for residential development.