A compulsory purchase order (CPO) is a tool that public-sector organisations can use to obtain land or property without the owner’s consent.
CPOs are most often used to support new housing schemes as part of urban renewal projects. They are also used to create space for new roads or railways to improve public transport infrastructure. The government must authorise every order.
An order is a last resort after every effort has been made to purchase a site by mutual agreement. We always aim to not take this course of action during our ongoing engagement with property owners.
Local process
When we need to submit an order, we produce a statement explaining what we propose and our reasons for doing so. We publish this on our website, and we issue notices to everybody who will be affected. We also provide notification in the local press and at all properties included in the order.
A minimum period of 21 days is allowed for making objections. All the notices we publish contain details of how to do this.
If any objections are made to the order, the relevant government minister will schedule a public inquiry. After that, the inspector will publish their conclusions and make recommendations to the government to either approve or reject the order, or approve it with modifications.
If the order is approved with or without modifications, we will not usually take possession of the site until at least three months later.
