Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993

30 Effect on initial notice or subsequent contract of institution of compulsory acquisition procedures

(1) A notice given under section 13 shall be of no effect if on the relevant date—

(a) any acquiring authority has, with a view to the acquisition of the whole or part of the specified premises for any authorised purpose—

(i) served notice to treat on any relevant person, or

(ii) entered into a contract for the purchase of the interest of any such person in the premises or part of them, and

(b) the notice to treat or contract remains in force.

(2) In subsection (1) “relevant person”, in relation to the specified premises, means—

(a) the person who owns the freehold of the premises; or

(b) any other person who owns any leasehold interest in the premises which is specified in the initial notice under section 13(3)(c)(i).

(3) A notice given under section 13 shall not specify under subsection (3)(a)(ii) or (c)(i) of that section any property or leasehold interest in property if on the relevant date—

(a) any acquiring authority has, with a view to the acquisition of the whole or part of the property for any authorised purpose—

(i) served notice to treat on the person who owns the freehold of, or any such leasehold interest in, the property, or

(ii) entered into a contract for the purchase of the interest of any such person in the property or part of it, and

(b) the notice to treat or contract remains in force.

(4) A notice given under section 13 shall cease to have effect if, before a binding contract is entered into in pursuance of the notice, any acquiring authority serves, with a view to the acquisition of the whole or part of the specified premises for any authorised purpose, notice to treat as mentioned in subsection (1)(a).

(5) Where any such authority so serves notice to treat at any time after a binding contract is entered into in pursuance of the notice given under section 13 but before completion of the acquisition by the nominee purchaser under this Chapter, then (without prejudice to the general law as to the frustration of contracts) the parties to the contract shall be discharged from the further performance of the contract.

(6) Where subsection (4) or (5) applies in relation to the initial notice or any contract entered into in pursuance of it, then on the occasion of the compulsory acquisition in question the compensation payable in respect of any interest in the specified premises (whether or not the one to which the relevant notice to treat relates) shall be determined on the basis of the value of the interest—

(a) (if subsection (4) applies) subject to and with the benefit of the rights and obligations arising from the initial notice and affecting that interest; or

(b) (if subsection (5) applies) subject to and with the benefit of the rights and obligations arising from the contract and affecting that interest.

(7) In this section—

(a) “acquiring authority”, in relation to the specified premises or any other property, means any person or body of persons who has or have been, or could be, authorised to acquire the whole or part of those premises or that property compulsorily for any purpose; and

(b) “authorised purpose”, in relation to any acquiring authority, means any such purpose.