Greater London Authority Act 1999

163 Restrictions on disposal of land

(1) Neither Transport for London nor the Authority shall by virtue of any provision of this Act—

(a) dispose of the freehold interest in any land which is or has been operational land, or

(b) grant a leasehold interest in such land for a term of more than fifty years,

without the consent of the Secretary of State.

(2) Where an estate or interest in, or right over, any land which is or has been operational land is vested in a company which is a subsidiary of Transport for London, Transport for London shall not, without the consent of the Secretary of State, enter into any transaction or series of transactions the result of which would be that the company would cease to be a subsidiary of Transport for London.

(3) Consent is not required under this section by reason of any land having been operational land if a period of at least five years has elapsed since the land was last operational land.

(4) The Secretary of State may by order amend subsection (3) above by substituting a different period for that for the time being there specified.

(5) Any consent of the Secretary of State under this section—

(a) may be given in relation to any particular transaction or description of transactions; and

(b) may be given subject to conditions.

(6) Consent given under this section shall be given in an order made by the Secretary of State.

(7) Any question whether land is operational land within the meaning of this section shall be determined by the Secretary of State.

(8) In this section—

• “operational land” means—

  (a)

  land which is used for the purpose of carrying on any railway or tramway undertaking of Transport for London’s or of a subsidiary of Transport for London's; and

  (b)

  land in which an interest is held for that purpose;

  but paragraphs (a) and (b) above do not include land which, in respect of its nature and situation, is comparable rather with land in general than with land which is used, or in which interests are held, for the purpose of the carrying on of a railway or tramway undertaking;

• “railway” and “tramway” shall be construed in accordance with section 67 of the [1992 c. 42.] Transport and Works Act 1992.

(9) For the purposes of this section, land—

(a) which has at any time been used, or

(b) in which an interest has at any time been held,

for the purpose of carrying on a railway or tramway undertaking of London Regional Transport's, or of a subsidiary of London Regional Transport's, shall be treated as if that undertaking had at that time been an undertaking of Transport for London’s or of a subsidiary of Transport for London’s (and any question whether the land was, or had ceased to be, operational land at any time shall be determined accordingly).