(1)The expedited procedure is available in relation to a general vesting declaration if—
(a)the specified land is unoccupied,
(b)the acquiring authority considers that, by reason of disrepair, neglect, contamination, or risk to health or safety, the specified land is unfit for its ordinary use, and
(c)Schedule A1 does not apply to the declaration.
(2)The expedited procedure is also available in relation to a general vesting declaration if the acquiring authority has been unable to identify any person with an interest in the specified land.
(3)Land is not to be regarded as occupied for the purposes of subsection (1)(a)—
(a)if it is occupied only by persons who do not have a right to occupy it;
(b)because of the presence of chattels on the land if the chattels appear to the acquiring authority to be of no significant value.
(4)The ordinary use of land is to be taken for the purposes of subsection (1)(b) to be—
(a)so far as the land comprises buildings or other features designed or adapted for a particular use, that use, and
(b)so far as the land does not comprise such buildings or features, its most recent lawful use.
(5)If the specified land includes one or more dwellings, the acquiring authority may decide that it is unfit for its ordinary use only if it considers that the dwelling, or each of those dwellings, is unfit for human habitation within the meaning of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (see section 10 of that Act).
(6)In this section—
“dwelling” means a building or part of a building designed or adapted for occupation as a separate dwelling;
“the specified land” means the land specified in the general vesting declaration.]
Textual Amendments
F1Ss. 4A, 4B inserted (19.12.2025 for specified purposes) by Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 (c. 34), ss. 108(4), 118(5)(d) (with s. 116); S.I. 2025/1370, reg. 3(1)(b)