Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990

Listed building purchase notices

32 Purchase notice on refusal or conditional grant of listed building consent

(1) Where—

(a) listed building consent in respect of a building is refused, or granted subject to conditions, or is revoked or modified by an order under section 23 or 26; and

(b) any owner of the building claims—

(i) that the conditions mentioned in subsection (2) are satisfied with respect to it and any land comprising the building, or contiguous or adjacent to it, and owned with it; and

(ii) that the conditions mentioned in subsection (3) are satisfied with respect to that land,

he may, within the prescribed time and in the prescribed manner, serve on the council of the district or London borough in which the building and land are situated a notice (in this Act referred to as a “listed building purchase notice”) requiring that council to purchase his interest in the building and land in accordance with sections 33 to 37.

(2) The conditions mentioned in subsection (1)(b)(i) are—

(a) that the building and land in respect of which the notice is served have become incapable of reasonably beneficial use in their existing state;

(b) in a case where listed building consent has been granted subject to conditions with respect to the execution of the works or has been modified by the imposition of such conditions, that the land cannot be rendered capable of such use by the carrying out of the works in accordance with those conditions; and

(c) in any case, that the land cannot be rendered capable of such use by the carrying out of any other works for which listed building consent has been granted or for which the local planning authority or the Secretary of State has undertaken to grant such consent.

(3) The conditions mentioned in subsection (1)(b)(ii) are that the use of the land is substantially inseparable from that of the building and that it ought to be treated, together with the building, as a single holding.

(4) In determining for the purpose of subsection (2) what is or would in any particular circumstances be a reasonably beneficial use of land, no account shall be taken of any prospective use which would involve the carrying out of new development or any works requiring listed building consent which might be executed to the building, other than works for which the local planning authority or the Secretary of State have undertaken to grant such consent.

(5) References in sections 33 to 37 to the land are to the building and the land in respect of which the notice under subsection (1) is served.

33 Action by council on whom listed building purchase notice served

(1) The council on whom a listed building purchase notice is served by an owner shall serve on him a notice stating either—

(a) that the council are willing to comply with the purchase notice; or

(b) that another local authority or statutory undertakers specified in the notice under this subsection have agreed to comply with it in their place; or

(c) that for reasons so specified the council are not willing to comply with the purchase notice and have not found any other local authority or statutory undertakers who will agree to comply with it in their place and that they have transmitted to the Secretary of State a copy of the purchase notice and of the notice under this subsection.

(2) A notice under subsection (1) must be served before the end of the period of three months beginning with the date of service of the listed building purchase notice.

(3) Where such a notice as is mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (1) has been duly served, the council or, as the case may be, the other local authority or statutory undertakers specified in the notice shall be deemed—

(a) to be authorised to acquire the interest of the owner compulsorily in accordance with the provisions of section 47; and

(b) to have served a notice to treat in respect of it on the date of service of the notice under that subsection.

(4) Where the council propose to serve such a notice as is mentioned in subsection (l)(c), they shall first send to the Secretary of State a copy of—

(a) the proposed notice; and

(b) the listed building purchase notice which was served on them.

34 Procedure on reference of listed building purchase notice to Secretary of State

(1) Where a copy of a listed building purchase notice is sent to the Secretary of State under section 33(4), he shall consider whether to confirm the notice or to take other action under section 35 in respect of it.

(2) Before confirming such a notice or taking such other action, the Secretary of State shall give notice of his proposed action—

(a) to the person who served the notice;

(b) to the council on whom it was served;

(c) outside Greater London—

(i) to the county planning authority and also, where that authority is a joint planning board, to the county council; and

(ii) if the district council on whom the purchase notice in question was served is a constituent member of a joint planning board, to that board; and

(d) if the Secretary of State proposes to substitute any other local authority or statutory undertakers for the council on whom the notice was served, to them.

(3) A notice under subsection (2) shall specify the period (which must not be less than 28 days from its service) within which any of the persons on whom it is served may require the Secretary of State to give him an opportunity of appearing before and being heard by a person appointed by him for the purpose.

(4) If any of those persons so require, before the Secretary of State confirms the listed building purchase notice or takes any other action under section 35 in respect of it, he shall give such an opportunity to each of them.

(5) If after any of those persons have appeared before and been heard by the appointed person, it appears to the Secretary of State to be expedient to take action under section 35 otherwise than in accordance with the notice given by him, the Secretary of State may take that action accordingly.

35 Action by Secretary of State in relation to listed building purchase notice

(1) Subject to the following provisions of this section, if the Secretary of State is satisfied that the conditions specified in section 32(2)(a) to (c) are satisfied in the case of any listed building purchase notice, he shall confirm the notice.

(2) If the Secretary of State is satisfied that those conditions are fulfilled only in respect of part of the land, he shall confirm the notice only in respect of that part and the notice shall have effect accordingly.

(3) The Secretary of State shall not confirm the notice unless he is satisfied that the land comprises such land contiguous or adjacent to the building as is in his opinion required—

(a) for preserving the building or its amenities, or

(b) for affording access to it, or

(c) for its proper control or management.

(4) If it appears to the Secretary of State to be expedient to do so he may, instead of confirming the notice—

(a) in the case of a notice served on account of the refusal of listed building consent for any works, grant such consent for those works;

(b) in the case of a notice served on account of such consent being granted subject to conditions, revoke or amend those conditions so far as it appears to him to be required in order to enable the land to be rendered capable of reasonably beneficial use by the carrying out of those works;

(c) in the case of a notice served on account of such consent being revoked by an order under section 23 or 26, cancel the order revoking the consent; or

(d) in the case of a notice served on account of such consent being modified by such an order by the imposition of conditions, revoke or amend those conditions so far as appears to him to be required in order to enable the land to be rendered capable of reasonably beneficial use by the carrying out of the works in respect of which the consent was granted.

(5) If it appears to the Secretary of State that the land (or any part of it) could be rendered capable of reasonably beneficial use within a reasonable time by the carrying out—

(a) of any other works for which listed building consent ought to be granted, or

(b) of any development for which planning permission ought to be granted,

he may, instead of confirming the listed building purchase notice (or confirming it so far as it relates to that part), direct that if an application is made for such consent for those works or, as the case may be, for planning permission for that development, it shall be granted.

(6) If it appears to the Secretary of State, having regard to the probable ultimate use of the building or its site, that it is expedient to do so, he may, if he confirms the notice, modify it either in relation to the whole or any part of the land, by substituting another local authority or statutory undertakers for the council on whom the notice was served.

(7) Any reference in section 34 to the taking of action by the Secretary of State under this section includes a reference to the taking by him of a decision not to confirm the notice on the grounds that any of the conditions referred to in subsection (1) are not satisfied.

36 Effect of Secretary of State’s action in relation to listed building purchase notice

(1) Where the Secretary of State confirms a listed building purchase notice, the council on whom the notice was served shall be deemed—

(a) to be authorised to acquire the owner’s interest in the land compulsorily in accordance with the provisions of section 47; and

(b) to have served a notice to treat in respect of it on such date as the Secretary of State may direct.

(2) If before the end of the relevant period the Secretary of State has neither—

(a) confirmed the listed building purchase notice; nor

(b) notified the owner by whom it was served that he does not propose to confirm it; nor

(c) taken any such action in respect of it as is mentioned in subsection (4) or (5) of section 35,

the notice shall be deemed to be confirmed at the end of that period and the council on whom it was served shall be deemed to have been authorised as mentioned in subsection (1)(a) and to have served a notice to treat in respect of the owner’s interest at the end of that period.

(3) Where a listed building purchase notice is confirmed in respect of only part of the land, references in this section to the owner’s interest in the land are references to the owner’s interest in that part.

(4) Where a listed building purchase notice is modified under section 35(6) by the substitution of another local authority or statutory undertakers for the council on whom the notice was served, the reference in subsection (1) to that council is to that other local authority or those statutory undertakers.

(5) In this section “the relevant period” means, subject to subsection (6) below—

(a) the period of nine months beginning with the date of the service of the listed building purchase notice; or

(b) if it ends earlier, the period of six months beginning with the date on which a copy of the notice was sent to the Secretary of State.

(6) The relevant period does not run if the Secretary of State has before him at the same time both—

(a) a copy of the listed building purchase notice sent to him under section 33(4); and

(b) a notice of appeal under section 20 or section 39 relating to any of the land to which the listed building purchase notice relates.

(7) Where any decision by the Secretary of State to confirm or not to confirm a listed building purchase notice (including any decision to confirm the notice only in respect of part of the land, or to give any direction as to the granting of listed building consent or planning permission) is quashed under section 63, the notice shall be treated as cancelled but the owner may serve a further notice in its place.

(8) For the purposes of determining whether such a further notice has been served within the period prescribed for the service of listed building purchase notices, the decision concerning listed building consent on account of which the notice has been served shall be treated as having been made on the date on which the Secretary of State’s decision was quashed.

37 Reduction of compensation on acquisition where s. 28 compensation payable

Where compensation is payable under section 28 in respect of expenditure incurred in carrying out any works to a building, any compensation which then becomes payable in respect of the acquisition of an interest in the land in pursuance of a listed building purchase notice shall be reduced by an amount equal to the value of those works.