A recent case involved a site in Wandsworth. Nine three-storey Victorian houses and a commercial building were severely bomb-damaged during the war, with all the buildings being cleared before 1 July 1948. A developer bought the site in 2001, but the application for planning permission was refused. The purchaser then served a purchase notice on Wandsworth who accepted it, which then meant that Wandsworth was deemed to be entitled to compulsorily acquire the land - thus entitling the purchaser to statutory compensation. The catch, however, was that the land would have an assumed planning permission for the carrying out of the rebuilding of nine houses and the commercial building (the buildings having been in existence before 1 July 1948 but destroyed or demolished after 7 January 1937). Thus, the compensation had to assume that there was planning for full rebuilding works, although it had been an open site for over 50 years and there was no reasonable prospect of getting any permission. 



The CA was unhappy having to award compensation (the developer got £1.6m for land generally reckoned to be worth £15,000!). But, the court took the view that the statute was clear and it was for parliament to fix the anomaly. See Greenweb v LB of Wandsworth [2008] EWCA Civ 910 . Source: Olswang. © Practical Lawyer