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ACQUISITION OF LAND (ASSESSMENT OF COMPENSATION) ACT 1919

ACQUISITION OF LAND (ASSESSMENT OF COMPENSATION) ACT 1919 - LONG
TITLE

An Act to amend the law as to the Assessment of Compensation in
respect of Land acquired compulsorily for public purposes and the
costs in proceedings thereon.{1}
[19th August 1919]
Tribunal for assessing compensation in respect of land compulsorily
acquired.

ACQUISITION OF LAND (ASSESSMENT OF COMPENSATION) ACT 1919 - SECT 1

1.(1) Where by or under any statute (whether passed before or after
the passing of this Act) land is authorised to be acquired
compulsorily ..., any question of disputed compensation, and, where
any part of the land to be acquired is subject to a lease which
comprises land not acquired, any question as to the apportionment of
the rent payable under the lease, shall be referred to and
determined by [the Lands Tribunal for Northern Ireland (in this Act
referred to as "the Lands Tribunal")].

Subs.(2)(5) rep. by 1922 c.9 (NI) s.1(3)(a)(c); 1964 c.29 (NI) s.21
sch.3[

ACQUISITION OF LAND (ASSESSMENT OF COMPENSATION) ACT 1919 - SECT 2
Rules for assessing compensation.

2. Compensation in respect of any compulsory acquisition of land
shall, subject to the provisions of this Act and any other
enactment, be assessed in accordance with the following rules:

(1)No allowance shall be made on account of the acquisition being
compulsory:

(2)The value of land shall, subject as hereinafter provided, be
taken to be the amount which the land if sold in the open market
by a willing seller might be expected to realise:

(3)The special suitability or adaptability of the land for any
purpose shall not be taken into account if that purpose is a
purpose to which it could be applied only in pursuance of statutory
powers, or for which there is no market apart from the special
needs of a particular purchaser or the requirements of any authority
authorised or capable of being authorised under any transferred
provision to acquire land compulsorily:

(4)Where the value of the land is increased by reason of the use
thereof or of any premises thereon in a manner which could be
restrained by any court, or is contrary to law, or is detrimental
to the health of the occupants of the premises or to the public
health, the amount of that increase shall not be taken into
account:

(5)Where land is, and but for the compulsory acquisition would
continue to be, devoted to a purpose of such a nature that there
is no general demand or market for land for that purpose, the
compensation may, where reinstatement in some other place is bona
fide intended, be assessed on the basis of the reasonable cost of
equivalent reinstatement:

(6)The provisions of rule (2) shall not affect the assessment of
compensation for disturbance or any other matter not directly based
on the value of land.]

ACQUISITION OF LAND (ASSESSMENT OF COMPENSATION) ACT 1919 - SECT 3
Provision as to procedure before the Lands Tribunal.

3.(1) In any proceedings before [the Lands Tribunal], not more than
one expert witness on either side shall be heard unless [the Lands
Tribunal] otherwise directs:

Provided that, where the claim includes a claim for compensation in
respect of minerals, or disturbance of business, as well as in
respect of land, one additional expert witness on either side on
the value of the minerals, or, as the case may be, on the damage
suffered by reason of the disturbance may be allowed.

(2) It shall not be necessary for [a member of the Lands Tribunal]
to make any declaration before entering into the consideration of
any matter referred to him [or to him and other members].

(3) [The Lands Tribunal] shall, on the application of either party,
specify the amount awarded in respect of any particular matter the
subject of the award.

(4) [A member of the Lands Tribunal] shall be entitled to enter on
and inspect any land which is the subject of proceedings before him
[or before him and other members].

(5) Proceedings under this Act shall be heard by [the Lands
Tribunal] sitting in public.

Subs.(6)(7) rep. by 1964 c.29 (NI) s.21 sch.3

ACQUISITION OF LAND (ASSESSMENT OF COMPENSATION) ACT 1919 - SECT 4
Consolidation of proceedings on claims for compensation in respect of
various interests in the same land.

4. Where notices to treat have been served for the acquisition of
the several interests in the land to be acquired [or where several
interests in the same land have been acquired pursuant to a vesting
order], the claims of the persons entitled [or who were entitled]
to such interests shall, so far as practicable, and so far as not
agreed and if the acquiring authority so desire, be heard and
determined by the same [member or members of the Lands Tribunal],
and the [Ministry of Finance] may make rules providing that such
claims shall be heard together, but the value of the several
interests in the land having a market value shall be separately
assessed.

ACQUISITION OF LAND (ASSESSMENT OF COMPENSATION) ACT 1919 - SECT 5
Provisions as to costs.

5.(1) Where the acquiring authority has made an unconditional offer
in writing of any sum as compensation to any claimant and the sum
awarded by [the Lands Tribunal] to that claimant does not exceed
the sum offered, [the Lands Tribunal] shall, unless for special
reasons [it] thinks proper not to do so, order the claimant to
bear his own costs and to pay the costs of the acquiring authority
so far as such costs were incurred after the offer was made.

(2) If [the Lands Tribunal] is satisfied that a claimant has failed
to deliver to the acquiring authority a notice in writing of the
amount claimed by him giving sufficient particulars and in sufficient
time to enable the acquiring authority to make a proper offer, the
foregoing provisions of this section shall apply as if an
unconditional offer had been made by the acquiring authority at the
time when in the opinion of [the Lands Tribunal] sufficient
particulars should have been furnished and the claimant had been
awarded a sum not exceeding the amount of such offer.

The notice of claim shall state the exact nature of the interest
in respect of which compensation is claimed, and give details of
the compensation claimed, distinguishing the amounts under separate
heads and showing how the amount claimed under each head is
calculated, and when such a notice of claim has been delivered the
acquiring authority may, at any time within six weeks after the
delivery thereof, withdraw any notice to treat which has been served
on the claimant or on any other person interested in the land
authorised to be acquired, but shall be liable to pay compensation
to any such claimant or other person for any loss or expenses
occasioned by the notice to treat having been given to him and
withdrawn, and the amount of such compensation shall, in default of
agreement, be determined by [the Lands Tribunal].

(3) Where a claimant has made an unconditional offer in writing to
accept any sum as compensation and has complied with the provisions
of the last preceding subsection, and the sum awarded is equal to
or exceeds that sum, [the Lands Tribunal] shall, unless for special
reasons [it] thinks proper not to do so, order the acquiring
authority to bear their own costs and to pay the costs of the
claimant so far as such costs were incurred after the offer was
made.

(4) ... [The Lands Tribunal] may in any case disallow the cost of
counsel.

Subs.(5) rep. by 1964 c.29 (NI) s.21 sch.3

(6) Where [the Lands Tribunal] orders the claimant to pay the
costs, or any part of the costs, of the acquiring authority, the
acquiring authority may deduct the amount so payable by the claimant
from the amount of the compensation payable to him.

(7) Without prejudice to any other method of recovery, the amount
of costs ordered to be paid by a claimant, or such part thereof
as is not covered by such deduction as aforesaid shall be
recoverable from him by the acquiring authority summarily as a civil
debt.

Subs.(8) rep. by 1964 c.29 (NI) s.21 sch.3

S.6 rep. by 1964 c.29 (NI) s.21 sch.3

ACQUISITION OF LAND (ASSESSMENT OF COMPENSATION) ACT 1919 - SECT 7
Effect of Act on existing enactments.

7.(1) The provisions of the Act or order by which the land is
authorised to be acquired, or of any Act incorporated therewith,
shall, in relation to the matters dealt with in this Act, have
effect subject to this Act, and so far as inconsistent with this
Act those provisions shall cease to have or shall not have effect:

Provided that nothing in this Act relating to the rules for
assessing compensation shall affect any special provisions as to the
assessment of the value of land acquired ... under the Defence of
the Realm (Acquisition of Land) Act, 1916, and contained in [that
Act], or any Act amending [that Act], if and so far as the
provisions in [that Act] are inconsistent with the rules under this
Act and the provisions of the Second Schedule to the Housing of
the Working Classes Act, 1890, as amended by any subsequent
enactment (except paragraphs (4), (5) (29), and (31) thereof) shall
apply to [the Lands Tribunal] as they apply to an arbitrator
appointed under that Schedule, and [the Lands Tribunal] may exercise
all the powers conferred by those provisions on such arbitrator.

S.8 rep. by 1964 c.29 (NI) s.2(1) sch.3

ACQUISITION OF LAND (ASSESSMENT OF COMPENSATION) ACT 1919 - SECT 9
Certificates of value of the Lands Tribunal.

9. [The Lands Tribunal] may on the application of any person
certify the value of land being sold by him to a Government
Department or public or local authority, and the sale of the land
to the Department or authority at the price so certified shall be
deemed to be a sale at the best price that can reasonably be
obtained.

ACQUISITION OF LAND (ASSESSMENT OF COMPENSATION) ACT 1919 - SECT 10
Saving for purchases of statutory undertakings.

10.(1) The provisions of this Act shall not apply to any purchase
of the whole or any part of any statutory undertaking under any
statutory provisions in that behalf prescribing the terms on which
the purchase is to be effected.

(2) For the purposes of this section, the expression "statutory
undertaking" means an undertaking established by Act of Parliament or
order having the force of an Act, and the expression "statutory
provisions" includes the provisions of an order having the force of
an Act.

ACQUISITION OF LAND (ASSESSMENT OF COMPENSATION) ACT 1919 - SECT 11
Application to Ireland.

11.(2) This Act shall apply to Ireland ....

ACQUISITION OF LAND (ASSESSMENT OF COMPENSATION) ACT 1919 - SECT 12
Short title and interpretation.

12.(1) This Act may be cited as the Acquisition of Land (Assessment
of Compensation) Act, 1919 ....

(2) For the purposes of this Act, the expression "land" includes
water and any interests in land or water and any easement or right
in, to, or over land or water, and "public authority" means any
body of persons, not trading for profit, authorised by or under any
Act to carry on a railway, canal, dock, water or other public
undertaking.