Proposed Crichel Down reform would cut buy-back window for non-farm land to 15 years
The rules give people whose land was compulsorily purchased the first chance to buy it back if it is no longer needed. A consultation open until 6 January 2027 proposes shorter time limits, fewer qualifying interests and quicker deadlines.
People whose land was bought by a public body using compulsory purchase powers, or under the threat of them, would have a shorter window to be offered it back under changes proposed by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. A consultation on reforming the Crichel Down Rules opened on Wednesday 4 November and closes at 23:59 on Wednesday 6 January 2027.
The rules apply when land acquired in that way becomes surplus. Before it goes on the open market, the former owner is generally offered the chance to buy it back, provided its character has not materially changed. They cover land in England, and land in Wales that was acquired by and is still owned by a UK government department. They are government guidance rather than law.
The original case
In 1938 the Air Ministry compulsorily acquired farmland at Crichel Down in Dorset for a bombing range, and the owners were assured they would get it back when it was no longer needed for military use. After the Second World War it was transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture instead, and its value rose beyond what the former owners could afford. A parliamentary inquiry in 1954 led to the rules being issued.
The ministry says they have grown piecemeal, have not had a full review in decades, and are seen by departments and others as complex and costly to run. It wants surplus public land released for development more quickly.
Time limits
Under the current rules, the duty to offer land back ends if it becomes surplus more than 25 years after it was acquired. There is no time limit for agricultural land acquired between 1 January 1935 and 30 October 1992.
The proposal is one cut-off for each type of land:
- agricultural land: 25 years from acquisition, whenever it was bought
- non-agricultural land: 15 years from acquisition
The ministry's reasoning is that farmers often still occupy neighbouring land and may want to buy back even after a long gap, while owners of other land have often moved on, and tracing them gets harder over time.
Leases, heirs and tenants
The rules would apply only to freehold sales. New leases of more than 7 years, which the rules currently catch, would be left out.
The obligation to offer land to a successor after the former owner has died would be removed.
For houses and flats with a sitting tenant, the order would be reversed. Today the tenant is offered the freehold first. Under the proposal the former owner would be offered it first, and the tenant would get the chance only if the former owner declined.
Councils and statutory undertakers that are not under a minister's direction are currently only recommended to follow the rules. They would be expected to apply them. Land bought by voluntary sale would count as bought under threat of compulsion only where formal compulsory purchase procedures had already been started, not merely because the power existed.
Faster deadlines and less advertising
Where the former owner's address is known, they would have one month instead of two to say they want to buy, and a further month instead of two to agree terms other than price.
Where the address is unknown, public bodies would be expected to make reasonable efforts to find it, for example by checking the Land Registry and Companies House, searching online and asking neighbouring landowners. The requirement to advertise in the London Gazette, the Estates Gazette, Farmers Weekly and local newspapers would go, as would the duty to notify neighbouring landowners. The ministry estimates that advertising a disposal where the owner cannot be found costs between £5,000 and £10,000 on average, before legal and surveying fees.
Other proposals would let the selling body, rather than a minister, decide when an exception applies, and widen the exception for low-value plots where following the rules would cost materially more than the land is worth. Former owners would no longer be told when an exception had been applied, although the decision would have to be recorded on the body's central file. Responses can be made through an online survey or by email to CompulsoryPurchaseConsultation@communities.gov.uk.
