The Rights To Costs and Fees

The following is a brief outline of compensation law; it is not a comprehensive guide, for specific enquiries contact Property Taxation Specialists.

• Where a public authority acquires land, with compulsory powers or with compulsory powers in the background, they are generally required to pay the claimants legal fees.
• These are normally considered to be the “proper legal costs” of the vendor or claimant; these may also include acquisition costs of replacement property.
• There are no general rights to fees spent resisting or opposing the exercise of compulsory powers, i.e., resisting a CPO.
• Whilst there is no statutory requirement to pay surveyors fees they are considered to form part of the disturbance element of compensation. Acquiring authorities will pay surveyors fees based on;
  • the old Ryde’s scale
  • on a reasonable basis agreed prior to work commencing.
• In practice, as a claimant has to justify his claim, the acquiring authority require the claimant to provide all information required involving the claimant in the lion’s share of the work.
• Ryde’s Scale is success related, the more the compensation and the more elements involved the higher the fee, where an acquiring authority seeking to lower the amount paid argues betterment, the work involved is unlikely to be covered by Ryde’s scale, unless the amount of compensation payable is very large.
• In certain circumstances specialist additional fees may be payable, i.e., accountancy costs, particularly where the expense is incurred to satisfy an acquiring authority or its advisors on a specific point.
• At PTS we adopt a flexible approach based on the precise nature of each case and provide an estimate of cost as part of the overall service, and where possible seek to agree the basis of fees with the acquiring authority at the earliest opportunity.
• For the services offered by Property Taxation Specialists see Compulsory Purchase Services.