Church Street Site A Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO)

Who we are and what we do

A Compulsory Purchase Order is a legal process that allows the Council to require those with interest in land or property to sell that interest to the Council if it is in the public good, for instance where we are undertaking the regeneration or development of a wider area.

A CPO could be made by a number of service areas/directorates within the Council depending on the development that is being undertaken. By searching our website for ‘Compulsory Purchase Order’ you can see if there are any CPOs being undertaken and the contact information for the team that is managing the process.

Information we hold about you

The CPO must include the names and addresses (where known) of every qualifying person who has a qualifying interest in the property. A qualifying person is defined in section 12(2) of the Acquisition of Land Act (ALA) 1981 as any person who is an owner, lessee, tenant (whatever the tenancy period) or occupier of the CPO land (see section 12(2)(a), ALA 1981).

The information held is:

• Name
• Address
• Nature of ownership

Why we need your information and how we use it

If we make a CPO, it must be submitted to the Secretary of State for confirmation. Prior to submission to the Secretary of State, we must comply with the notice requirements set out in sections 11 to 12 of the 1981 Act to allow for objections to the CPO to be made.

We must:

1. serve on every qualifying person, a personal notice in a form prescribed by the Prescribed Forms Regulations (PFR) 2004 (form 8 or 9, Schedule 1, PFR 2004) (section 12(1), ALA 1981). Such form includes the need to attach a copy of the CPO and accompanying map to a place “within the locality” of the land comprised in the order (section 11(2)(c), ALA 1981) as it should be within reasonably easy reach of the persons living in the area affected.
2.  if it is satisfied that, despite making a reasonable inquiry, it is still not practicable to ascertain the name or address of an owner, lessee, tenant or occupier of any part of the CPO land, the acquiring authority should deliver a personal notice (addressed to the owner, lessee, tenant or occupier) to another person on the property, or (if there is no one on the property) leave a copy of the notice on or near the property (section 6(4), ALA 1981).
3. publish a notice for two successive weeks in one or more local newspapers in a form prescribed in the PFR 2004 (form 7, Schedule 1, PFR 2004) (section 11(1), ALA 1981). Such form includes the need to attach a copy of the CPO and accompanying map to a place “within the locality” of the land comprised in the order (section 11(2)(c), ALA 1981) as it should be within reasonably easy reach of the persons living in the area affected.
4. fix a site notice to a conspicuous object on or near the CPO land (section 11(3), ALA 1981).

Therefore, in order to comply with such duties, we publish CPOs on our website in order to ensure effective notice of the CPO and mitigate the risks of prejudicing the interests of those who do not have access to newspapers or the ability to travel to the locality of a physical notice such as the Council offices.

The lawful basis for the processing

Legal obligation - there is a legal obligation to publish the data, as described above.

Who your information will be shared with (if applicable)

The information will be publicly available on our website and in person at Westminster City Hall, 64 Victoria Street.  It will also be available in person at Regeneration Base, 99 Church Street.

Please use our search box displayed on the home page to search for ‘Compulsory Purchase Order’.  It will bring up information about any CPOs currently in progress.

Ownership information is also publicly available at the Land Registry for each property.

How long we will keep your information

Westminster City Council will make the information available for the obligatory statutory period at the following locations:

• Westminster City Hall, 64 Victoria Street – 21 days from the date of the publication of the first newspaper notice
• Church Street Regeneration Base – 21 days from the date of the publication of the first newspaper notice.

Ownership information is also publicly available at the Land Registry for each property.

Our Data Protection Officer

If you wish to contact the data protection officer, please email: [email protected]

Protecting your information

Please see the relevant section of the Corporate Privacy Notice.

Your information choice and rights

Please see the relevant section of the Corporate Privacy Notice.

Complaints and contact details

Please see the relevant section of the Corporate Privacy Notice.

Information Commissioner’s Office

If we’re unable to resolve your complaint to your satisfaction, you can make a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).