Purpose

Approve a resolution for a single Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 in relation to Phase 1 of the Teviot Estate regeneration scheme and agree to enter into a CPO indemnity agreement with Poplar HARCA.

Approve the recommendation to acquire land for planning purposes and subsequently the Council may engage its powers under section 203 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 to override any existing third-party rights that might be infringed by the Teviot Phase1 development
 

Decision

1. Agreed that there is a compelling case in the public interest to justify the making of the Order and for the use of compulsory purchase powers and such powers are only being used after balancing the rights of individual property owners with the requirement to deliver vacant possession of the Teviot P1 site to enable the Scheme to proceed.
2. Agreed that the interference with the human rights of the property owners included in the Order, and in particular their rights to a home and to the ownership of property, is proportionate, given the adequacy of their rights to object, and to compensation, and the benefit to the economic, social and environmental well-being of that area of Tower Hamlets being regenerated by the Scheme;
3. Agreed the making, confirmation and implementation of the Order pursuant to the Council’s powers under Section 226(1)(a) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (“the 1990 Act”) for the acquisition of all land and interests that need to be acquired within the red line boundaries shown on the plan at Appendix 1, and any other new rights or third-party rights, necessary to facilitate the Teviot P1 development by Teviot LLP, to provide new and improved housing, flexible commercial and service floorspace, hard and soft landscaping works including public open space, access and highway alterations, car and cycle parking provision, and associated ancillary works as the first phase of the Teviot Estate regeneration.
4. Subject to recommendation 2.2 and the completion of the CPO indemnity agreement (CPOIA), Delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Housing and Regeneration and the Director of Legal Services and Monitoring Officer (in consultation with the Mayor and Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Inclusive Development and Housebuilding) the power to effect the making, confirming and implementation of the Order and to take all necessary steps to give effect to the Order, including, but not limited to, the following procedural steps:

a)     Authorising the service under s16 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provision) Act 1976 of the request for information forms by the appointed land referencers to all those with an interest in the Order land in order to prepare and complete the schedule to the Order;

b)     Making any amendments to the Council’s draft Statement of Reasons annexed at Appendix 3 to this Report as are considered necessary prior to its submission to the Secretary of State;

c)     Preparing and making the Order and Schedule to the Order;

d)     Monitoring of negotiated agreements by Poplar HARCA with landowners or others as applicable, setting out the terms for withdrawal of objections to the Order, including where appropriate seeking exclusion of land or new rights from the Order;

e)       Power to remove from the Order any interest no longer required to be compulsorily acquired and to amend interests in the Schedule to the Order (if so advised) and to request that the Secretary of State makes any changes to the Order and the Order Map prior to confirmation as may be appropriate;

f)       Publicising and serving any press, site and individual notices and other correspondence for such making of the Order;

g)     Making any ancillary orders and the exercise of any of the Council's planning functions to give effect to the Order;

h)     Appointing external consultants to assess and agree the payment of any compensation and claims arising from redevelopment of the Order Land pursuant to the Order;

i)        Seeking confirmation of the Order by the Secretary of State (or, if permitted, by the Council pursuant to Section 14A of the Acquisition of Land Act 1981 (the 1981 Act)), including taking all action as may be necessary for the presentation of the Council’s case for the Order at any Public Inquiry should one be called;

j)        Appointing a professional team, including legal professionals and experts, and assembling any witnesses necessary to assist the Council in the preparation and presentation of the Council's case at a Public Inquiry (if any);

k)     Publicising and serving notices of confirmation of the Order and thereafter to execute and serve any General Vesting Declarations and/or notices to treat and notices of entry, and any other notices or correspondence to acquire those interests permitted by the Order; and

l)        Acquiring title to and/or taking possession of the Order Land and this shall include the power to take all necessary statutory procedural steps required to facilitate such acquisition of title and possession of the Order Land;

m)   Transferring of any land interests compulsorily acquired by the Council to Poplar HARCA, for nil consideration, within a timescale to be agreed with Poplar HARCA;

1. Delegated authority to the Corporate Director of Housing and Regeneration and the Director of Legal Services and Monitoring Officer, to agree the terms of and enter into any documentation required to settle any property matters necessary to progress the Scheme, including, but not limited to:

a)     negotiating and monitoring of agreements with landowners and/or statutory undertakers as applicable;

b)     setting out the terms for withdrawal of any objections to the Order, including where appropriate seeking exclusion of land or new rights from the Order; and

c)     referral and conduct of disputes relating to compensation payable pursuant to the Order at the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber);

1. Delegated authority to the Corporate Director of Housing and Regeneration in consultation with the Director of Legal Services and Monitoring Officer, to agree the terms of and enter into a CPOIA with Poplar HARCA which provides a framework for the respective obligations of the Council and Poplar HARCA in the promotion and application of the compulsory purchase powers, including an obligation for the Council to transfer the land acquired to Poplar HARCA for nil consideration, and the ability for the Council to recover its costs in conducting and managing the Order and/or in engaging its powers under section 203 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016, including all compensation costs to be paid.
2. Delegated authority to the Corporate Director of Housing and Regeneration in consultation with the Director of Legal Services and Monitoring Officer, to take all necessary steps, if required, to affect the appropriation of any land acquired on the Estate by the Council for planning purposes in accordance with section 122(1) of the Local Government Act 1972.
3. Delegated authority to the Corporate Director of Housing and Regeneration in consultation with the Director of Legal Services and Monitoring Officer, pursuant to section 227 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to take all necessary steps and agree terms of and enter into an agreement to acquire any land from Poplar HARCA within the boundaries of the land as shown edged in red on the Plan at Appendix 4, for nil consideration, for planning purposes in order to engage the Council’s powers under section 203 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016.
4. Agreed that the Council may engage its powers under section 203 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 to override any existing third-party rights that might be infringed by the Scheme.

Reasons for the decision

The proposed CPO resolution will progress the Council’s regeneration aims for the Borough by enabling Teviot LLP to deliver phase 1 of the Estate Regeneration on the Estate. Poplar HARCA has requested that the Council exercises its powers to make the Order for the Scheme to enable land assembly across the Teviot P1 site, so that the Scheme can be delivered in a timely and cost-effective way, thus guaranteeing delivery of the new housing and other associated regeneration benefits for the community (the public benefits are summarised in paragraph 3.4 below), whilst minimizing delays and additional costs to future phases.

The decisions sought in this Report are to enable the delivery of the Scheme allowing the provision of 475 new homes, flexible commercial business and service floorspace, hard and soft landscaping works including public open space, access and highway alterations and car and cycle parking provision.

The Estate Regeneration will secure a number of public benefits, including:

a)     Improvement for existing residents addressing a range of existing social, environmental and housing stock challenges;

b)     Design-led optimisation maximising housing and affordable housing outputs, delivering employment growth, providing and supporting community infrastructure and open space, and enhancing townscape and the local environment;

c)     Increasing the supply of affordable housing with new and replacement affordable homes providing a good mix of new homes balanced by size, tenure and typology;

d)     Providing employment generation, commercial floorspace and contributing to local economic investment, including job and training opportunities;

e)     Providing dedicated private amenity space and communal amenity space provision and the wider public realm; Enhancing the areas permeability and connectivity; and

f)       Adopting a balanced and sustainable approach to car and cycle parking.

It is therefore considered that the Scheme as the first phase of the Estate Regeneration would contribute towards the promotion and improvement of the economic, social and environmental well-being of the borough.

Poplar HARCA will endeavour to acquire all of the affected land interests within the Order Land on a voluntary basis. Council officers are monitoring Poplar HARCA’s negotiations, but this approach now needs to be supported by the formal use of compulsory purchase powers. The CPO process would run in tandem with Poplar HARCA’s efforts to secure vacant possession voluntarily, helping to ensure that land interests can ultimately be acquired in the timeframe required to implement the development, thus enabling the proposed re-development scheme to progress without indeterminate delays.

The Government guidance titled “Guidance on the Compulsory Purchase Process” published in January 2025 (“the Guidance”) provides the statutory guidance for making of a CPO. In accordance with the guidance, the Council needs to demonstrate that compulsory purchase is used as a measure of last resort and once made, is enforced after all reasonable efforts to acquire by agreement have been exhausted.

Before making the Order, Council officers require that Poplar HARCA demonstrates that it is and will continue to be vigorously seeking voluntary negotiated settlements with all those whose interests will be acquired, offering the full market value applicable and compensation compatible with statutory requirements. This includes reimbursement by Poplar HARCA for independent valuation and legal support in connection with the acquisitions. This is achieved through regular meetings with Poplar HARCA’s team as well as review of documentary evidence that supports the information provided during meetings.

It is emphasized that the Order is the solution of last resort. Council officers will regularly meet Poplar HARCA’s representatives to monitor progress in securing vacant possession through voluntary negotiation. Poplar HARCA’s approach to voluntary negotiations with land interests is described in Section 9 below.

Poplar HARCA have commissioned a specialist rights of light surveyor, Point 2, to undertake a preliminary rights of light assessment of the Teviot P1 site and the Scheme, based on information in the submitted planning application, to establish how many properties around the Order Land will potentially be affected by the impact of the development on existing rights of light.

The assessment has identified a number of different premises that surround the Teviot P1 site that could potentially be impacted. The details of the initial assessment have been reviewed by the Council’s appointed rights of light consultant (Delvar Patman Redler) who are satisfied with the initial assessment. Poplar HARCA has written to all affected parties twice to arrange an inspection to establish whether there is an actionable claim and offering to enter into negotiations for release of the existing rights. The Council have also written to each party and are monitoring Poplar HARCA’s negotiations.

In order to deliver the proposed development, and to realise the wider public benefits, it is necessary to ensure that there are no third party rights that could prevent, or delay, the proposed development of the Teviot P1 site from being delivered. These third party rights could include wayleaves, rights of way/access, and importantly, rights to light, the existence of which could impede the proposed development.

Section 203 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 provides that any covenants and other adverse rights or interests affecting the proposed land to be acquired or appropriated for planning purposes (as set out in this Report) can be overridden, thereby releasing the proposed scheme of development from the risk of a third party beneficiary of such rights from obtaining an injunction to restrain the development and converting their entitlement (if any) to monetary compensation. Those rights are not extinguished or removed from existence by the use of section 203, but the development can proceed notwithstanding any interference with or breach of those rights.

Poplar HARCA has requested that the Council acquires for planning purposes (pursuant to section 227 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990) the Poplar HARCA owned land that could be subject to third party rights, even though this acquisition may be prior to confirmation of the CPO so that the Council's s203 powers are engaged at the beginning of the Scheme. The use of s203 powers removes the risk of a legal challenge that could delay the Scheme programme. Poplar HARCA is entitled to make this request under the CPOIA (Clause 7.2). The Council is only required to make suitable arrangements for such interest to be acquired for planning purposes and any associated costs shall be CPO costs payable to the Council under the CPOIA.

Alternative options

The alternative option is to NOT agree to the proposed Order. Poplar Harca has stated that without a commitment from the Council to use compulsory purchase powers to support the delivery of the land assembly, it may not be able to progress the Scheme and, consequently, the Estate Regeneration as a whole, as the cost risk will be too high. In this instance negotiations by Poplar HARCA with individual land interests would continue, but the absence of a back-up CPO process could potentially have negative impacts, including:

Risk of losing specific planned investment and commitment by Poplar HARCA to provide comprehensive regeneration across the wider area, including:

•         New affordable homes for people in housing need

•         New commercial and retail provision

•         Public realm and general neighbourhood regeneration

•         Planned investment in training and apprenticeships

Risk to land assembly, which cannot be guaranteed without resorting to compulsory purchase; thus development of the proposed new homes and estate regeneration would be jeopardised, or at the very least delayed. Delay leads to higher costs of land assembly and build costs.

Potentially higher costs for Poplar HARCA, i.e. by necessitating acquisitions at  of affordable housing or overall financial viability.

Uncertainty for tenants and leaseholders as to whether the Scheme will progress, which will make it harder for them to make informed decisions about their future, or to get alternative accommodation which meets their requirements.

Unfairness to those leaseholders who have already sold their property in accordance with the Leaseholder Offer on the understanding that their property would otherwise be subject to the proposed Order.

Any liabilities which the Council may assume in becoming the ‘Acquiring Authority’ by making the Order will be indemnified by Poplar HARCA in the CPOIA which will set out the responsibilities and requirements of both parties and fully underwrite the Council’s costs.

Poplar HARCA has sought to acquire the Order Land by negotiation. An overview of the efforts and negotiations that have taken place with a view to acquiring the required land and rights are set out at Section 9 of this Report. Despite the efforts and progress made to date, Poplar HARCA has not been able to come to an agreement with all leaseholders. Whilst Poplar HARCA will continue to negotiate with individual land interests, it is evident that the absence of the Order to support the Scheme could have negative impacts on the deliverability of the Scheme and the Estate Regeneration as a whole.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR FOR HOUSING & REGENERATION (D. JOYCE)