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Compulsory purchase compensation after the HS2 Supreme Court ruling remains a site-specific valuation exercise, not a new automatic payment scheme. In Secretary of State for Transport v Curzon Park Ltd and others [2023] UKSC 30, handed down on 10 August 2023, the Court explained how the “appropriate alternative development” (AAD) rules apply when land is valued as if the underlying HS2 scheme were cancelled. Evidence from another site’s CAAD process can be relevant where it illuminates market circumstances known at the valuation date, but it does not grant planning permission or guarantee the same development value for another parcel.
The decision matters to HS2 landowners, developers and advisers because it clarifies what evidence may be considered in a compensation claim while preserving the ordinary statutory assumptions, valuation date and proof requirements.
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The case concerned four neighbouring development sites in Birmingham that were compulsorily acquired for construction of the HS2 Phase 1 terminus. The owners sought certificates of appropriate alternative development (CAADs), which can identify development that should be reflected in the compensation valuation. The dispute was whether applications and decisions relating to other acquired sites could be considered when assessing a particular parcel.
The Supreme Court allowed the Secretary of State’s appeal to a limited extent and clarified section 14 of the Land Compensation Act 1961. The statutory cancellation assumption removes the underlying compulsory-purchase scheme from the valuation counterfactual. It does not, however, require the valuer or decision-maker to erase every consequence of that scheme or to disregard all information that existed in the market.
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Material submitted in another site’s CAAD process may therefore be considered if it sheds light on circumstances relevant to the land being valued and known to the market at the statutory valuation date. Its relevance and weight depend on the evidence and the circumstances. A decision-maker must not treat another application or CAAD outcome as an automatic entitlement to the same development potential.
The judgment is available in the reproduced Curzon Park Supreme Court judgment.
“The basic measure of compensation is the open market value of land if sold by a willing seller – see rule (2) of section 5 of the Land Compensation Act 1961 (“the LCA”).”
That sentence captures the starting point: the ruling interprets the existing valuation framework; it does not replace it with a special HS2 formula.
How is HS2 compulsory purchase compensation calculated?
Compensation starts with the statutory open-market measure and then applies the planning and compulsory-purchase assumptions required by the 1961 Act. The amount depends on the land, the claimant’s interest, the valuation date and the losses that the applicable claim route recognises.
1. The willing-seller valuation
Rule 2 in section 5 of the Land Compensation Act 1961 asks what the land might reasonably have realised if sold on the open market by a willing seller. The valuation is not simply the price of the land in its current use. Lawful development potential and other market evidence can affect what a purchaser would have paid.
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Section 14 allows actual or prospective planning permission and appropriate alternative development to be taken into account, subject to the statutory assumptions. A CAAD under section 17 identifies development that qualifies for this purpose. It is evidence for calculating compensation in a notional market; it is not consent to build.
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3. The cancellation assumption
The valuation assumes that the scheme underlying the acquisition is cancelled. This prevents the acquiring authority from depressing compensation by relying on the very project for which it is taking the land. Curzon Park confirms that cancellation does not mean every resulting fact disappears. Market knowledge, transactions or planning material may still be relevant if they illuminate what a willing buyer and seller would have understood at the valuation date.
4. Other heads of loss
Land value is only one possible component. Depending on the statutory or discretionary route and the facts, a claim may also involve disturbance, severance, injurious affection, temporary possession, survey access, professional fees or business losses. These heads are not determined by Curzon Park; each has its own legal tests and evidence requirements.
Does a CAAD guarantee planning permission?
No. A CAAD is a compensation mechanism under section 17 of the 1961 Act. It records development that may be treated as appropriate alternative development when valuing the acquired interest; it does not authorise that development and is not equivalent to a real planning application or planning permission.
This distinction is crucial when using evidence from another parcel. A neighbouring CAAD can indicate how the market or a decision-maker viewed circumstances at a particular date, but it does not automatically establish that the claimant’s site had the same access, design, infrastructure, environmental or policy characteristics. The claimant still needs site-specific evidence and must satisfy the statutory test.
What does the ruling change about evidence from neighbouring sites?
The practical change is one of admissibility and weight, not an automatic uplift in value. Before Curzon Park, parties disputed whether the cancellation assumption required all consequences of HS2 to be ignored, including information generated through CAAD applications for nearby land. The Supreme Court rejected that absolute approach.
A decision-maker can ask whether the other-site material reveals a circumstance that a market participant would have known at the relevant valuation date. Examples might include evidence of a planning policy position, infrastructure opportunity or development pattern that affected how buyers viewed the subject land. The material must still be tested for comparability and reliability.
The following questions help keep the analysis lawful:
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- What exactly was known, or reasonably knowable, at the valuation date?
- Does the material concern a genuinely comparable site or a materially different parcel?
- Is the evidence an application, an officer report, a CAAD decision or some other document?
- Does it illuminate market circumstances, or is it being presented as if it were permission?
- What weight should be given after considering access, size, use, constraints and timing?
The answer may be that the evidence is relevant but carries limited weight. Relevance is not the same as determinative force.
What does the cancellation assumption remove—and what can remain?
The assumption removes the underlying HS2 acquisition scheme from the hypothetical sale. A claimant cannot value the land as if the scheme’s compulsory acquisition were proceeding and then claim the resulting uplift as ordinary market value. Conversely, the assumption does not create a blank universe in which every planning or market fact connected with the area is deleted.
The Court’s approach requires a careful distinction between the scheme itself and consequences or information that have become part of the market context. The valuer should not speculate about a future detached from circumstances known at the valuation date. Nor should the valuer ignore evidence merely because it arose during a CAAD process for another site.
That distinction is especially important in areas where several parcels were being considered together. A coordinated development concept may be relevant market evidence, but the claimant must still show how it bears on the particular interest being valued.
Which HS2 compensation route applies?
There is no single HS2 compensation claim. The correct route depends on the property’s location, the nature and timing of the HS2 impact, the claimant’s interest and the loss being claimed. The House of Commons Library’s HS2 Compensation briefing, published on 16 January 2024, describes the main statutory and discretionary mechanisms, but it is a dated overview rather than a decision on an individual claim.
| Route or issue | What it generally addresses | What must be checked |
|---|---|---|
| Compulsory acquisition | Value of the acquired interest and eligible associated losses | Acquisition documents, valuation date, title and evidence of value, disturbance and fees |
| Statutory blight | Cases where published proposals substantially affect a property before acquisition | Location, qualifying notice or proposal, ownership or occupancy conditions and statutory deadlines |
| Need to Sell scheme | A discretionary route for eligible owners who need to sell because of HS2 effects | Scheme geography, urgency, marketing history and other eligibility criteria |
| Streamlined Residential Blight | A discretionary residential route for certain Phase 2 locations | Whether the property and claimant meet the current Phase 2 rules |
| Temporary possession | Losses while land is occupied temporarily rather than permanently acquired | Terms of possession, duration, reinstatement and documented losses |
| Survey access | Damage or loss caused by authorised entry for surveys | Access authority, damage records and causation |
HS2’s claims decision guide was updated on 31 July 2026 and should be used for current process information. It distinguishes compulsory purchase, temporary possession and survey-access decisions; assumptions from one route should not be carried into another without checking the governing rules.
What evidence should an HS2 landowner or developer assemble?
Start with documents that establish the legal interest and the correct valuation date: title information, leases, occupational agreements, acquisition notices, vesting or transfer documents and correspondence identifying the claim route. Keep a clear chronology because admissible market and planning evidence is date-sensitive.
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For development value, assemble planning history, policy maps, design material, access and infrastructure information, environmental or heritage constraints, comparable transactions and any CAAD application or decision affecting the subject land. If relying on a neighbouring site, explain why its circumstances illuminate this parcel rather than simply attaching the document.
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A chartered surveyor experienced in compulsory-purchase valuation can prepare the market evidence; a planning consultant may address AAD and CAAD issues; and a solicitor can advise on entitlement, procedure, limitation and dispute strategy. HS2’s limitation policy advises people directly affected by proposed or actual HS2 work to seek professional advice.
How should a claim be prepared and challenged?
- Identify the route and decision-maker. Confirm whether the matter is permanent acquisition, temporary possession, survey access, statutory blight or a discretionary scheme.
- Fix the valuation date. Record the statutory date and identify what a market participant could have known then. Avoid using later planning outcomes as if they were available at that date.
- Define the interest. Value the freehold, leasehold or other compensable interest actually acquired or affected, including rights and encumbrances.
- Analyse the no-scheme world. Apply the cancellation assumption correctly: remove the underlying acquisition scheme, but consider relevant market circumstances that survive the assumption.
- Address AAD expressly. Set out the proposed alternative use, planning evidence, physical constraints, delivery assumptions and why it qualifies—or does not qualify—under section 14.
- Separate heads of loss. Present land value, disturbance, severance, temporary-possession losses, fees and business losses as distinct items with separate proof.
- Exchange reasoned schedules. A valuation schedule should identify assumptions, comparables, adjustments and disputed points, not just a single headline figure.
- Use the available review or tribunal route. Check the applicable notice, negotiation, reference and limitation rules before allowing a deadline to pass.
Where the acquiring authority rejects an item, ask whether the disagreement concerns entitlement, causation, valuation date, evidence quality or quantum. Those are different disputes and require different responses.
What did the judgment not decide?
- It did not guarantee that any claimant’s proposed development is appropriate alternative development.
- It did not turn a CAAD into planning permission or make it a binding planning precedent for another site.
- It did not abolish the cancellation assumption or permit speculation detached from market circumstances known at the valuation date.
- It did not determine every HS2 landowner’s compensation, including disturbance, severance, temporary-possession, blight or business-loss claims.
- It did not rewrite the wider statutory and discretionary eligibility rules for HS2 schemes.
The ruling should therefore be cited for its interpretation of section 14 and the evidential role of other-site CAAD material, not as a general entitlement to a particular payment.
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What current information is available about unpaid HS2 claims?
In a written answer dated 14 January 2026, the Department for Transport said it could not provide a count of people owed money by HS2 Ltd because one claimant may have several active claims. The same answer stated that, after compulsory acquisition, a claimant can request an advance payment and that a valid advance-payment claim must be paid within three months. The answer is published as Parliamentary written question 102139.
This administrative information does not decide whether a particular claim is valid or how much is due. Claimants should check the acquisition paperwork, the advance-payment requirements and any outstanding evidence rather than infer entitlement from a general timetable.
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How does the later Landlink decision fit in?
Landlink (Stoke Mandeville) Ltd v Secretary of State for Transport [2026] UKUT 319 (LC) is an Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) decision concerning compensation for land taken for a road scheme associated with HS2, including valuation and severance issues. It is not the Supreme Court’s Curzon Park ruling and should not be presented as if it changed the Supreme Court’s interpretation of section 14.
The two decisions may both be relevant to advisers, but they address different proceedings, facts and legal questions. Any reliance on Landlink should be tied to the specific valuation or severance issue it decided.
What is the practical takeaway for construction and development businesses?
For a business whose land or operations are affected by HS2, the safest approach is disciplined, date-specific evidence. Do not assume that a neighbouring approval, CAAD or development proposal transfers to your site. Instead, show what a willing buyer would have known, how the cancellation assumption changes the hypothetical market, and why each claimed loss flows from the acquisition or possession.
Keep planning potential, land value, disturbance and construction-related impacts in separate schedules. Use the current HS2 claims guide for procedure, the statutory text and Curzon Park for the valuation framework, and specialist advice where the claim involves complex development potential, severance or business interruption.
The governing principle remains equivalence: as the House of Commons Library explains, people whose property is compulsorily acquired should be left “neither better nor worse financially” and should receive compensation neither more nor less than the value of their loss. The Supreme Court ruling helps define the evidence that can be used to reach that result; it does not promise a windfall or a uniform HS2 payment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I rely on a neighbouring site’s CAAD in my compensation claim?
You can submit it as potentially relevant evidence, but you must explain the factual connection to your land and the circumstances known at the valuation date. The decision-maker may give it little or no weight if the sites differ materially in access, constraints, use or timing.
When is the valuation date for an HS2 compulsory purchase claim?
The governing statute, acquisition instrument and claim type determine the date. Confirm it from the formal notices and professional advice, because planning decisions or market changes after that date cannot simply be treated as if they were known at the time.
Can HS2 pay an advance before my total compensation is agreed?
After compulsory acquisition, a claimant can request an advance payment. The Department for Transport stated in January 2026 that valid advance-payment claims must be paid within three months, but the amount and validity still depend on the individual claim.
Does compensation cover my contractor’s delay or extra construction cost?
Only losses that fall within the applicable statutory or discretionary route and are caused by the acquisition, possession or authorised access can be considered. Keep contemporaneous records and separate compensable disturbance from ordinary project risk or unrelated delays.
