Compulsory Purchase Orders - advice

quizzical · 20-03-2015 1:08pm #1

Just looking for some advice, There's a very high possibility that a new motorway is going to be built at the back of our garden or else they are going to completely knock down our house one way or the other; we just moved into our house 2 years ago its the house of our dreams we worked and saved so hard for it. We do not want to move any where else. We are devastated we love our location and neighbours.

Has this happened to any body else? Have you any advice? What is the do and don't of the Compulsory process. Do we have any rights? Can they just give us the sale price of our house and tell us to move, that’s not fair we will never be able to afford another house in our area again….

Has anyone ever been in this situation....

veryangryman · 20-03-2015 1:20pm

quizzical wrote: »

Just looking for some advice, There's a very high possibility that a new motorway is going to be built at the back of our garden or else they are going to completely knock down our house one way or the other; we just moved into our house 2 years ago its the house of our dreams we worked and saved so hard for it. We do not want to move any where else. We are devastated we love our location and neighbours.

Has this happened to any body else? Have you any advice? What is the do and don't of the Compulsory process. Do we have any rights? Can they just give us the sale price of our house and tell us to move, that’s not fair we will never be able to afford another house in our area again….

Has anyone ever been in this situation....

Reject the first offer. They get to buy it (compulsory is compulsory) but you can play hardball to get a good price.

antoobrien · 20-03-2015 1:27pm

quizzical wrote: »

Just looking for some advice, There's a very high possibility that a new motorway is going to be built at the back of our garden or else they are going to completely knock down our house one way or the other; we just moved into our house 2 years ago its the house of our dreams we worked and saved so hard for it. We do not want to move any where else. We are devastated we love our location and neighbours.

Try to negotiate with them for a new site/house in the area.

quizzical · 20-03-2015 1:28pm

antoobrien wrote: »

Try to negotiate with them for a new site/house in the area.

I didn't know you could do that?

seamus · 20-03-2015 1:35pm

quizzical wrote: »

I didn't know you could do that?

You can do whatever the hell you want. It would probably be worth hiring a solicitor to advise you on what to do.

One way or another they are going to CPO your land, so the best you can do is fight for a great deal for yourself.

When the M50 was being built I know of one guy whose land was CPOed that had constant running battles with the NRA. Anyone who came anywhere near his land was pretty swiftly met by a man with a shotgun asking them what they were doing (including people who had nothing to do with the NRA). He spent months trying to fight it, chasing people from his land, threatening council staff and Gardai and ultimately never got more than the original offer after he was removed. All that sweat and stress for nothing.

Cookiemunster · 20-03-2015 1:51pm

OP. I curious as to what scheme will affect you? You location is Cork, but I don't know of anything that has been funded for CPOs in Cork.

antoobrien · 20-03-2015 2:00pm

quizzical wrote: »

I didn't know you could do that?

Yes you can, the principle is that you can not be left worse off than your starting position (though it's more complex than that).

If you search "compulsory purchase order ireland" you'll get several summary/information articles such as this one from citizens information - it'd certainly do you no harm to contact them for more information.

Compulsory purchase
The compulsory acquisition of land takes place in Ireland to allow a public infrastructure project to go ahead for the common good. The most widely discussed applications of this refer to road improvement schemes and the LUAS project in Dublin.

The compulsory purchase system is an extremely complex area. You should get the professional advice of a chartered surveyor as soon as you are served with a notice relating to a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO). The fees charged by a chartered surveyor are part of a normal claim for compensation.

It is important to remember that you have the right to object, make representations, negotiate, refer to property arbitrators and have your objections heard.

Compensation
If your house and land is compulsorily purchased, you will be eligible for compensation to restore you as far as possible to the same position as you were in before the land and property was acquired.
You should be paid compensation based on the market value of your property.

You should be left in the same financial position after the CPO as you were before the process.

The compensation should reflect both the actual land acquired and the reduction in value, if any, of the retained area as a result of the CPO.

Also as seamus says, get a solicitor as if your house is affected you'll be dealing with a project solicitor, so you should have your own representation.

Limerick74 · 20-03-2015 7:58pm

Talk to the NRA Design office first as you don't want to go and hire a lawyer at your own cost unless you know for sure that they will be acquiring lands. They will explain the process.

AugustusMinimus · 21-03-2015 10:31am

Cookiemunster wrote: »

OP. I curious as to what scheme will affect you? You location is Cork, but I don't know of anything that has been funded for CPOs in Cork.

Must be N28 scheme ?

Larbre34 · 23-03-2015 11:15am

antoobrien wrote: »

Try to negotiate with them for a new site/house in the area.

This is the best course of action. If it is a CPO, and it does affect you, then you are leaving your current home unfortunately.

Dont try to fight it so much as to turn it to your own advantage. Get the best of solicitors and valuers as the NRA/Council will pick up the cost. Then as part of the acquisition agreement, make sure you get a similar house and compensation on top of that, plus all the relocation costs (movers, utilities) the lot.

Your current home is your dream home, fair enough, but wouldnt you rather have a house that also meets your dreams and owe far less of a mortgage on it at the end of it all?

quizzical · 25-03-2015 9:28am

Thanks Everyone for all your help, much appreciated.... Will keep you all updated

Axel Lamp · 25-03-2015 10:38am

quizzical wrote: »

Thanks Everyone for all your help, much appreciated.... Will keep you all updated

so which route is it for?

quizzical · 25-03-2015 10:47am

cork to ringaskiddy new road

Colm R · 25-03-2015 1:22pm

That road is going to get built - your fight should not be about stopping it, but about getting the best deal you can get.

Getting a CPO is, I think, the lesser of two evils. The worst scenario is being too far away for it necessary to be CPOed, but close enough to impact on your quality of life.

Victor · 25-03-2015 7:14pm

Check out the Guide to Compulsory Purchase Orders on www.scs.ie

quizzical wrote: »

Can they just give us the sale price of our house and tell us to move, that’s not fair we will never be able to afford another house in our area again….

They need to give you the current value of your property, not the value from two years ago. Add to that the cost of moving, disruption, legal expenses, etc.

Cookiemunster wrote: »

OP. I curious as to what scheme will affect you? You location is Cork, but I don't know of anything that has been funded for CPOs in Cork.

Note that all roads (and some other activities), not just national roads can use CPOs.

Colm R wrote: »

Getting a CPO is, I think, the lesser of two evils. The worst scenario is being too far away for it necessary to be CPOed, but close enough to impact on your quality of life.

While there may be a middle ground where people will fall through a gap, anyone adversely affected by development can look for compensation and / or that the project developer mitigate impacts, e.g. via the use of sound barriers.

quizzical · 26-03-2015 8:38am

Thank You, Would it be possible to get them to build us a house in the same area, I know this might sound a bit snobby the whole reason we moved here from the City was because loved the house it's in a very exclusive area (Which we paid a fortune for), it has really good postal address, near one of the top primary schools in Munster... We had planned our whole life's here.

scientist · 20-04-2015 9:12pm

Hi, at the moment, we are in a similar situation in that there is a new road being built out the front of our house and they will be taking half of our front garden. The people from the council have been very good and every time we weren't happy with a particular plan, they went away and made a new one that we would be happy with, and finally we are now ok with the new plan. They will engage with you all the way along and the compensation payment should cover your loss plus all disruptions, you will then be able to purchase a new house or build one in the same area. The first we heard of it was when a surveyer/ consultant company came to our door. They engage with the council on your behalf for your compensation payment . We haven't had an offer as yet and I would love to get an idea of how to work out how much I would get. I've read that it is based on the market value of the house but I'd like to know overall, including all severances , goodwill and disruption compensation, what percentage of the mv of my house would I expect to get?

Victor · 21-04-2015 3:41pm

scientist wrote: »

The first we heard of it was when a surveyer/ consultant company came to our door. They engage with the council on your behalf for your compensation payment

Presumably, they are working for the council and against your interests (with a smile).

scientist wrote: »

what percentage of the mv of my house would I expect to get?

MV = market value? You will get 100% of the current market value of whatever they take, but obviously any mortgages will need to be paid. You will get disturbance money, costs, etc. on top of that.

It may be worth your while to retain an solicitor and/or estate agent.

scientist · 21-04-2015 4:44pm

Our surveyor is being paid by the council based on how much he can get for us, so in his interests to get as much as possible as he gets a % of that from the
from the council. The council have engaged their own people to negotiate on their behalf. All good there. There is a mortgage on our house, so will we be expected to give them what we get. We won't get enough to pay off a mortgage. They're only taking our front garden to give us an access road. Our house is on a half acre site and they will be taking about one sixth of the total. Thank you for your comment.

kayner · 25-11-2016 4:19pm

WE ARE IN A SITUATION WHEREBY THE LOCAL COMMUNITY BUILT A GOLF COURSE SOME YEARS AGO WHICH HAS BEEN A MASSIVE ASSET TO THE COMMUNITY OVER THE LAST 24 YEARS . RECENTLY HOUSES ARE BEING BUILT OPPOSITE THE GOLF CLUB WITH A NEW ENTRANCE [CLOSE TO A BEND ON THE ROAD]ONTO A PRETTY DANGEROUS COUNTRY ROAD.
THE ONLY WAY THAT THE ROAD CAN BE REALIGNED IS TO CPO LAND FROM THE GOLF CLUB WHICH WILL VIRTUALLY CLOSE 1 HOLE AND RUIN THIS LOCAL AMENITY. THE PLANNING AUTHORITY GAVE PLANNING PERMISSION FOR THE HOUSES KNOWING THAT THE ONLY WAY TO REALIGN THE ROAD WOULD BE TO CPO GOLF CLUB LAND CAUSING SERIOUS DAMAGE TO OUR AMENITY. [THEY HAD THE OPTION OF PUTTING THE ENTRANCE ONTO A DIFFERENT ROAD]
CAN WE FIGHT THE CPO ON THE GROUNDS THAT THE PLANNING AUTHORITY GAVE PLANNING FOR THE HOUSES ENTRANCE KNOWING THAT THE DAMAGE IT WOULD CAUSE TO THE GOLF CLUB,Have THey got the power to ruin our facility The Golf course was built 22 years before development began,