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Homes England warns it will make first CPO ‘if necessary’ for 3,000-home scheme
Homes England will make the first use of its new compulsory purchase order (CPO) powers to bring forward a stalled 3,000-home development in Oxfordshire if it cannot reach agreement with a company which owns a lease on the site.
The government agency, which was launched from the former Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) last week, has issued a warning to aircraft parts designer Martin-Baker Aircraft Company that it will use CPO powers “as appropriate”.
The company has a lease on the site running through to 2063 which is delaying the planned development of 3,000 homes on the Chalgrove Airfield in South Oxfordshire.
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In the Autumn Budget, chancellor Philip Hammond said the new Homes England would have additional powers to drive the development of new homes, including compulsory purchase where necessary.
In a statement published online this morning, the agency announced it is considering using these powers to bring the airfield development forwards, should other means fail.
This would represent the first use of these new powers.
The statement said: “Homes England confirms that the shareholder board of Martin-Baker Aircraft Company Limited (MBACL) has rejected our latest formal approach to work with us on developing plans for a housing-led development at Chalgrove Airfield in Oxfordshire.
“While we are disappointed by this decision we will continue to look to work with MBACL to agree private treaty terms, if at all possible. However, as a last resort, Homes England confirm that we will seek all necessary approvals for the use of our statutory powers including, as appropriate, compulsory purchase orders (CPO)s to bring this much needed new housing development to fruition.
“Moving forward, as Homes England prepares the detailed planning application for our proposed development, we will always seek to ensure that MBACL can remain as a successful business on the airfield.”
In an interview with Inside Housing last week, Nick Walkley, chief executive of Homes England, said: “We have new CPO powers, which puts us in a strong position to help people who are stuck with a site they want to bring through.
“It’s not our intention to CPO land all across the country but where we feel there has been a fair offer made and it’s holding back a really positive development that could deliver a lot of homes, we can try and speed that process up.”
The agency plans to develop a secondary school, two primary schools and “up to five hectares of employment land” on the 254-hectare site, in addition to the housing.
Martin-Baker Aircraft Company declined to comment.
The company is the world’s leading supplier of ejector seats, providing services to 93 air forces worldwide. It claims its ejector seats have saved more than 7,500 lives.
Update: at 5.30pm on 19.1.2018 - this story was updated to make it clear that Martin Baker is a leaseholder not a landowner at the site.
