Land Assembly for Development - The Role of Land Pooling, Land Re-adjustment and Land Consolidation

Abstract

The author was a member of a research team, commissioned by the UK’s Department of Environment, Transport and Regions (DETR), Linklaters & Alliance and the Urban Villages Forum, and briefed to investigate problems of land assembly for major development projects in Britain and to propose possible solutions. A subsequent report was issued as a discussion document, and as part of that ongoing discussion process this paper will confirm the research findings to the FIG 2002 Conference. The main context for this paper concerns the potential contribution of the process known as “land pooling, land re-adjustment or land consolidation” in the debate about land assembly, particularly in respect of current policy aims of making the best use of previously developed land and encouraging mixed use development. This process occurs when landowners participate in land assembly, servicing and disposal in accordance with a plan, including that assisted by some form of temporary compulsion. It may be considered as one method to involve the initiatives and skills of the private sector in land assembly yet leave landowners with a stake in their land ownership if they so wish. The concept of “land pooling etc.” is new to Britain, but has been adopted extensively overseas. The research investigated various ways in which land is currently assembled for major development projects in Britain and overseas. The paper discusses specific situations in which “land pooling” may be considered as an additional tool to complement existing compulsory purchase and voluntary routes to land assembly. It also seeks to explore the potential for the process to be utilised to induce owners to collaborate in land assembly where ownership is fragmented but should, in the public interest, be pooled for major development schemes. The research proposes such an authorized framework, which aims to persuade owners to participate in joint action as necessary for successful land assembly for development or redevelopment, and details of suggested procedures and practice will be presented to the Conference in this paper.