800 years of influence: the enduring impact of the Magna Carta on infrastructure planning and compulsory purchase in the UK

Clause 39 means that no one can be stripped of their rights or possessions without a lawful due process. A legal due process that upholds the rights of landowners if the state wishes to acquire land is critical, this also protects the acquirer from having to rely on negotiation with landowners who may extort a situation for financial gain.

This legal due process has existed in one form or another through acts of Parliament in the past 800 years. It has evolved and is now realised in compulsory purchase legislation which remains critical to delivering infrastructure in England to this day. 

The evolution of compulsory purchase since 1215

The industrial revolution was the main cause of legal advances that permitted compulsory purchase. The 18th century Inclosure Acts passed by Parliament manifested the compulsory purchase of land for agricultural use. At the time this displaced 30% of England’s population and is responsible for the patchwork quilt of rural agricultural landscapes that England is famous for today.

In turn, canals were needed to transport materials and fuel a new industrial economy. With horse-drawn canal barges providing time and cost efficiencies. Over 4,000 miles of canals were constructed between the 1770s and 1830s. This was followed by the building of the UK’s railways, including in 1846 when Parliament passed no fewer than 272 individual railway acts to develop the UK’s rail network. 

Through additional amendments, the due process which corresponds to Clause 39 in Magna Carta is now represented mainly by the Land Compensation Act 1961, the Compulsory Purchase Act 1965, and the Acquisition of Land Act 1981. These acts regulate the conditions for the use of compulsory purchase powers in England. 

Although infrastructure promoters may bring forward projects, decisions to grant or refuse compulsory purchase sit with decision makers like local councils or planning authorities. If a project is classified as nationally significant, then decisions are taken by a UK Government Secretary of State for the relevant department.

None of these projects will be viable or will move through planning, without an understanding of land interests paired with a willingness of a promoter to build a responsible case that the disbenefit to individuals to be deprived of any land rights is comfortably outweighed by the public good that an infrastructure project provides. 

It’s land referencers who facilitate the process of participation in planning that balances the indiscriminate use of extraordinary powers and the achievement of social benefit. WSP has the UK’s largest team of land referencers with 200 specialists identifying land and the legal interest in them on behalf of clients. These are complemented by experts in data, topography, property valuation and negotiation. Our work includes land referencing for projects like High Speed Two, Crossrail, Thames Tideway Tunnel, Thameslink and the London Olympic Games.

Compulsory purchase is an important tool. However, I hope you can all rest easy, knowing that our lives, liberty and property are protected. An unlikely example of how the Magna Carta, the longest-standing piece of legislation in English Law, sits at the heart of the process governing UK infrastructure and development 800 years later.

Ashley Parry Jones is a Chartered Geographer and Head of Profession in WSP’s Land Referencing business as well as a trustee of the Royal Geographical Society. This article is a write-up of a webinar led by Ashley on the topic in November 2022.