Buxton House, Huddersfield - Compulsory Purchase Order

The Council Of The Borough Of Kirklees (Buxton House, Huddersfield) Compulsory Purchase Order 2024 

The Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and the Acquisition of Land Act 1981

1. Notice is hereby given that the Council of the Borough of Kirklees in exercise of the powers of the confirming authority under the above Acts, on 11 March 2025 con-firmed the Council of the Borough of Kirklees (Buxton House, Huddersfield) Compul-sory Purchase Order 2024 made by it. 

No objections to the order were received with-in the permitted period and consequently notification was given by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Loal Government that the power to confirm the order may be exercised by the acquiring authority in accordance with section 14A of the Acquisition of Land Act 1981.

2.The order as confirmed provides for the purchase, for the purposes of facilitating: al-terations and refurbishments to levels 3 to 11 Buxton House; the change of use of a takeaway and public house and alterations to convert the ground floor to accommo-date 2 flats, entrance lobby, bike and bin storage; change of use of a restaurant and alterations to convert level 1 Buxton House into 2 flats with bin storage; alterations to level 2 Buxton House to form one additional flat; and installation of photovoltaics on the roof of Buxton House of the land described in Schedule 1 hereto.

3. A copy of the order as confirmed by the Council of the Borough of Kirklees and of the map referred to therein have been deposited at Huddersfield Library, Civic Centre 3 Market Street, Huddersfield, HD1 2EY and may be seen at all reasonable hours. A copy of the order and of the map may be viewed online at https://www.kirklees.gov.uk/buxton-house.  

4. The order as confirmed becomes operative on the date on which this notice is first published. A person aggrieved by the order may, by application to the High Court within 6 weeks from that date, challenge its validity under section 23 of the Acquisi-tion of Land Act 1981. The grounds for challenge can be that the authorisation grant-ed by the order is not empowered to be granted or that there has been a failure to comply with any relevant statutory requirement relating to the order.

5. Once the order becomes operative, the Council of the Borough of Kirklees may ac-quire any of the land described in Schedule 1 below by executing a general vesting declaration under section 4 of the Compulsory Purchase (Vesting Declarations) Act 1981. A statement on the effect of Parts 2 and 3 of that Act is set out in Schedule 2 be-low.

6. Every person who, if a general vesting declaration were executed under section 4 of that Act in respect of the land comprised in the order (other than land in respect of which notice to treat has been given), would be entitled to claim compensation in re-spect of any such land, is invited to give information to the Council of the Borough of Kirklees to Matthew Garbutt, Assets and Estates, Civic Centre 1, Huddersfield, HD1 2NF about the person’s name, address and interest in land, using a prescribed form. The relevant prescribed form is set out in Schedule 3 below.

SCHEDULE 1
Land Comprised In The Order As Confirmed
In Huddersfield, all interests other than those owned by the Council in approximately: 47 square metres of residential property, a third floor flat, known as Flat 49, Buxton House, New Street, Huddersfield, HD1 2PJ. 

SCHEDULE 2
Part 1(A) Statement Of Effect Of Parts 2 And 3 Of The Compulsory Purchase (Vesting Declarations Act) 1981

Power to execute a general vesting declaration
1 Once the Council of the Borough of Kirklees (Buxton House, Huddersfield) Compul-sory Purchase Order 2024 has become operative the Council of the Borough of Kirklees (hereinafter called “the Council”) may acquire any of the land described in Schedule 1 above by executing a general vesting declaration under section 4 of the Compulsory Purchase (Vesting Declarations) Act 1981 (“the Act”). This has the ef-fect, subject to paragraphs 3 and 5 below, of vesting the land in the Council at the end of the period mentioned in paragraph 2 below. 

Notices concerning general vesting declaration
2 As soon as may be after the Council execute a general vesting declaration, they must serve notice of it on every occupier of any of the land specified in the declara-tion (except land where there is one of the tenancies described in paragraph 4) and on every person who gives them information relating to the land in pursuance of the invitation contained in the confirmation notice of the order. When the service of no-tices of the general vesting declaration is completed, a period specified in the declaration, of not less than three months, will begin to run. On the first day after the end of this period the land described in the declaration will, subject to what is said in para-graphs 3 and 5, vest in the Council together with the right to enter on the land and take possession of it. Every person on whom the Council could have served a notice to treat in respect of his interest in the land (other than a tenant under one of the ten-ancies described in paragraph 4) will be entitled to claim compensation for the ac-quisition of his interest in the land, with interest on the compensation from the vest-ing date. 3 The “vesting date” for any land specified in a declaration will be the first day after the end of the period mentioned in paragraph 2 above, unless a counter-notice is served under Schedule A1 to the Act within that period. In such circumstances, the vesting date for the land which is the subject of the counter-notice will be determined in accordance with Schedule A1.

Modifications with respect to certain tenancies

4 In the case of certain tenancies, the position stated above is subject to modifications. The modifications apply where the tenancy is either a “minor tenancy”, i.e., a tenan-cy for a year or a yearly tenancy or a lesser interest, or “a long tenancy which is about to expire”. The latter expression means a tenancy granted for an interest greater than a minor tenancy but having on the vesting date a period still to run which is not more than the period specified in the declaration for this purpose (which must be more than a year). In calculating how long a tenancy has still to run, where any option to renew or to terminate it is available to either party, it shall be assumed that the landlord will take every opportunity open to him to terminate the tenancy while the tenant will use every opportunity to retain or renew his interest.

5 The modifications are that the Council may not exercise the right of entry referred to in paragraph 2 in respect of land subject to a tenancy described in paragraph 4 un-less they first serve notice to treat in respect of the tenancy and then serve every oc-cupier of the land with a notice of their intention to enter and take possession after the period (not less than three months from the service of the notice) specified in the notice. The right of entry will be exercisable at the end of that period. The vesting of the land will be subject to the tenancy until the end of that period or until the tenancy comes to an end, whichever happens first.

SCHEDULE 3
Part 2(A) Form For Giving Information
The Council of the Borough of Kirklees (Buxton House, Huddersfield) Compulsory Purchase Order 2024 To: [ ]

[I] [We] being [a person] [persons] who, if a general vesting declaration were executed un-der section 4 of the Compulsory Purchase (Vesting Declarations) Act 1981 in respect of all the land comprised in the compulsory purchase order cited above in respect of which notice to treat has not been given, would be entitled to claim compensation in respect of [all] [part of] that land, give you the following information, pursuant to the provisions of sec-tion 15 of, or paragraph 6 of Schedule 1, to the Acquisition of Land Act 1981. 

1 Name and address of informant(s) (i)

...............................................................................................

2 Land in which an interest is held by informant(s) (ii)

...............................................................................................................................

3 Nature of interest (iii)
………………………………………………………………………………………

Signed ………………………………………………………………………………………………

[on behalf of] ………………………………………………………………………………………

Date …………………………………………………………………………………………………

(i) In the case of a joint interest insert the names and addresses of all the informants. 

(ii) The land should be described concisely. 

(iii) If the interest is leasehold, the date of commencement and length of term should be given. If the land is subject to a mortgage or other incumbrance, details should be given, e.g., name of building society and roll number.

Dated: 11 March 2025

Samantha Lawton, Service Director – Legal Governance and Commissioning, The Council of the Borough of Kirklees