Cases - Waters and Others v Welsh Development Agency

Record details

Name
Waters and Others v Welsh Development Agency
Date
(2004)
Citation
2 AII ER 915
Legislation

Land Compensation Act 1961

Keywords
Compensation
Summary

Here the House of Lords gave 6 useful pointers for applying the Pointe Gourde rule, which assists in the assessment of fair compensation by separating the value to the owner from the value to the purchaser.

  1. The Pointe Gourde principle should not be pressed too far but should be applied in a manner that achieves a fair and reasonable result.
  2. A result is not fair and reasonable where it requires a valuation exercise that is unreal or virtually impossible.
  3. A valuation result should be viewed with caution when it would lead to a gross disparity between the amount of compensation payable and the market values of comparable adjoining properties that are not being acquired.
  4. When applied as a supplement to the provisions of section 6 of the Land Compensation Act 1961, the principle should be applied by analogy with the statutory provisions.
  5. The scope of the intended works and their purpose will normally appear from the formal resolutions or documents of the acquiring authority, though this formulation should not be regarded as conclusive.
  6. When in doubt, a scheme should be identified in narrower rather than broad terms.