Heathrow Airport has kick-started the process to buy property and land to develop its third runway.
It has issued 3,750 letters to commercial and private owners it will have to buy from as part of an initial land referencing exercise.
Industry experts estimate
that around 2m sq ft of lettable commercial space will be affected by the expansion plans (see box).
The letter, issued by infrastructure consultancy Mouchel, is designed to identify the exact parties with which it will need to reach agreements, having referenced Land Registry records.
The communication includes a four-page information pack and a questionnaire. The questionnaire relates predominantly to title as well as any charges relating to the property.
The letter says: “To support the development of our proposals, we also need to carry out surveys… We are offering appropriate compensation to anyone who agrees to allow access to their house or land.”
The accompanying pack includes information on referencing and environmental surveys, as well as the next steps in the process.
The research from the letters will form part of a bill, which will then go through a national policy statement process.
This includes consultations and a proposal, which government is expected to vote on in spring 2018.
A development consent order application will be formally submitted in 2019.
Heathrow has previously stated an intention to begin work on the runway in 2021, with a view to complete in 2025. The runway will bring Heathrow’s capacity to 740,000 flights a year and is expected to benefit many neighbouring landlords, such as SEGRO.
The properties under threat
The latest plans by Heathrow show that most assets on or north of the Bath Road will be impacted. Although SEGRO is well-known for its Heathrow holdings, over the past two years it has divested its assets that lie within the new runway territory.
Prologis owns DX Courier’s 171,500 sq ft distribution centre and has been sent a land referencing letter, but it is expected to be outside of the area necessary to build the runway.
Arora Hotel
Landlord Surinder Arora
Tenant Arora
Size 350 bedrooms
Unit 3, Polar Park
Landlord Prologis
Tenant Metropolitan Police
Size 82,447 sq ft
Three units, Polar Park
Landlord HPUT
Tenant Various
Size 257,524 sq ft
Six units, Fairway Trading Estate
Landlord HPUT
Tenant Various
Size 59,822 sq ft
The process for buying properties for Heathrow’s third runway
Infrastructure schemes of national significance, such as Heathrow and HS2, do not need to follow the conventional, public body-led route of compulsory purchase orders.
Instead, they apply for a development consent order, which is essentially a piece of private legislation giving permission for a scheme, wrapping up all the various inputs to pushing something of that scale through.
As a result, what is to be developed on land related to such orders does not need separate planning permission.
Many of the processes were influenced by the delays surrounding Terminal 5’s expansion.
Applications are sent directly from the private developer – in this instance BAA’s Heathrow Airport Limited – to the Planning Inspectorate, which will conduct a hearing and compile a report, which will then be sent to the secretary of state.
The secretary of state will then make the ultimate decision about granting it.
Long before any of this occurs however, the private company will need to begin researching who owns the land through a land referencing exercise – the process for which has now started.
This, as well as finding out ownership, will also establish the land use, the length of tenancies, the willingness of owners to sell, and, importantly, starts the period of consultation.
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