Commentary on Sections Part 8: Compulsory Purchase Section 102: Confirmation by acquiring authority
132.Section 102 inserts a new section 14A into the Acquisition of Land Act 1981 to enable the confirming authority for a compulsory purchase order to transfer the decision whether or not to confirm to the acquiring authority. This power may only be exercised if there are no objections to the order and certain other specified conditions are met. This is intended to help to speed up the confirmation of unopposed compulsory purchase orders, and should be particularly helpful in situations where, as part of a wider land assembly exercise, an acquiring authority needs to exercise its compulsory purchase powers in order to acquire title to land in unknown ownership.