Land & Property Compulsory Acquisition Lawyers
In NSW an authority, such as a government body, can acquire privately owned lands and properties compulsorily for public purposes. Some of these common purposes include construction of infrastructure such as widening an existing road or building a new highway.
If you have been affected by a compulsory acquisition of land or property by the government, you have the right to claim compensation according to the Land Acquisition (Just Terms Compensation) Act 1991.
The Compulsory Acquisition Process
The compulsory acquisition process typically consists of several stages:
Issuance of a proposed acquisition notice
The acquiring authority must provide the land or property owner with a proposed acquisition notice detailing the government body that is proposing the acquisition and the period of time within which the compulsory acquisition will take place. The landowner can negotiate with the acquiring authority to try to reach a mutual agreement.
Publication of an acquisition notice
If no agreement between the landowner and the acquiring authority can be reached, the acquiring authority can get an approval for compulsory acquisition from the Governor of NSW and publish an acquisition notice to announce the acquisition.
Determination of compensation
An independent valuer acts on behalf of the Valuer-General to determine the amount of compensation to pay to the landowner within 30 days of the publication of the acquisition notice.
Issuance of the determination
Based on the information provided by the independent valuer, the Valuer-General issues a determination of compensation to the acquiring authority, who is required to contact the landowner and offer them the compensation.
Worried about costs?
There is no need to worry about any unexpected legal costs.
All of our legal work for the preparation of your claim and negotiating on your behalf is conducted at no cost to you.
Legally, the Acquiring Authority is obligated to pay all your reasonable legal costs and so we will only seek our costs directly from the Acquiring Authority and not from you.
Get us to assist you now!
Issuance of compensation notice
The acquiring authority must issue a compensation notice to notify the landowner that the land or property has been acquired and what the landowner will receive for the acquisition.
If the landowner agrees with the determination, the acquiring authority will pay the amount determined to the landowner to complete the acquisition.
If the landowner disagrees with the determination, they can file an objection with the Land and Environment Court within 90 days of receiving the compensation notice.
We Can Help
At Unified Lawyers, we have helped many clients affected by the compulsory acquisition. We can help you, too.
Our property lawyers understand how stressful it is when you are affected by a compulsory acquisition. We have a team of knowledgeable property lawyers who can assist you throughout the process.
We will ensure that you receive the amount of compensation you are entitled to. In some cases, we can help you obtain a compensation that is several times higher than the one offered by the acquiring authority.
Contact us now for FREE legal advice!
Obtain FREE legal representation. We recover all your legal fees and costs from the Acquiring Authority.
