Property & conveyancing

Compulsory acquisition in Victoria.

When a government authority acquires your land for a road, rail, level crossing removal or other public project, you cannot stop it, but you are entitled to be fully compensated for it. CMK Legal acts for owners, business occupiers and tenants under the Land Acquisition and Compensation Act 1986 (Vic), from the first reservation notice through to a negotiated or determined settlement.

Start onlineBook a consultation

Solicitor-reviewed

Notices, valuations and offers assessed by a Victorian property lawyer.

Fast turnaround

Responses are made within the statutory timeframes, some of which are short and strict.

Fixed fee, quoted first

Your reasonable legal costs are usually recoverable from the authority.

Victorian property law

Land Acquisition and Compensation Act 1986 and VCAT practice.

How compulsory acquisition works in Victoria.

The process usually begins long before the acquisition itself, with a planning scheme amendment reserving your land for a public purpose. The authority then serves a notice of intention to acquire, and no earlier than two months later a notice of acquisition, which vests the land in the authority and converts your interest into a right to compensation.

Compensation is not limited to the market value of the land taken. It can include special value, loss attributable to severance where part of a property is taken, injurious affection to what is left, disturbance costs including relocation, professional fees and business losses, and a solatium for the intangible disadvantage of being displaced from your home.

The authority will make an offer supported by its own valuer. You are entitled to obtain your own valuation and legal advice, and the authority is required to pay your reasonable professional costs. Most claims settle by negotiation; unresolved claims go to VCAT or the Supreme Court.

Your reasonable legal and valuation costs in a compulsory acquisition claim are generally payable by the acquiring authority. Getting advice early rarely costs you anything and routinely changes the number.

Why the first offer is rarely the right number.

Compensation is broader than land value

Severance, injurious affection, disturbance, relocation, professional costs and solatium are all separate heads of claim. Offers routinely address market value well and the rest thinly.

Businesses and tenants have their own claims

A business forced to relocate can claim fit-out, removal, loss of profits during transition and, in some cases, loss of goodwill. Tenants with an interest in the land are claimants in their own right, not bystanders.

Timeframes are strict

There are statutory periods for objecting to the notice of intention, lodging your claim and disputing an offer. Missing one narrows your options, so the file needs to be opened as soon as the first notice arrives.

Independent valuation evidence carries the negotiation

A valuer experienced in acquisition claims can be briefed to prepare an independent assessment. A properly evidenced counter-position is what moves an authority off its opening figure.

Talk to us if.

  • Your land has been reserved for a public purpose in a planning scheme
  • You have received a notice of intention to acquire
  • A notice of acquisition has been served
  • Only part of your property is being taken
  • You run a business from the property being acquired
  • You are a tenant in premises being acquired
  • You have received an offer of compensation and want it assessed
  • Works nearby have devalued or affected access to your land

Do not sign or accept an offer before it has been reviewed. Acceptance generally settles all heads of claim, including ones the offer never addressed.

How an acquisition claim runs.

  1. 01

    Review the notices

    What is being acquired, under what power, and which statutory timeframes are already running are confirmed.

  2. 02

    Identify every head of claim

    Market value, special value, severance, injurious affection, disturbance, business loss and solatium as applicable.

  3. 03

    Independent valuation

    A specialist valuer is briefed and, where relevant, a forensic accountant for business loss.

  4. 04

    Lodge the claim

    A fully evidenced claim submitted within time, so the authority is responding to your position rather than its own.

  5. 05

    Negotiation

    Offers, counter-offers and conferences with the authority and its valuer, with costs claimed as the matter progresses.

  6. 06

    Determination if needed

    Where agreement cannot be reached, the claim is referred to VCAT or the Supreme Court for determination.

Fees in acquisition matters.

In most compulsory acquisition claims the authority is required to pay your reasonable legal and valuation costs as part of the compensation. Which costs are recoverable is explained at the outset, the scope is quoted up front, and the recoverable component is claimed from the authority rather than from you.

Request a fixed-fee quote

FAQs

Compulsory acquisition FAQs.

Still unsure? Call us on (03) 9008 7224 and speak to a lawyer, not a call centre.

Can I refuse to sell my property?
No. Where an authority has the statutory power and follows the process under the Land Acquisition and Compensation Act, the land vests in the authority whether or not you agree. What is negotiable is the compensation, and in some cases the timing and the extent of the land taken.
What can I claim compensation for?
The market value of the interest taken, any special value to you, loss from severance where part of a property is acquired, injurious affection to the remaining land, disturbance costs including relocation and professional fees, and, for an owner-occupied principal residence, solatium for the intangible disadvantage of being displaced.
Who pays my legal and valuation fees?
The acquiring authority is generally liable for your reasonable professional costs in preparing and negotiating the claim. This is why owners are expected to get their own advice, and why doing so seldom leaves you out of pocket.
Only part of my land is being taken. Is that different?
Yes, and it is often where the largest losses sit. As well as the value of the part taken, you can claim for severance and for injurious affection, the reduction in value of the land you keep because of the acquisition and the works proposed on it.
I lease the premises. Do I have a claim?
If you hold an interest in the land, including a lease, you are a claimant in your own right. Business occupiers commonly claim relocation and fit-out costs, loss of profits during disruption and, depending on the circumstances, loss of goodwill.
What if I cannot agree on the amount?
Unresolved claims are determined by VCAT or, for larger claims, the Supreme Court. In practice the great majority settle at or before a compensation conference, once both sides have exchanged properly evidenced valuations.

Related services.

Boundary & title disputes

Fences, encroachments, adverse possession and caveats resolved commercially.

Learn more

Easements & covenants

What is burdening your title, and how to vary, remove or protect it.

Learn more

Commercial conveyancing

Buying or selling commercial, industrial and retail property in Victoria.

Learn more

Received an acquisition notice?.

Send the notice and any offer. What you can claim can be assessed, and in most cases the authority pays your reasonable legal costs.

Start onlineBook a consultation