The Labour Party has mooted the idea of compulsory purchase of land for housing by local authorities and amendment of the rules on compensation. It is a complex area. It raises at least these questions: 

• what is the problem which is being targeted; 
• what drives land value and where are they different; 
• how would the proposal affect new settlements, if at all; 
• are there existing mechanisms to achieve the same end; 
• how would land-owner behaviour change; 
• are the CPO and valuation stages the same and what position might an objector take;
• are there perverse consequences for local plan preparation? 

That is a long list, and so this is a detailed episode of the Planning Podcast, with three experts: Richard Blythe (Head of Policy and Practice at the RTPI); Paul Brocklehurst (Chairman of the Land Promoters and Developers Federation), and; Christian Hawley, barrister at No5 Chambers, joining Richard Kimblin KC to tease out the issues.