257 Recovery from acquiring authorities of sums paid by way of compensation.S
(1)This section applies where—
(a)an interest in land is compulsorily acquired or is sold to an authority possessing compulsory purchase powers, and
(b)a notice is recorded or registered under section 79(1) in respect of any of the land acquired or sold (whether before or after the completion of the acquisition or sale) in consequence of a planning decision or order made before the service of the notice to treat, or the making of the contract, in pursuance of which the acquisition or sale is effected.
(2)Where this section applies the Secretary of State shall, subject to the following provisions of this section, be entitled to recover from the acquiring authority a sum equal to so much of the amount of the compensation specified in the notice as (in accordance with section 79(2)) is to be treated as attributable to that land.
(3)If, immediately after the completion of the acquisition or sale, there is outstanding some interest in the land acquired or sold to which a person other than the acquiring authority is entitled, the sum referred to in subsection (2) shall not accrue due until that interest either ceases to exist or becomes vested in the acquiring authority.
(4)No sum shall be recoverable under this section in the case of a compulsory acquisition or sale where the Secretary of State is satisfied that the interest in question is being acquired for the purposes of the use of the land as a public open space.
(5)In this section “authority possessing compulsory purchase powers”, in relation to the compulsory acquisition of an interest in land, means the person or body of persons effecting the acquisition and, in relation to any other transaction relating to an interest in land, means any person or body of persons who could be or have been authorised to acquire that interest compulsorily for the purposes for which the transaction is or was effected.