London Southend Airport

The Planning Agreements (s.106 agreements) associated with the grant of planning permission for the airport expansion include the provision for a Property Acquisition and Sound and Thermal Insulation Grants Scheme to be set up. In December 2013, the Airport Company is required to submit noise contour information showing the properties they consider qualify for the Scheme, which will have been established over the preceding 18 months. This will then have to be agreed by the Council. Once agreed, any qualifying properties would be entitled to improvements to glazing and/or roof insulation at the Airport Company’s expense. This procedure will then be repeated again every two years.

Property owners do not need to contact the Airport Company or the Council to qualify. Property owners who qualify for the Scheme will be contacted directly by the Airport Company in writing including details of the Scheme plus an application form to complete if they are interested. Once the qualifying property owners have been contacted, the Airport Company will publish both the contours and a list of qualifying properties in its Annual Report (see page 21 of the 2013 report for information regarding the Scheme), which in turn is made publicly available on the Airport Company’s website.

Those qualifying property owners that return a completed form and declare an interest are contacted by the Airport Company’s surveyor who visits the property and provides a report detailing how the property owners may benefit from the Scheme, including an assessment on the current standard of sound insulation. The property owners will subsequently be contacted to confirm what they are entitled to under the terms of the Scheme.

In extreme cases, the Airport Company is duty bound to offer to purchase the property pursuant to the Scheme.

Claims under the Land Compensation Act 1973 (as amended) in respect of Runway Extension at London Southend Airport:

A number of residents have been contacted by solicitors about compensation claims for loss of property value as a result of the development of the airport.

Part 1 of the Land Compensation Act 1973 provides that compensation may be claimed by residents who own and occupy property near the airport and who can prove their property reduced in value by a demonstrable increase in noise, vibration, smell, fumes etc. caused by the runway extension.

The Compensating Authority is the company operating the Airport (London Southend Airport Company Limited), not the Council.

Any owner-occupier wishing to pursue such a claim under the 1973 Act is strongly advised to obtain independent specialist advice.

Correspondence on the subject should be sent to The Estates Surveyor, London Southend Airport Company Ltd, Southend-on-Sea, Essex SS2 6YF. Further details regarding making a claim can be found on the airport website.