Superfluous Lands - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition superfluous-lands

Definition :

Superfluous lands, lands acquired by a public company under the (English) Lands Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845 (8 & 9 Vict. c. 18), but not required for the purposes of the undertaking of the company. Such lands must, by ss. 127 and 128 of the Act, be sold within ten years after the time limited for the completion of the undertaking, the person entitled to the lands from which they were originally severed, or, if he refuse, the adjoining owners, having a right of pre-emption; and if the lands are not so sold, they vest in the adjoining owners.

The town and (English) Country Planning Act, 1932, 3rd Sch., excepts the operation of ss. 127 to 132 of the L.C.C. Act, 1845, from purchases under the Act of 1932, and see Housing Act, 1936. The law of this subject has given rise to much litigation, the leading case being Great Western Railway Company v. May (1874) LR 7 HL 283. See also Dunhill v. N.E. Ry Co., (1896) 1 Ch 121; and A.G. v. Sunderland Corporation, (1930) 1 Ch 168.