Betterment - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition betterment

Definition :

Betterment, increasing the value of property. Where the increase is due to the execution of public improvements, some modern Acts provide that the neighbouring owners should bear a special share of the expense. The principle seems to have been applied, under the term 'melioration,' by 19 Car. 2, c. 3, s. 26, when London was being re-built after the Great Fire. For an instance of what might now be considered betterment, see Re South Eastern Railway & L.C.C.'s Contract, (1915) 2 Ch 252.

The principle has been adopted by the (English) Town and Country Planning Act, 1932 (22 & 23 Geo. 5, c. 48), s. 21, which, upon or apart from any question of compensation, allows local authorities to claim for betterment. See Re Webster, 51 TLR 201. See also (English) Public Health Act, 1925, s. 31, and (English) Local Government Act, 1929, Sched. I., Part I., and IMPROVEMENT OF TOWNS.