Land valuation in England. Existing use value y texto refundido de la ley de suelo (Real Decreto legislativo 2/2008, de 20 de junio)

Abstract

The land legislation currently in force in Spain (Texto Refundido de la Ley de Suelo) proposes a new manner of land valuation based upon the criterion of existing use value used in England, that refers to the land use at the moment in which the expropriation operation is produced. The said criterion was adopted in England in 1947, at the time of the nationalisation of the ius aedificandi, only to be abandoned shortly thereafter on the basis of the failure resulting from its application, and to date has not been reintroduced within the English system of land valuation. At present English land valuation is based upon the principles of fair indemnity and of equivalence. These principles must be complied with in order to determine the value of the land to be expropriated. The criterion of the market value is modulated by the so-called no-scheme rule, that impedes the computation of the variations in the valuation the land deriving from the development giving rise to the expropriation, but does not take into consideration the current urban development characteristics of the land as much as its urban development potential, defined in the corresponding development plan and represented by the permissions that could reasonably be expected to be obtained in the event of the expropriation not having been produced.