Land referencing is the research, analysis, and presentation of all interests in land impacted by schemes to be completed using powers of compulsory acquisition. Whilst quasi-legal in nature, land referencing activities draw on a broad range of skills including surveying, cartography, planning and data management. The framework within which the land referencing team works is often defined by historical statute and legal precedent, but the team will also be interacting with, and providing data that can be incorporated into, present day Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Computer Aided Design (CAD) design environments to facilitate dissemination of information to key stakeholders across a project.

The land referencing team’s principal role is to identify all interests affected by a scheme and may have a potential claim arising from the scheme’s impact. Information on the ownership and rights to land will be the key items of data to stakeholders throughout the life cycle of a project.

Infrastructure projects cannot happen without land or rights to use land, so a project’s stakeholders will be keen to understand the extent, cost and challenges associated with the acquisition of these as early in the project’s life cycle as possible. The need to understand land ownership begins as soon as activities that have the potential to affect a landowner’s interest in land commence.

Engaging land referencers at the early, planning stages of a project will support early design and optioneering work allowing the design team to test options against their impact on land requirements and cost.  Early availability of landowner information will allow engagement stakeholders to identify key landowners and statutory authorities impacted by the scheme, helping to facilitate development of engagement strategies and early initial contact protocols.

The time needed to complete diligent enquiries should not be underestimated. Whilst a certain amount of ownership data is publicly available and can be acquired on request at a predetermined cost, many interests in land may be unregistered, poorly documented, and privately held.  The land referencing team must research all records with the same level of diligence and completeness, so the time taken to identify and confirm these less available interests can be significant.

The time needed to complete enquiries will vary from a matter of weeks for small, localised developments to months or several years for more significant schemes. Changes to land requirements that may emerge from negotiations, design changes, or those requested during formal review will all introduce the need for additional research effort and the updating of existing data at a time when provisional project timetables are already in place. The impact of such changes on the project program may prove significant.