What does “costs attributable to disturbance” mean?
S 20 (5) of the Acquisition of Land Act 1967 explains that “costs attributable to disturbance” includes all of the following:
(a) legal costs and valuation or other professional fees reasonably incurred by the claimant in relation to the preparation and filing of the claimant’s claim for compensation;
(b) the following costs relating to the purchase of land by a claimant to replace the land taken–
(i) stamp duty reasonably incurred or that might reasonably be incurred by the claimant, but not more than the amount of stamp duty that would be incurred for the purchase of land of equivalent value to the land taken;
(ii) financial costs reasonably incurred or that might reasonably be incurred by the claimant in relation to the discharge of a mortgage and the execution of a new mortgage, but not more than the amount that would be incurred if the new mortgage secured the repayment of the balance owing in relation to the discharged mortgage;
(iii) legal costs reasonably incurred by the claimant;
(iv) other financial costs, other than any taxation liability, reasonably incurred by the claimant;
(c) removal and storage costs reasonably incurred by the claimant in relocating from the land taken;
(d) costs reasonably incurred by the claimant to connect to any services or utilities on relocating from the land taken;
(e) other financial costs that are reasonably incurred or that might reasonably be incurred by the claimant, relating to the use of the land taken, as a direct and natural consequence of the taking of the land;
(f) an amount reasonably attributed to the loss of profits resulting from interruption to the claimant’s business that is a direct and natural consequence of the taking of the land;
(g) other economic losses and costs reasonably incurred by the claimant that are a direct and natural consequence of the taking of the land.