Section 19 Extension of ss. 17 and 18 to special cases.

Where an interest in land is proposed to be acquired F1 by an authority possessing compulsory purchase powers, and, by reason that the person entitled to the interest is absent from the United Kingdom or cannot be found, the compensation payable in respect of the interest falls to be determined by the valuation of a surveyor under section fifty-eight of the M1 Lands Clauses Consolidation Act 1845, the surveyor, before carrying out his valuation, may apply to the local planning authority for a certificate under the said section seventeen; and the provisions of that section and of section eighteen of this Act shall apply in relation to an application made by virtue of this subsection as they apply in relation to an application made by virtue of subsection (1) of the said section seventeen.

Where, in pursuance of an application made by virtue of subsection (1) of this section, the local planning authority issue a certificate to the surveyor, the authority shall serve copies of the certificate on both the parties directly concerned.

An application for a certificate made by virtue of subsection (1) of this section shall specify the matters referred to in F2paragraph (ba) of subsection (3) of the said section seventeen, and shall be accompanied by a statement specifying the date on which a copy of the application has been or will be served on each of the parties directly concerned; and, in relation to such an application, subsection (4) of that section shall have effect with the substitution, for the reference to the date specified in the statement mentioned in F3paragraph (c) of the said subsection (3), of a reference to the date specified in accordance with this subsection, or, where more than one date is so specified, the later of those dates.

In the application of section 18 by virtue of subsection (1)—