Welcome Colin Cottage!

We are delighted to announce that Colin Cottage has joined the Ardent team as a Senior Director and is working from our London office. Colin qualified as a chartered surveyor in 1991 and has specialised in providing advice on compulsory purchase and compensation matters to both acquiring authorities and claimants for more than twenty years.

His experience extends to advising on predominantly regeneration based CPOs for acquiring authorities in locations that include Dagenham, Stratford, Woolwich, Canning Town, Harlow, Romford, Rainham, Abbey Wood and Barking. Colin was also one of the lead advisors for the CPO used to deliver the 2012 Olympic Games.

In addition to acting for Acquiring Authorities, Colin acts for landowners and occupiers affected by the use of compulsory purchase powers across the UK. He is currently advising claimants in relation to Crossrail, HS2, the Heathrow 3rd runway expansion, the Trafford Metrolink extension, the M11 J7a and a number of regeneration projects across south east England.

Colin has extensive experience of providing both written and oral expert evidence at Public Inquiry, the Lands Chamber and the High Court.

Colin sits on the National Committee of the Compulsory Purchase Association and held the position of chairman in 2016-2017. He is currently leading the CPA sub-committee responsible for drafting a compensation litigation protocol and was the primary author of the CPA’s recent submission to the Communities and Local Government Select Committee on the use of compulsory purchase powers to achieve land value capture.