Adopted roads and highways

Frequently asked questions about adopted roads

1. What is road adoption?
Road adoption is a term used to describe the local authority taking over maintenance responsibility of a "private road". This maintenance is then funded at the public expense.

All roads have to be constructed in accordance with our guidelines.

If a road remains private then all maintenance and road cleaning is the responsibility all the property owners / occupiers of that road, even though it could be a public right of way to which highway and traffic law can be applied.

Normally adoption of is carried out by an agreement between the developer and the council under section 38 of the Highways Act 1980.

Existing roads will not be adopted unless the owners of the road bring them up to current standards. It may for example be unpaved, without kerbs, footways, surface water sewers, gullies and lighting or any of these features, and its surface is in a bad condition.

Under the provisions of sections 205 to 218 of the Highways Act 1980, the highway authority, that is the council, may resolve to raising the standard of a private street by providing any or all of the missing features or by improving the standard of any existing features. This procedure enables the council on completion of necessary remedial works to adopt the street as a highway maintainable at public expense.

2. Who is responsible for maintaining my street/road?
If your road has been adopted then we are responsible for maintaining it.

If your street/road is private, then all maintenance becomes the responsibility the occupiers, owners of buildings and/or land adjoining the street, that is to say premises having a frontage (frontage being the front face of a building or the front of a plot of ground) or an access to frontage on the street

3. Is my street adopted?
To find out whether your street is adopted, contact us direct on 546508.

4. How do I go about getting my road/street adopted?
All the residents must agree that the private road / street should be adopted and the pro-forma road adoption request form must be completed and returned to the council. This form can be obtained by contacting the above number.

Developers seeking to have new roads adopted can obtain further information from our highway development team. (See the contact information section for full details).

5. Who meets the cost of raising the standard of a private road / street?
All the owners of buildings and/or land adjoining the street, that is to say premises having a frontage (frontage being the front face of a building) or an access to frontage on the street, are responsible for the cost generally on a frontage length basis.

This is calculated by dividing the cost of the scheme by the total chargeable frontage length in the street to arrive at a cost per metre, which is then multiplied by the length of each frontage to arrive at the cost to the owners.

In certain circumstances, we may decide to contribute to the cost and/or adjust the apportionment made purely on frontage considerations to take into account any special benefit derived by any frontage(s) from the making up of the street.

6. Will I benefit if my street is adopted?
The most apparent and immediate benefit derived is obviously that the condition of the street is improved. There is however, the additional benefit in that from the date on which the street is formally adopted as a highway it then becomes maintainable at public expense and the frontages have no further liability for the maintenance of the street. Making up and adoption of the street improves the appearance of your local environment and should increase the value of your property.

7. How do I get my road / street standards raised for adoption?
It is best to enquire and ascertain the wishes of the other property owner(s). If the majority are in favour of having the street adopted you should then write to the director of environment and regeneration requesting that an assessment be carried out to determine your street's priority in Luton.

A pro-forma application form can be downloaded here and returned to the director of environment and regeneration. Experience has shown that it is often best for one resident to act as a co-ordinator to secure the agreement of other residents. Each property owner who desires the road to be made up should sign the pro-forma application.

If the amount of work required to complete the street appears to be minimal, then a group of residents may be able to arrange a private contract for this work. You should however consult the Highway development manager before you consider this option, as there is no guarantee that adoption of the street will follow unless our specification is adhered to and arrangements are made for inspection of the works during construction.

Usually, however, it is the council which prepares the scheme and arranges for the work to be carried out.

The following questions and answers assume this is the case.

8. What happens if my street is to be adopted?
The council will pass a resolution called "The First Resolution" which instructs the director of environment and regeneration to prepare a private street works scheme for your street.

The street is then surveyed and design work carried out. Plans and sections are drawn up and a specification prepared for the works needed to bring the street up to a standard suitable for ultimate adoption.

During the design stage, you and the other property owners of the street are requested to agree measurements of property frontages to the street.

On completion of the documentation required for the scheme, the director prepares an estimate of the total cost of the scheme and indicates the proposed method of distributing this among the property owners. This is called the provisional apportionment.

It should be noted that the amount shown in the provisional apportionment are based as estimates at this stage and do not constitute an invoice for the works.

9. Can I object at this stage?
An owner of premises shown in the provisional apportionment as being charged with any part of the costs can object on the grounds listed below. These are specified in section 208 of the Highways Act 1980.

Objections must be made in writing within one month of the date of the first publication of a notice in the local press to the address shown in the Notice of Provisional Apportionment. We consider objections and if it proves impossible to resolve these and it is decided to proceed with the proposed scheme the matter is referred to the magistrates court. If the magistrates rule against us then we may either modify the scheme or abandon it.

10. What are the grounds of objection to the provisional apportionment?
There are six grounds of objection defined in the Highways Act 1980 and they are:

(a) that the alleged private street is not completely private along the whole of its length.

(b) that there has been an error in respect of the resolution, notice, plans, sections or estimate;

(d) that the estimated costs of the proposed works are excessive;

(e) that any premises should be excluded from or inserted in the Provisional Apportionment;

(f) that the Provisional Apportionment is incorrect in respect of some matter of fact to be specified in the objection or where the Provisional Apportionment is made with regard to other considerations than frontage, in respect of the degree of benefit to be delivered by any premises, or of the amount or value of any work already done by the owner or occupier of premises.

11. If I think that my premises derive little or no benefit from the proposed works compared with other people, may I object under point 10 (f)?
Neither we nor the magistrates' court can deal with an objection based on the degree of benefit if this has not been taken into account when making the Provisional Apportionment. You may at a later stage appeal to the Secretary of State for Transport on this point as per the details found in question 13.

12. Where may the resolution, plans and other documents be seen?
Relevant documents, including plans and estimates are made available for inspection by members of the public at the places mentioned in the Notice of Provisional Apportionment in order that the full information can be looked at and considered prior to any possible objection.

Should any further clarification be required then enquiries should be sent to the address given in the Notice.

13. How is the work done?
If the road improvement scheme is to proceed, we invite a number of approved contractors to submit tenders for the work and after careful analysis of these; a contract for the work is let.

On completion of the contract, the actual cost of the work carried out on the site is determined and the contractor paid. This sum together with scheme design and supervision fees and other fees such as statutory undertakers fees and accommodation works incurred by the council form the basis of the final apportionment.

14. How is the final apportionment made and then what happens?
Once the works are completed and the cost finally determined, the council make the final apportionment. The cost is divided up in the same proportions as those in which the estimated expenses where divided in the original provisional apportionment, and the notice of the final apportionment is then served on the owners of the premises affected by it in the manner detailed in section 211 of the Highways Act 1980.

15. What are the grounds for objection to the final apportionment?
The grounds for objection as laid down in Section 211 of the Highways Act 1980 are:

(a) that there has been an unreasonable departure form the specification plans and sections;

(b) that the actual expenses have without sufficient reason exceeded the estimated expenses by more than 15%;

Any objections under section 211 are dealt with in a similar manner to that of objections to the provisional apportionment. The final apportionment, subject to any amendments made to it by a court on the hearing of objections to it under this section are final.

16. What other rights do I have?
An aggrieved person has a right of appeal directly to the Secretary of State for Transport on any ground(s) other than grounds on which an objection could have been made against the provisional or Final Apportionments. The appeal must be made within 3 weeks of the receipt of an account demanding payment, which is sent after service of the Notice of Final Apportionment, and a copy of the appeal must at the same time be sent to the council. The Secretary of State's decision is final and binding on both parties.

17. How and when do I pay?
Interest is payable on the amount apportioned from the date of service of the notice of final apportionment at a rate fixed from time to time by HM Treasury. Payment can be made in full on the service of the Notice or on receipt of the first account in which case no interest will be charged. Payment by instalments, will be considered in the case of financial hardship, for example a pensioner with limited means, and special arrangements can be made. All enquiries in respect of payment should be made to the Director of Finance at the address shown on the notice of final apportionment or first account.

18. What happens when deposits against the road charges have already been paid to the Council?
In such cases the property owners will still be liable for works expenses, but the money deposited plus any interest that has accrued therein will be deducted from the sum shown in the final apportionment and the balance will be entered into the account demanding payment. If you believe that the director of finance has omitted to deduct this money from your account, you should inform him direct.