Compulsory purchase can be used to acquire property temporarily, this is often done where land is required during construction of a project but is not needed afterwards. My meaning was that if properties were requisitioned temporarily then compensation might be based on rental value rather than sales value. This would still be far higher than the cost of renting ordinary but acceptable accommodation.

There is a well-established basis for calculating compensation, with an appeals process if it can't be agreed. Determining value isn't the issue. My point is that if upwards of £644m is to be spent on assisting the victims, it is a nonsense to spend it all on requisitioning luxury properties when perfectly good accommodation could be acquired for a fraction of that, leaving the rest to be spent on tackling other problems.

As for using these properties for future council accommodation, are you really suggesting that a council should spend millions on a one or two bedroom flat to house a single family in luxury, when for the same money it could house several families in perfectly good quality accommodation? Or that it should indulge in property speculation in the hope of making a profit when it sells?