[RobAley]

Having previously lived near there, I believe that the correct version of events goes something like as follows:

When the motorway was being built, a (non-compulsory) offer was made to purchase the land. When this offer was turned down, a Compulsory Purchase Order was initiated. However as the land that the house sits on was not technically required for the motorway, a CPO could not be made for that part of the land. The surrounding land which was needed and would have still fallen under a CPO was then sold and realising they would not be able to get a CPO for the house it was not applied for.