Different from the situation in the Netherlands, an increase in value may also be recovered from the owner, under German law, when he did not know nor ought to have known of the pollution when he acquired the property. However, where the owner was justified in believing that the property was not polluted when he acquired it, the price and any expenditure incurred when he made the purchase will be deductible from the increase in value. It will be taken into account whether the owner is entitled to claim compensation from a third person. The German regulations appear to follow the provisions for Wertausgleich applicable to redevelopment of districts from public funds (cf article 154 Baugesetzbuch). There is no such statutory regulation in the Netherlands where cost of redevelopment may be recovered, in part, from property-owners through the levy of baatbelasting (Municipal Corporation Profit Tax). The Deltawet (Delta Act of 1958) forms an exception as it allows recoupment of an increase in value of land and water outside the dikes as a result of the closing of estuaries in the south-west of Holland.
literature
Cost recovery on the basis of unjust enrichment. The reasonableness of recovery from the buyer-owner. Tijdschrift voor Milieuaansprakelijkheid (Environmental Liability Law Review), June 2001
Developments in the case law in respect of article 75, paragraph 3 of the
Wet bodembescherming (Soil Protection Act), Tijdschrift voor Milieuaansprakelijkheid (Environmental Liability Law Review), June 2003