I have spoken to a number of experts in such matters this week about just how easy it is to underestimate by £160m when you are working on a £1bn land acquisition programme.The answer from many quarters has been that it's by no means impossible.
The KPMG audit of how the LDA's Olympic Legacy Directorate handled the compulsory purchase of land for the 838-acre Olympics site in east London suggested that the £159.8m overspend occurred because of "poor record keeping and weak internal controls".
That may be the case but others in the profession feel the OLD management is being unfairly castigated without being afforded the opportunity to provide any explanation.
One source who has worked on a number of complex Compulsory Purchase Orders in the capital says it is not unusual for there to be a 10% difference between the original budget forecast and the final outcome in these matters.
He said there are likely to have been two factors that complicated matters.
The first is that landowners were not only being compensated for their land but also for the loss to their business caused by relocation - something that is notoriously difficult to value.
Secondly, many of the negotiations were not settled amicably and had to go to the Lands Tribunal to be settled. In such cases the Lands Tribunal will often split the difference between the two party's views of what the value of the site is, something that would have lead to a substantial increase in the payment the LDA would need to have made.
It would be great if anyone who has worked on CPOs is able to add their views.
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