The official Department for Transport video on the HS2 Property and Compensation Consultation.
“Residents and businesses affected by the first phase of HS2 from London to the West Midlands will be offered a comprehensive package of compensation measures, which go beyond the legal minimum. This film briefly describes the key elements of the consultation and how to submit views on the Government’s proposals.”
Why the arbitrary 120m when it should be based on local house market evidence which I think will verify at least 1Km
If promises made by ministers are to be kept at the very least there must be a property bond scheme with government being a purchaser of last resort
If they can find money for spinners at hs2 ltd they can afford to treat homeowners properly and with empathy
What’s more, the 120m voluntary purchase zone will not apply to properties that are within the M25. Anyone there who wants to move would have to apply under the hardship scheme. They say it’s because “these areas will not experience the same level of impact from either the construction or the operation of the line.” I’m sure the people who live there would beg to differ. It’s more likely that the cost of acquiring all that property would be prohibitive. I think this is the same problem as with the property bond scheme. The treasury do not want to sign a blank cheque.
I’m sure you’re right finmere
Surely they are trapped by their own logic — if there is no problem selling houses at market value outside the 120 then the property bond scheme would cost nothing
Property values along the route are down by 25–35%. HS2AA have calculated that for the 172,000 properties within one kilometre of the line, this equates to £25 billion.
The powers that be say ‘the wider impact on property markets tends to be at its worst during the planning, design and construction phase of a project. The reality of the impact when such schemes are in operation has consistently turned out to be less than was first feared.’ That’s why compensation cannot be claimed until one year after the railway has been open.
Anyone selling during the planning, design and construction phase will lose out financially because of HS2 unless they qualify under the hardship scheme. Conversely, anyone buying can potentially pick up a bargain.
If I wanted to build a home near a rail line what would the planning rules be eg would I be alowed to build within 120 m away from the line if not do any planners know the answer
At Shenstone in Staffs Lichfield District Council gave planning permission for a house on the same building line as the station booking office,10 years ago it was on the market for £375,000.
In a word …yes…..and to prove it, near where I live are 3 developments of new housing for which the back gardens and the rail line are right next to each other. One of these developments actually backs on to what is the main Transpennine route, which carries about 10 trains an hour both ways , plus the four trains per hour local service and and ad hoc freight service.
Some of you guys will no doubt be aware of an overall enquiry run by the TSC called rail2020. This is a more generalistic view of what is happening in the industry just now……HS2 does get a bit of a mention in this. A Professor Wellings from the Institute of Economic Affairs made an interesting point ……he is advocating a change in the planning laws which force developers into corridors around stations.
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They make it sound like they are being so generous!
People whose homes are within 60m of the line and would need to be demolished will be given the market value of their property plus 10% relocation allowance on top. Those living up to 120m of the line, whose homes would most likely become uninhabitable, will be given the market value of their property. They will receive no relocation allowance and will have to pay their own costs, of which a large proportion would be stamp duty land tax. The government spin machine is publicising this as ‘a comprehensive package of compensation measures, which go beyond the legal minimum’.
For those who live further away than 120m, compensation for the impact of HS2 can be claimed only after the railway has been open for one year – i.e. 2027. In the meantime there is the ‘Long Term Hardship Scheme’. Homeowners can apply to have their property purchased by the government if they need to sell to avoid hardship but cannot do so or can only do so at a substantial loss because of HS2.
No one knows how many homes will fall into this category but it’s obvious when you think about it that there will be a large number of people who will need to move for all sorts of reasons during the next 15 years. The treasury is naturally cautious and will not want to buy up too many properties. So far, 70% of applications to the hardship scheme have been rejected.
Remember these fine words from Philip Hammond…
“Where a project which is in the national interest imposes significant financial loss on individuals, it is right and proper that they should be compensated fairly for that loss. So I have asked my officials to prepare a range of options for a scheme to assist those whose properties would not be required for the construction of the railway, but who would nonetheless see a significant diminution of value as a result of the construction of the line. The forthcoming consultation will include proposals for such a scheme.”
The best those officials can come up with is the long term hardship scheme – a continuation of the flawed exceptional hardship scheme which has already failed a lot of people. And the last time I responded to an HS2 consultation, they lost my reply. When they found it they wrote to me and said ‘sorry we lost it, but now we’ve looked at it and it wouldn’t have made any difference anyway because it’s the same as all the other replies which we haven’t taken any notice of either’.