Rail firm’s land grab is ‘robbery without guns’
BUSINESS and home owners last night claimed they were facing financial ruin after having property seized by HS2.
They say they have been forced to leave their homes or land to make way for the rail line but have yet to be paid a penny.
One described HS2’s actions as ‘robbery without guns’, while another said the firm’s tactics were ‘nasty and aggressive’.
Iain Howie, 51, who runs a cattle farm in Harefield, on the edge of north-west London, said he had suffered a breakdown after seizures by HS2 ‘devastated’ his business.
He sold 150 of his 300 cattle to survive but estimates that, with legal and other professional fees, he is already £300,000 out of pocket. ‘I lost the first land in March 2017 but I haven’t had a bean from HS2,’ he told the Sunday Times. ‘They know I am close to bankruptcy and I believe they are deliberately trying to get me into a position where they can say the farm has no value.
‘We put our valuation forward at the end of February and have heard nothing. We don’t even get [substantive] replies to the emails we send. Nobody seems to care.’
HS2 is supposed to pay owners of land or property seized 90 per cent of the compulsory purchase price up front. But surveyors claim this is not happening.
A spokesman for HS2 said: ‘We appreciate there may often be different opinions about the value of a property.
‘We work with the people affected to reach agreement, recognising differences in opinion can take time to resolve.’