SCANDAL OF THE HS2 HOMEWRECKERS

Railroaded out of the houses they loved to make way for new high-speed line... only to find they needn’t have sold up at a loss and moved out at all – as the line is REROUTED

MILLIONS of pounds of taxpayers’ money has been wasted buying up homes to make way for the controversial HS2 project – because the high-speed route has now been changed.

More than a dozen homes, ranging from country estates in picturesque villages to detached houses in urban areas, were bought by the Government after it announced HS2’s 335-mile network from London to Birmingham, and then to Leeds and Manchester.

But following fierce opposition from local groups and businesses, HS2 changed the route in three parts of the country, leaving it with properties worth £21 million on land that it no longer needs.

Many of those who needlessly sold to HS2 believe they were not given a fair price for their properties. Others say they went through emotional turmoil at having to leave often treasured homes of many decades for no reason.

Among the ‘unnecessary’ purchases are a country house in Leicestershire bought from Tory MP Andrew Bridgen, a bungalow from a pensioner nearing 100 in the

‘Some of these homes are in prime territory’

same area, and a five-bedroom farmhouse set in 202 acres of the Chilterns. It is worth £4.2million.

One distressed former owner, Fosca Levison, 77, said of her home in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire: ‘I was distraught to leave because it is such a beautiful part of the country and we had made it our home.

‘Then, to find out that they’re not even building the HS2 route where our home was, is outrageous.’

The new revelation comes days after the HS2 Bill received its Royal Assent on Thursday, which means work on the first phase from London to Birmingham can begin.

HS2 – which is costing taxpayers £56 billion – will cut the journey time from London to Birmingham by 32 minutes from the current one hour and 21 minutes. Once phase two is complete, the journey time from London to Manchester will be just one hour and eight minutes – down from the current two hours and eight minutes.

Some of the properties HS2 no longer needs are now being rented but others lie empty.

Critics have blasted the purchase of the properties as ‘shambolic’, saying the company should have waited until the whole route was finalised.

HS2 has so far bought 482 properties worth a total of £375million to make way for the high-speed tracks. In the Chilterns, The Mail on Sunday has discovered ten properties worth £18 million were bought for no reason.

HS2’s original plan was to build an eight-mile tunnel through the south-east of the Chilterns, which would rise above ground in the Great Missenden area in Buckinghamshire.

As a result HS2 bought ten properties in the area from locals whose houses would have been affected by track running through or close to their land.

But lobbying by protesters – who argued that the track would destroy an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty – meant a decision was made to extend the tunnel by a mile and a half. This, in turn, meant the homes would no longer be affected.

They include Mantles Farm, near Amersham, a five-bedroom farmhouse with extensive gardens and a swimming pool plus an adjoining three-bedroom cottage, set over 202 acres of rolling countryside.

In nearby Great Missenden, the former owners of Hillcrest, a detached four-bedroom 1920s house with a tennis court and nearly 17 acres, felt the £1.7 million offer from HS2 was not a fair price for their home of 37 years.

Alec Moir, 78, and his wife, Judith, 76, sold it to HS2 in January 2016, because initial plans mean the track would go through part of their land. The property has been standing empty ever since.

Also in Great Missenden, Fosca Levison lived with her husband Nicholas, 81, for 43 years at Sheepcotts – a charming five-bedroom house with six reception rooms, three bathrooms and a tennis court. They sold it to HS2 in June 2015 for £2.75million.

In Leicestershire, the HS2 route was originally planned to go west of the village of Measham, 20 miles north of Leicester.

But that would have wrecked an industrial park which was one of the main employers in the area, so the route was changed last year to go east of Measham.

By then, HS2 had spent £2.9 million on three properties near the old route.

One was The Old Rectory, owned by Tory MP Mr Bridgen. The eightbedroom Georgian property, set in 18 acres, has a swimming pool and tennis court.

Mr Bridgen, the MP for NorthWest Leicestershire, had to sell his property at the time as part of a divorce settlement with his wife, Jacqueline. But he said he could not find a buyer as news spread that

HS2 was building its track through the area, so he was obliged to sell it to the company.

The MP eventually sold to HS2 for £1.9million in June last year.

He said the deal meant he made a substantial loss as he bought the property in 2011 for £2.1 million, then paid out a further £450,000 in stamp duty, fixtures and fittings and other costs.

Nearby is Heath Lodge, a bungalow set in eight acres which was owned by Eric Skelding, a Second World War veteran who turns 100 next month.

In 2014, Mr Skelding found himself having to sell after being admitted to a nursing home following a fall.

But with the proposed route at the time going through his property, there was no chance of finding a buyer on the open market.

The widower finally sold to HS2 for £640,000, which his family believe was below market value.

Martin Roberts, presenter of BBC series Homes Under The Hammer, said: ‘Any threat of development or negative change will not only nuke house prices, but stifle demand almost completely.

‘You enter fire-sale territory, where buyers make silly money offers and sellers are sometimes forced to accept them.’

He added: ‘Some of these houses are in real trophy territory, so it wouldn’t be unrealistic to see immediate rises in the 30 to 50 per cent range, then steady growth of seven to ten per cent a year.

‘Owners who were forced to sell have every right to be upset. Not only have they suffered the emo- tional upheaval of a move and loss of, possibly, a family home, but they have lost out considerably from a financial point of view.’

An estate agent with more than 20 years’ experience in the Chilterns area estimated that the actual value of the properties HS2 bought were now tens of thousands of pounds more than the amounts paid by the rail firm thanks to the route change.

The HS2 route has also been changed in South Yorkshire.

Initially, the line would have gone through Sheffield’s Meadowhall area, but due to local opposition it will now go through the town of

‘Owners have every right to be upset’

Mexborough. HS2 has confirmed that so far no properties have been needlessly bought in the South Yorkshire area.

HS2 said: ‘Six years ago we set up the first of a series of compensation schemes to help give homeowners the chance to sell their properties at their full, unblighted market value.

‘In order to ensure value for the taxpayer, we currently rent out 85 per cent of lettable properties and plan to sell all those we don’t need for construction.’

HS2’s first phase should be completed in 2026 and stage two is scheduled to finish by 2033.