High Speed 2: The Great Train Robbery

Published: 12/03/2012

With confirmation that the High Speed 2 (HS2) has been approved, it is estimated over £90m worth of property will be knocked down to accommodate the route.

HS2 is the new high speed rail network between London, the Midlands and the North which will see journey times slashed. Passengers travelling between the UK’s two largest cities, London and Birmingham could soon do so in less than 50 minutes whilst London to Glasgow travellers could see thirty minutes shaved off their journey.

Despite scheduled to take over a decade to complete, its approval could have a more imminent effect on homeowners with introducers and conveyancers encouraged to start thinking about the inevitable fallout.

The route will span 22 local authorities and further to the £90m worth of demolished property will impact on another 22,300 homes which will suffer a “noticeable noise increase”. The 200ft wide network is predicted to wipe £97m off property values in the affected areas.

The announcement is of particular importance to conveyancers who could face future litigation and claims of negligence if they fail to take the HS2 into account when advising clients.

At present, local authorities are only required to disclose if a property is within 200m of the route. This means there is potential for many more homeowners and purchasers to find themselves at risk of buying affected properties.

Anyone worried about the implication of the HS2 rail network can find more information on the HS2 website or by obtaining a commercially available HS2 search result.

Content correct at time of publication