HS2 Update June 2019

The Secretary of State issued updated Safeguarding Directions and zoned property schemes for Phase 2b (the Crewe to Manchester and West Midlands to Leeds routes) in June 2019 to reflect route changes.

Safeguarding is an established part of the planning process, designed to ensure land which has been identified for major infrastructure projects is protected from conflicting developments.

What has changed?

• Safeguarding Directions for Phase 2b have been updated for sections of the route where the Government is most confident in the stability of the design.
• For these sections, Safeguarding has been updated to reflect the Working Draft Environmental Statement (WDES) design that was refined in October 2018. This includes the removal of Safeguarding from the New Crofton site on route to Leeds that is no longer the proposed location of a depot.
• Unlike previous updates, this is not a full route wide update, therefore safeguarding for the remaining sections of the route are unchanged.
•  The issuing of Directions imposes Town Planning restrictions on property owners, obligations on Local Authorities has implications for anyone selling a property, and allows affected, eligible property owners to claim full statutory compensation.

Advice to Property Owners

High Speed Two (HS2) Limited and the Department for Transport have updated the safeguarding guidance for property owners. Over 2,000 letters have been sent to all affected property owners where the Safeguarding Directions have been updated.

Guidance for selling homes and small businesses via the Statutory Blight or Express Purchase process now applies to all phases. 

Compensation Schemes

Homeowner Payments which are shown on all plans are not available for Phase 2b until after the Bill has been passed by Parliament (received Royal Assent), which is expected to be 2022.

Under the extension of the statutory safeguarded area, those eligible to claim statutory compensation will increase.

The Department for Transport has created guidance and FAQs for the Need to Sell scheme. Launched in 2016, the scheme remains open for applications from those who have already been trying to sell their property and have a compelling reason to sell but cannot due to the impact of HS2 on the local property market. For more information on this visit gov.uk/claim-compensation-if-affected-by-hs2.