A couple renting a home managed by HS2 have been told they cannot buy the house – despite it being more than a kilometre away from the incomplete high-speed line.
Phil Allman and his wife Lita moved into the four-bedroom detached house in the village of Lea Marston, on the outskirts of Birmingham, in 2018, three years after the Department for Transport bought it for £310,000.
It was purchased by the government under the Need to Sell scheme, set up for property owners who had a “compelling reason” to sell, but were unable to do so because the HS2 route would pass near their homes once complete.
But almost a decade on, attempts by the retired marketing manager to buy the home have been thwarted by HS2, which says the property will not be sold until it is declared surplus to requirements for the high-speed line.
The section of line closest to the property is 1.1km away, and is part of the Phase 1 leg connecting London with Handsacre in Staffordshire, the branch into Birmingham.
A decision to hike Mr Allman’s rent by £400 a month from August 1 has further exacerbated the situation.
The dispute comes as transport secretary Heidi Alexander decried the management of the project, telling the Commons last week that “billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money has been wasted by constant scope changes, ineffective contracts and bad management”.
The date for the line opening has been delayed beyond the target opening date of 2033.
Mr Allman said: “HS2 were set up to build a railway line and not manage property, I think, maybe, they should be concentrating more on the railway line.
“They have been buying up properties using taxpayers’ money, then renting them out for years or simply leaving some empty, it’s hardly a good use of property or money.
“We’ve been living in this village for a number of years, have made many friends – but we can’t do anything with the house because we don’t own it, and we can’t understand why our requests to buy it have been turned down.
“If they were going to have to knock it down, fair enough, but it is nowhere near the railway line and isn’t being used to house workers. As for any disruption, we get more issues with noise from the clay pigeon shooting club.”
The government has spent £3.7bn on properties, including homes, along the HS2 line, latest figures show, much higher than the £1.1bn estimate in 2011. That included £3.1bn for 700 properties and 23 sq miles of land along phase one of the route, from London to the West Midlands.
But of the 1,475 homes managed on behalf of HS2, just 1,073 (73 per cent) are let out, The Independent revealed last week.
Four years ago, Carter Jonas was appointed by HS2 to manage the homes. Speaking at the time, a spokesperson for the company said renting them out would help offset costs for the project, which could now spiral to £100bn.
Mr Allman accepted he had not received a rental increase since he moved in, but believed the sheer rise in demand was unfair. As well as offering an option to buy the property as part of a written appeal, he has said he would pay the new rental figure if improvement works to the house, including its energy efficiency, were done.
However, despite raising his dispute and offering to buy the house in a letter to Carter Jonas last month, he has not heard back.
The case has been picked up by the Labour MP for North Warwickshire and Bedworth, Rachel Taylor, who has criticised HS2 and Carter Jonas for a lack of communication with Mr Allman, and herself.
The former property solicitor said: “Standing up to landlords who treat their tenants with contempt is part and parcel of being a local MP, but it’s shocking that in this case the landlord is a public body acting on behalf of the taxpayer.
“I won’t stand for my constituents being given the runaround by HS2 or their subcontracted lackeys. If Carter Jonas won’t drop these unreasonable rent demands, or even have the decency to answer my emails and calls about them, then HS2 needs to step in and bring them to heal. It’s really that simple.”
When asked why the rent to Mr Allman’s house had gone up, HS2 said rent reviews could be delayed due to operational reasons, such as the nearby construction work or impacts of Covid 19.
It said that following the conclusion of construction nearby, the revised rent was set to reflect market conditions – however, satellite maps show work to complete the high-speed line appears to be still some way off.
HS2 also confirmed that the property was not ready for sale, because it had not been declared surplus.
In a statement, a spokesperson said: “We are in the process of developing a programme to sell a number of properties that would be unaffected by longer-term construction of HS2 between London and the West Midlands.
“All properties will be sold in a way that delivers value for money for the taxpayer and avoids disruption to local property markets.”
A DfT spokesperson said: “We will set out detailed plans for the land and property no longer required for the project later this summer – ensuring any sales deliver value for money and do not disrupt local property markets.”
The Independent has contacted Carter Jonas for comment.
