High Speed 2 Line: Compulsory Purchase
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the answer of 16 January 2026 to question 103968 on High Speed 2 Line: Compulsory Purchase, how many of the 1,723 properties managed were acquired via compulsory purchase.
Answered by Simon Lightwood
The majority of land and property that is acquired by compulsory purchase is not held in management or let but is utilised for the construction of the railway.
Within HS2 Ltd’s managed portfolio, there are 73 properties (inclusive of residential, commercial and agricultural and forestry land) that were acquired via compulsory purchase.
Further to this, there are 732 properties that were acquired via Statutory Blight, which can be considered to be under the umbrella of compulsory purchase, as this is a statutory provision whereby the issuing of a blight notice by the property owner compels the Secretary of State to acquire the property under the same terms as if a Notice to Treat had been served.
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