Southam News

Property owners along the proposed HS2 link are to get financial assistance in advance of the official start of the project.

Owners who can show that they need to sell urgently, and have suffered property blight because of the possibility of the scheme going ahead, will be able to sell to the Government at the going market rate for their property. This includes agricultural and small commercial units.

This applies to properties on the preferred route of the High-Speed 2 line: not to any suggested alternatives.

Philip Hammond, Transport Secretary, told the Commons Transport Committee: "People who currently are faced with extreme hardship as a result of the identification of that route have the possibility of being able to sell their properties, notwithstanding the inevitable planning blight".

Conditions Apply:

• Commercial properties must have a rateable value under £34,800
• Reasons for needing to sell a property urgently could include work, a new baby, a move into sheltered accommodation, medical problems, divorce or the threat of repossession
• The scheme will open on August 20 and applicants must show that the property has been on the market for three months or more and attracted no offers above 85% of its value before the route was announced in March.

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