HS2 spent £11m on buying homes after Leeds leg was cancelled in 2021, FoIs reveal

A further £25m of taxpayer cash was spent on 25 sites between the West Midlands and Manchester, despite Rishi Sunak axing the final northern leg of the high-speed rail line in October 2023.

HS2 was first proposed to go from London Euston to Birmingham and onwards to Manchester and Leeds, however it has been beset with delays and overexpenditure.

As such, Mr Johnson axed the Yorkshire leg in 2021 and two years later Mr Sunak scrapped the line to the North West, which was described as “a betrayal of the North” by mayors.

However, it has now emerged that HS2 continued buying up homes on both the planned routes long after those sections were cancelled.

FoIs from the Independent has found some £37m of taxpayer cash was spent compulsory purchasing properties on both legs after 2021 and 2023.

This includes homes in south Leeds, Pontefract, Doncaster and Sheffield.

This was possible as the legal protections, which allowed HS2 Ltd to compulsory purchase land along the eastern route, were only lifted last year.

A small portion of land to the south of Leeds station has been retained for improvements.

HS2 said it was honouring property purchases started before the cancellations and they “inevitably take time to complete”.

A spokesperson said: “In the interests of fairness, and in line with our legal obligations, we have been clear that phase 2 property transactions started before the cancellation of this section of HS2 will be honoured.”

Stop HS2 campaigner Joe Rukin said: “It is sadly typical of the way in which HS2 Ltd have treated the public, that they have continued to buy up land which they knew they would not need. This is both a waste and a scandal.

“Millions of pounds have been wasted on the cost of buying this land, and it is scandalous HS2 Ltd not only forced people to sell up, but also due to the capital gains tax they had to pay, many of those people cannot be able to afford to buy their own homes and land back.”

However, the Northern Powerhouse Partnership’s chief executive Henri Murison said the Government should keep some of the land in case it is needed for future projects like Northern Powerhouse Rail.

“The worst thing in the world to do, never mind how traumatic it will have been for people to have their houses purchased when there was a risk of a new railway, would be to sell land back to either original landowners or other people, and then come back a few years later and do the same thing again,” he explained.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said cancelling sales agreed before the routes were cancelled would have been unfair to property owners.

“We will maximise the money taxpayers get back from properties being sold that are no longer needed,” they added.