The company building the HS2 railway has rejected nearly half of applications by homeowners who want to sell their houses. Of 317 requests made under the "need to sell" scheme, 151 (48%) were turned down, with 101 decisions pending. A spokesman for Network Rail said: "We are working hard on delivering a world-class rail network that will deliver economic growth and jobs in our country over many years into the future. Britain’s new high-speed railway has been accused of causing misery for hundreds of households by rejecting almost half of applications to sell homes near the line. This replaced the previous regime, which required homeowners to prove "exceptional hardship" and was criticised as being too stringent, with 65% of applications turned down.
The company building the HS2 railway has rejected nearly half of applications by homeowners who want to sell their houses. Of 317 requests made under the "need to sell" scheme, 151 (48%) were turned down, with 101 decisions pending. A spokesman for Network Rail said: "We are working hard on delivering a world-class rail network that will deliver economic growth and jobs in our country over many years into the future. This replaced the previous regime, which required homeowners to prove "exceptional hardship" and was criticised as being too stringent, with 65% of applications turned down.