The company claims the HS2 railway has rejected nearly half of applications by homeowners who want to sell their houses . Of the requests made under the " need to sell " scheme , 151 ( 48 % ) were turned down , with 101 more pending . New rules were introduced last year requiring a " compelling " reason for a sale , such as ill health or a new job , and evidence that HS2 is preventing a successful sale . The previous 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 claims the HS2 railway has rejected nearly half of applications by homeowners who want to sell their houses . Of the requests made under the " need to sell " scheme , 151 ( 48 % ) were turned down , with 101 more pending . New rules were introduced last year requiring a " compelling " reason for a sale , such as ill health or a new job , and evidence that HS2 is preventing a successful sale . 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 .