Only half of the homeowners and businesses whose property has been seized for the first phase of Britain’s new HS2 railway line have been paid on time, according to the UK’s public spending watchdog.
The state-owned company building the first £27.2bn phase of the high-speed railway line from London to Birmingham is engaged in the largest land acquisition programme since the second world war, involving thousands of properties.
According to the rules, property owners should receive a payment of 90 per cent of the estimated value of their land within three months of HS2 taking possession.
