HS2 compensation plan: the property zones where owners could be on track for up to £22,500 under the Homeowner Payment Scheme
Homeowners living near the route of HS2, the high-speed rail link from London to Birmingham, are entitled to payments of up to £22,500 to compensate for increased noise.
The line, which is due to start running in 2026, was at the centre of more controversy this week after French railway firm SNCF announced it was bidding with Virgin Trains to run the route.
The first phase of the line will run from Euston to Birmingham, with the second part a two-pronged extension to Leeds and Manchester.
Trains will run under the capital in a tunnel from Euston, via Camden, Swiss Cottage, Queen's Park and Kensal Green, with a station at Old Oak Common.
The tunnel will continue via Park Royal, Perivale and Northolt, emerging in West Ruislip. It will run overground until just west of Chalfont St Peter in Buckinghamshire before disappearing into another tunnel until just south of Great Missenden.
From there, it will pass near Aylesbury and Twyford and on to a new terminus at Birmingham Curzon Street station in just 49 minutes, cutting the journey between the cities by 32 minutes.
COMPENSATION ZONES
Homeowners living near tunnelled sections of the route will not be eligible for compensation, but the maximum payment of £22,500 will be made to those living between 120-metres and 180-metres from the centre of the track.
People living closer than 120m have been offered a variety of compensation schemes, including voluntary purchase by the government or, for those who don't want to sell up, 10 per cent of the "pre-blight" value of their property.
For homes between 180m and 240m away, the payment will be £15,000, while for those living from 240m to 300m away, it will drop to £7,500.
HOW IT WORKS
Homeowners living near the route of HS2, the high-speed rail link from London to Birmingham, are entitled to payments of up to £22,500 to compensate for increased noise. To qualify, your house or 25 per cent of the total area of the property, including the garden, must be within the designated distances.
If the property straddles two zones, payment will be determined by the zone your house sits on and householders whose land, but not their house, sits on the outer band could still receive compensation.
HOW TO APPLY
To be eligible for payments, you must be an owner-occupier, a freeholder or leaseholder - with longer than three years left - and have bought the property before April 9, 2014.
People can apply for payments under the Homeowner Payment Scheme on this site.
