Property sales along the route of the HS2 rail service between London and Birmingham are being hit as buyers look elsewhere.

Research by Hamptons for the Daily Telegraph shows that prices for homes close to the High Speed 2 track are also affected.

Sales were down 27% between 2019 and 2022, compared with a 10% fall across England and Wales.

Homes near the HS2 route have risen by £8,000 less than the national average, Hamptons found. Average house prices rose 15% in three years, compared with an 18% increase across the rest of the UK.

Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons, says some homeowners will hold off selling their homes until HS2 is complete.

Phase one of HS2 from London Euston to Birmingham Curzon Street is expected to be open sometime between 2029-2033

Beveridge says: “When people need to move for lifestyle reasons or financial reasons and there’s still work in place that gets delayed, the longer it gets delayed, the worse it is for them.”

Uncertainty

Steven Spencer, director at Strutt and Parker estate agents in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, which is along the route, says: “Once this HS2 line has been built and the services are up and running, people will accept it for what it is.

“It’s just the uncertainty of not knowing what the impact will be once the service is running”.

A spokesman for HS2 said: “The Government and HS2 Ltd offer eligible property owners both statutory and discretionary schemes if they are impacted by the project because we recognise that people were living along HS2’s route before it was announced.

“The range of schemes available enables property owners to either sell their property to the Government at market value, or to claim a cash offer, depending on how close they are to the planned line of route.”