Money wasted on HS2 could have purchased 280,000 new homes

Research from property developer, Stripe Property Group, has found that the money wasted on HS2 could have covered the purchase of over 280,000 new homes across the 33 key locations that were due to benefit from the high-speed rail network.

Stripe Property Group looked at how the £92bn wasted on HS2 could have helped boost the housing market in areas due to benefit based on the current average price of a new-build home in each location.

The research shows that there were 33 key network locations along the H2S line and had each received a fair split of the wasted £92bn, this would have equated to a hefty £2.8bn per location.

Based on current new-build values in each area, the £92bn wasted on HS2 could have paid for 281,011 brand new homes across the HS2 network, an arguably far more beneficial way to have spent the money.

Durham could have seen the biggest benefit in this respect, where the average new-build house prices means 13,200 homes could have been purchased with the £2.8bn fair split of the £92bn cash pot.

In Motherwell, as many as 12,212 new homes could have been purchased, while a fair split of the £92bn would also have paid for over 10,000 new homes across with Stoke (11,305), Lockerbie (11,047), Sheffield (10,720), Darlington (10,670), Carlisle (10,514), Glasgow (10,277), Nottingham (10,227) and Liverpool (10,181).

Even in the capital where house prices are at their highest, the money wasted on HS2 could have purchased almost 3,000 new homes around London Euston and almost 3,500 around Old Oak Common.

Managing Director of Stripe Property Group, James Forrester, said, “While the aim of HS2 was to boost a lot more than the local housing market in areas due to benefit, the unfortunate reality is that £92 billion pounds has been spent with no benefit coming at all.

To put that sum into perspective, no less than 280,000 brand new homes could have been purchased across key HS2 locations with the money wasted.

This will be a hard reality for many to swallow who remain priced out of the current market due to the Government’s continued failures to deliver enough homes to market.”