Taxpayers foot £2m bill to guard homes left empty by HS2 phase 2 cancellation

A “jewel” village has been ripped apart by scrapped plans for an HS2 line, locals claim, as it emerged that taxpayers were footing a seven-figure annual bill to guard properties left empty by the overall project.

- ALEX ROSS

Some 35 of the 50 homes in Whitmore Heath were bought on behalf of the government from residents wanting to sell amid plans for a huge tunnel beneath the hillside hamlet for the high-speed rail link from London to Manchester.

But as the properties - many of them lavish mansions with large gardens - were sold off, delays and spiralling costs placed the section of line through Staffordshire in doubt, until, in October 2023, it was axed.

"It destroyed the community," said Graham Hutton, who lives two miles away and fought against the building of the line, which would have run from Handsacre in Staffordshire to Manchester.

"The village was an affluent place where people who made their money went to live. But the plans for HS2 made them want to leave, and then their homes were rented out or left empty."

Residents say one home was turned into a cannabis factory, while others judged to be unsuitable to rent remain gated up with 24/7 security teams hired to guard them.

The story in Whitmore Heath is a snapshot of the situation along the initial route, which, as well as reaching Manchester on a western leg, was also planned to connect London and Birmingham with Leeds.

Only the line from London to Handsacre in Staffordshire, including Birmingham, will now be built.