Lawyer launches petition against HS2 after saying she will have no choice but to sell her home

Emailed in by Chrome Man from the Manchester Evening News:

A lawyer who feels she has no choice but to sell her home over plans to build a railway beneath it has launched a petition against HS2…

There is one fairly obvious alternative to selling her home i.e. not selling her home. As she can sell her home, there are people willing to acquire it and continue using it as a home.

A 7.9 mile, 45m deep tunnel will be dug from Wythenshawe to Ardwick as part of the £56bn project…

So a heck of a lot of money will be spent on minimising the impact of HS2, and our lawyer is one of the many home owners who will benefit from that.

But Hamida Khatun, 38, first realised the HS2 track was routed below her home when the M.E.N reported on it. Despite government assurances residents won’t feel the effects, Hamida’s horrified…

The tunnel is going to be a staggering 45m down, you will not feel anything at ground level.

… and believes a ‘legacy’ to her children has been destroyed.

It’s a bog standard house.

And although she could apply for compensation under HS2’s ‘Need to Sell’ scheme, she knows – and HS2 Ltd has confirmed – that success would be unlikely.

The tunnel will be 45m down. A lot of homeowners will benefit from the improved transport link (or that’s the intention, at least) and some will benefit more than other. Perhaps it is true that the tunnel will shave a few quid off the value of her ‘legacy’ but overall, the increase in value because of HS2 will far outweigh it. And why is it that people demand compensation if something happens which depresses the value of their home but won’t countenance the idea of paying a bit more tax if something happens which increases the value of their house?

The mum of two, of Reynell Road, Longsight , said: “When I bought this house 15 years ago and then slowly added value…

Slowly watched it go up in price along with house prices generally, more like, for no effort on her part.

“I thought I would leave it to my kids to pay off their debt…”

What debt? What has that got to do with anything?

“I could have moved to London but I made a sacrifice to live in this community…”

Condescending cow.

“My friends and family are here…”

Ah, perhaps that’s why she stayed in Manchester.

“… and now HS2 are [sic] forcing people to change their way of life.”

How? It’s a house, for people to live in.

“If I can find a buyer, I will, because we don’t feel able to leave this for the kids to help their future.”

Why not? It’s a house etc.What will the new owner do differently?

Hamida and husband Jamal, 40, bought the house for £45,000 in 2002 but after investing heavily it was worth £150,000 at its last valuation.

The bulk of that increase is down to normal house price inflation and has naff all to do with any improvements they might have paid for. And if she sells it, she will get considerably more than £45,000 plus a few quid for new carpets or whatever.

They had planned to buy a second house while holding on to their Longsight property as an investment for daughters Zara, eight, and Liza, 12.

Aha. She doesn’t even need the house and they can afford to buy another one.

Residents living under the tunnel are only entitled to a £50 payment for their subsoil plus £250 to seek advice.

‘Under’ the tunnel?

Other than that, they can apply for Government cash with the ‘Need to Sell’ scheme, but applicants must first prove their own attempts to sell have been dashed by HS2.

They don’t need to sell, end of.

Alternatively, if their home is damaged during construction, they can claim later – although HS2 say modern construction techniques mean tunnelling effects are ‘generally small and typically go unnoticed’.

Half of central London is above some tunnel or other, they dig new ones all the time and I’ve never heard about anything bad happening at ground level.