HS2 Phase 2b Crewe to Manchester, West Midlands to Leeds: property consultation 2016

This consultation is on the property compensation and assistance schemes the government is proposing for people affected by the plans for the Phase 2b route, from Crewe to Manchester and West Midlands to Leeds.

The government is introducing two key schemes immediately - Express Purchase and Need to Sell. This is to avoid any unnecessary delay in getting assistance to those with a statutory entitlement or a compelling need to sell their property.

The proposed property compensation and assistance schemes are:

• Express Purchase
• Extended Homeowner Protection Zone
• Need to Sell
• Rural Support Zone (option of cash offer or voluntary purchase)
• Rent Back
• Homeowner Payments

Subject to the outcome of this consultation, we expect the confirmed schemes will be implemented in full in 2017 and are expected to run until one year after this part of the railway is fully operational, which is anticipated to be in 2034.

Consultation responses will be published on a publicly accessible website. Individuals’ names, addresses or signatures will not be published. However, please do not include information in your response that could identify you, unless you are happy for it to be made public.

If you do not want any of your response to be published, you should clearly mark it as ‘Confidential’ in the subject line of the email or at the top of your letter. However, please note the following. All information provided in response to this consultation, including personal information, may be subject to disclosure in accordance with access to information regimes - these are, primarily, the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

Under the FOIA, there is a statutory Code of Practice with which public authorities must comply and which deals with our confidentiality obligations, amongst other things. In view of this, it would be helpful if you could explain in your response why you regard the information you have provided as confidential.

If we receive a request for disclosure of the information you provide, we will take full account of your explanation, but we cannot give an assurance that confidentiality can be maintained in all circumstances. An automatic confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system will not, of itself, be regarded as binding on the Department for Transport or HS2 Ltd.