Find out if your home is affected
Construction for the first phase of the new HS2 railway, between London and the West Midlands, is underway.
How your home is affected depends on the location of your property. You can use our interactive map to explore the route and you can access our user guide to find out more about how your land or property may be affected.
You can also contact our 24/7 Helpdesk to find out precise location information for your property in relation to the route.
Safeguarding
It’s the government’s job to protect land that might be needed to build the railway. The land could be used for tracks, tunnels, gas, electric, water and other utility works as well as for planting and flood protection.
The government needs to ensure that land needed for the railway is not built upon without being consulted and this process is called safeguarding.
Find out more about Safeguarding and view our safeguarding plans
Statutory blight
If your property is in a safeguarded area you may be able to ask the Secretary of State for Transport to buy your property before HS2 Ltd needs to start building there. The form you need to complete to do this is called a Blight Notice. Find out more about serving a Blight Notice.
Claiming Compensation if you receive a Notice from HS2
If you live close to the line of route, you may receive a Notice from us. This means we may need to access your land or property to undertake surveys, or in some cases to temporarily occupy or permanently acquire it. If you do receive a Notice, you may be able to claim compensation from us.
Our set of guides explain how you can claim compensation and what you need to do. There is also a guide to how HS2 Ltd deals with claims for compensation relating to a notice.
You can also find out more about what compulsory purchase is, including what this may mean for your land or property if you receive a notice in our Compulsory Purchase guide.
Property Schemes
If your land or property is affected by the construction or operation of HS2, there’s help available. Our property schemes provide that help. Find out more about our property schemes.
Ground Settlement
As we start to build HS2, we need to carry out excavations for structures like tunnels, portals and shafts, and this work can cause small movements in the ground, called settlement.
Find out more about Ground Settlement and how to register for settlement deeds.
Using subsoil for HS2
We need to have a legal right to use subsoil in order to build the tunnels for the high-speed trains and other rail infrastructure that is below ground. If your land or property is located above one of the tunnels or other rail infrastructure located below ground you can find out more about how and why we obtain and use subsoil.
Construction noise and vibration
We are aware that building a new railway can affect the communities who live and work near the route. We are serious about our responsibilities and we’ll do our best to design and build HS2 in ways that reduce noise and vibration from our construction works. Find out more about the schemes available to help those affected by noise and vibration.
Land access
The HS2 Ltd Land Access Team are responsible for agreeing access to private land for the purposes of completing surveys before Royal Assent. Surveys required before Royal Assent will be carried out under a licence. Any surveys required after Royal Assent will be carried out under the land Powers in the HS2 Act. Find out more about our approach to accessing land and property.