The money estimated to have been spent so far on HS2 could have covered the purchase of over 280,000 new homes, according to research from property developer, Stripe Property Group.
The group looked at how the £92bn spent 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.
There were 33 key network locations along the H2S line; had each received a fair split of the wasted £92bn, this would have equated to £2.8bn per location.
Based on current new-build values, this could have paid for 281,011 new homes across the HS2 network.
Durham would have seen the biggest benefit in this respect, where the average new-build house price means 13,200 homes could have been purchased with a £2.8bn portion.
In Motherwell, 12,212 new homes could have been purchased, while a fair split of the £92bn would also have paid for more than 10,000 homes in 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).
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.
James Forrester, managing director of Stripe Property Group, 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 £92bn 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.”
