Knights are able to offer specialist legal advice and assistance to homeowners and landowners whose properties lie on or adjacent to the proposed High Speed 2 rail link between London and the West Midlands, who will be eligible for statutory compensation if the scheme goes ahead.  An Exceptional Hardship Scheme is currently in place to compensate property owners who have an urgent need to sell a property blighted by the proposed route, but who are unable to do so except at a substantially reduced price.  Under this scheme, the Government will purchase the property at its unblighted realistic open market value. 

However, this scheme will be withdrawn once the route is confirmed and the statutory compulsory purchase compensation procedures will then commence.  Statutory Hardship Claims are available in these types of major infrastructure projects but they are usually difficult to access without experienced legal assistance.  Knights are well positioned to assist property owners in accessing both the Exeptional Hardship Scheme before HS2 gets the go-ahead, and Statutory Compensation thereafter.

Our charging rates for Compulsory Purchase and Compensation work will be limited to Guideline Hourly Rates for Summary Assessment for civil courts in England and Wales.  These, in our experience, are always adopted by the Registgrar of the Lands Chamber where Compulsory Purchase claims tend to be heard.  These hourly charging rates are less than our normal hourly rates and are generally less than those charged by other specialist solicitors doing compulsory purchase compensation work. 

The team is led by senior partner Matthew Knight who is a member of the Compulsory Purchase Association. 
Click here for further information on our High Speed 2 Compulsory Purchase Compensation Claims service.

Contact Partner: Matthew Knight - click here to contact by e-mail.