A couple are suing the developers of HS2 as they believe that their property has been undervalued by around £60k.
A couple who believe their home has been grossly undervalued by HS2 are launching a landmark legal case against the company running the controversial rail scheme.
Trevor and Justine Palin say their house is worth at least £60,000 more than HS2 has offered to pay for it under a compulsory purchase order for the proposed line.
The couple are planning to take the company to the High Court in a case which could pave the way for hundreds of other homeowners in a similar situation to take legal action.
I hope they win. I also hope that the government will do as it appears to be thinking of doing and cancels the whole project. If they have billions to spend on the rail infrastructure, there are better places to spend it.
However, there is something else here and it is the whole principle of compulsory purchase. The principle is deeply repugnant and immoral, for it violates the most basic principles of a civilised society – private property. That the state can take – whether it pays or not is an irrelevance – one’s home, because it perceives a greater need is totalitarian in nature.
And I note on a similar theme, Daisy Cousens has picked up on the very same contempt for property rights in Accidentally Occasional Cortex’s new green deal – whereby buildings will be demolished or renovated by the state regardless of the owner’s thoughts on the matter.
It is vile. It is evil.
Of course compulsory purchase isn’t nice for the seller but in the UK where every bit of land is owned by someone how else would we ever build a new road, new gas pipeline, water main, power cable etc.?
You negotiate. And if the land owner does not want to sell, you negotiate with their neighbours and so on. If no one wants to negotiate, then tough. Fuck off, frankly.
State theft
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6708399/Homeowner-told-pay-360-000-lose-flat-council-undercharged-him.html
If I sold my house below value doubt I could force buyer to pay more after contract signed. This is all powerful state abuse.
I’m a natural conservative: I believe government should be as small as possible. I also believe that it should be stamped on their foreheads “I serve the people; I do not rule them”. No doubt this makes me either “far-right”, or even a pseudo-anarchist. They’re utter bastards.
With regards to compulsory purchase orders, I completely agree that they are an example of excessive state power and that eminent domain itself undermines property rights.
Unless property was obtained fraudulently or through criminality and judgement found in a court of law and an empanelled jury (i.e. not some administrative kangaroo court or other form of ‘progressive’ asset seizure), then there should be no mechanism whereby a property owner is forced to sell AT ANY PRICE, much less a price far below the value of the property, which is always going to be the price at which the owner is prepared to sell it at and nothing less.
Some property owner wants £1 million for some dilapidated nail house? Tough shit. Pay it or do something else should be the only options.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holdout_(real_estate)
The Australian film “The Castle” about one working class blokes battle to save his home from an airport expansion illustrates the point exactly.
Tell ’em he’s dreamin’