10-07-2025
My house lost half its value because of HS2 — and I need to sell
I bought Lake House in Whitmore, Staffordshire, for £1.175 million in 2009 with my ex-husband [says Steph Wilkin, 56, a topographical surveyor]. It's absolutely gorgeous — a three-bedroom equestrian property with stables, nine acres and two great big lakes.
But now, according to HS2, this wonderful grade II listed property is worth only £757,500 — just over half the amount we paid for it. There is no going back on this valuation, issued in June 2024, seven months after Rishi Sunak cancelled HS2, and nowhere to appeal to. It's such a stressful situation and I don't know where to turn next.
We divorced in August 2020. The financial settlement of the divorce stated that Lake House was to be sold. I would receive 62 per cent of the proceeds, when the £300,000 mortgage had been settled. My ex-husband still lives in the house and pays the interest-only mortgage under the divorce financial order.
