Our approach to land and landowners

Homes, land and property

To build and operate the railway, we will need to acquire land and property,  including land required permanently, land required temporarily (for construction),  and land where permanent rights will be  required, for example, for accesses or re- routed utilities. 

Where possible we will use existing railway  land. However we would also need to acquire  other land which includes residential property, businesses and agricultural land.

As we are undertaking consultation in two  stages, this is an opportunity for those with an  interest in this land to influence the design of  our proposals. We will also engage and consult with other statutory consultees (such as the  local authorities and the Environment Agency)  and the local community. 

The first stage of consultation is non-statutory. Here we are presenting our proposals that  identify the extent of land that would be  needed to build and operate the railway and an overview of potential environmental effects  of our proposals and potential mitigations.  Where options are still being considered, these  are set out, together with information about the factors that are being used to inform design decisions. 

Your feedback, along with the results of further technical assessments, environmental impact assessment and mitigation proposals, will help us to refine our land requirements further so  that we can share our proposals with you at  the second stage, which will be a statutory  consultation. This will present more detail on  technical and mitigation information. We do  not expect the draft Order Limits (which shows the land needed to deliver our proposals) to  change significantly at the second stage. The  most significant changes are likely to be:

• A reduction in the draft Order Limits where options presented at the non-statutory consultation have been resolved.
• An expansion of the draft Order Limits to provide space for new depots, ecological mitigation, and other infrastructurenot currently shown in the plans, once  proposed locations have been agreed.

As our proposals develop, we will continue to  seek to reduce the impact of our proposals on homes, land and property, where possible. We will seek to enter into voluntary  negotiated agreements to acquire the land and property we need for our proposals and to agree measures to reduce the impacts of our proposals. However, so that we have the  certainty that we can acquire this land to build and operate our proposals, we will still need to  seek the appropriate powers for compulsory  acquisition in our Development Consent Order application.

Helping you through the process  

We understand that the possibility that we may need to purchase your land and/or  property will be concerning. We will follow these five principles to try to reduce the impact on you if your land and property is potentially  affected by our proposals:

Keep you updated – we will keep you  updated and informed throughout as our proposals develop. 

• Act with respect – we will treat you, your land, property and personal data, and  third parties acting for you with respect.  We will work collaboratively with you and  any third parties acting for you. 
• Reduce land loss – we will discuss our  proposals with you, so we understand and manage the potential impacts to you. We  aim to reduce the impact our proposals  may have on your land and property and mitigate any impacts we can’t avoid  where possible. 
• Agree fair compensation – we will seek  agreements with you to acquire your landand property needed for our proposals.  Where we’d need to acquire your land, we would compensate you fairly in  accordance with the compensation code.
• Provide dedicated case managers – our specialist Land and Property team will get in touch so you have consistent and well- briefed contacts on our proposals. 

A series of guides has been published for  people whose land and/or property is  potentially affected by the proposals at https://eastwestrail.co.uk/planning/land-and-property 

You should consider taking independent  professional advice if your land and/or property is potentially affected by our proposals. We  would recommend you seek advice from a RICS  qualified Chartered Surveyor with experience of compulsory purchase.

For further advice and assistance, RICS has a helpline scheme which enables landowners to contact a regulated member firm (listed on their website) for an initial 30 minute free consultation: RICS Find a Surveyor -  Compulsory Purchase (ricsfirms.com)

Please contact the Land and Property team if you have any questions on how you can get  independent professional advice and what  costs we can reimburse.

Safeguarding the land needed for our proposals  

The Secretary of State for Transport has given a Safeguarding Direction for East West Rail. The aim of safeguarding is to make sure that  the land needed to build and operate the  railway is protected from new development that may conflict with it. The Safeguarding  Direction means that local planning authorities must consult us about relevant planning  applications for development within the  safeguarded area that could conflict with the railway. This consultation allows us to  comment on potential conflicts and suggest  measures that could be taken to resolve them  and allow development to go ahead. You can  view more information on the Safeguarding  Direction, including maps of the safeguarded  area at https://eastwestrail.co.uk/safeguarding

Support for land and property  owners who may be affected by blight  

As well as helping to protect the land needed for the proposals, the Safeguarding Direction  also means that statutory blight provisions are  available. If you own and occupy a property in  the safeguarded area, you may be eligible to  serve a blight notice on us asking us to buy your property before we need it to build the railway. 

We introduced our discretionary Need to Sell (NTS) Property Scheme at the route  update announcement in 2023. This provides support for those property owners who have a compelling need to sell their property but are  unable to sell it, other than at a substantially  reduced value, because of our proposals.

Owner-occupiers who are not eligible to serve a Blight Notice may be able to apply under the NTS Property Scheme. Your property does  not need to be within the safeguarded area for you to be eligible to apply under the scheme.

To find out more information on this, our Land and Property team will be available at the  consultation events, details of which are listed in the Consultation Document, or you can  contact them directly using the details below. 

Information on how to apply under Statutory  Blight or the NTS Property Scheme is available on the Land and Property section of the website: https://eastwestrail.co.uk/planning/land-and-property This includes full eligibility criteria for each and  details of the process.

Get in touch with our Land and Property team  

If you want to speak to us about your land and/or property you can:

• Call us on 0330 838 7583 
• Email us at [email protected]
• Contact us by post at Freepost EAST WEST RAIL LAND

You can also contact our Need to Sell Team directly at [email protected]