John Bishop sells home to HS2 despite being vocal critic of scheme

File photo: John Bishop has "reluctantly" sold his home to the high-speed rail project
PA
Megan White11 April 2019

Comedian John Bishop has sold his house to the HS2 rail project for £6.8 million – despite being a vocal critic of the scheme.

The Liverpudlian stand-up “had no choice” but to sell his home to developers of the controversial route after it was was plotted within just 150 metres of his home.

Less than two months ago, he tweeted: “I disagree with Jacob Rees Mogg on just about everything but watching BBC Question Time I can’t argue with his assessment of HS2 “a complete waste of money that should be scrapped”...!”

Mr Bishop had put Whatcroft Hall in Northwich, Cheshire, up for sale in 2016, a year before the proposed route was announced.

File photo: The comedian's house was rendered "unsellable" by the proposed route
UKTV / Lola Entertainment

But he has now “reluctantly” sold the home, which he bought for £2.25 million in 2011 before carrying out renovations, through HS2’s Need To Sell Scheme.

The route of the £55 billion line, from London to Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, allegedly “rendered [his home] unsellable.”

The Need to Sell Scheme allows homeowners with a “compelling reason to sell” to sell their home back to the government.

The scheme’s website added: “You must give evidence of a compelling reason to sell your property now, or that you would be placed under an unreasonable burden if you were unable to sell your property in the next 3 years.”

His spokesman claims the comedian sold his home for below market value and significantly less than the original sale price.

He added said: “John Bishop maintains his opposition to HS2. He is unhappy, like many others affected by the promiximity of the proposed line, that he was left with no choice but to sell his family home to HS2, as the proposed line had rendered it unsellable on the open market - thus destroying all he and his family had worked for.”

A spokesman for HS2 said: “We have to buy land to build HS2, as well as properties impacted by the project, and we have to pay the owners what it’s worth.

“Some properties cost more than others, but in each case we are paying a price that’s fair to both homeowners and taxpayers. We have the budget to do this, and we are within that budget.”

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