In a puzzling turn of events, the UK’s High-Speed 2 (HS2) rail project has found itself saddled with a hefty repair bill for an empty £3.8 million mansion it purchased just months before the planned railway line was scrapped.
Stanthorne Hall, a grand Georgian property near Middlewich in Cheshire, was acquired by HS2 in March 2023 after the previous owners successfully claimed a “compelling reason” to sell due to the proposed Crewe to Manchester high-speed line set to run past the house. However, this section of the line, known as the 2b western leg, was later cancelled by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in October 2023, leaving the three-storey hall unoccupied since the taxpayer-funded purchase.
Despite the property’s vacant state, HS2 has been forced to commence maintenance work to preserve the unused site, which includes a farm and 114 acres of land, and prevent further decay. Approved by the local council last week, the repairs will address issues with chimneys, roof tiles, windows, and leaks.
While HS2 declined to share the full cost of the repairs, a 2024 document written by the project’s deputy director of property, Rob Middleton, estimated the “remediation work” at around £500,000. This expense is not intended to prepare the property for occupancy in the near future, as the High Court recently rejected a bid by the Georgian Society to lease the hall.
Graham Dellow, secretary of the opposition group Mid-Cheshire Against HS2, expressed frustration over the situation, stating, “This property has laid empty for too long, it’s just decaying and becoming another eyesore on the Cheshire countryside.” He questioned the overall plan, suggesting that HS2 is “doing one thing with the right hand and something else with the left hand.”
David Neilllist, from the nearby Winsford Historical Society, lamented the derelict state of the historically significant Stanthorne Hall, urging that “something ought to be done to bring it back into use, rather than sitting empty.”
The Stanthorne Hall property is one of over 1,000 acquired by HS2 on behalf of the Department for Transport (DfT) along the now-scrapped sections of the high-speed rail project. Between October 2023 and last year, HS2 spent more than £6.5 million on repairs and maintenance for these purchased properties.
With the future of the Manchester to Birmingham route uncertain, the fate of Stanthorne Hall remains in limbo, as the government grapples with the aftermath of the HS2 project’s dramatic changes.
