HS2 homes in Whitmore Heath face new scrutiny

A look at how properties bought for a canceled HS2 route are now left vacant after a cannabis farm was found.

Whitmore Heath HS2 Homes End Up Empty After Cannabis Farm Discovery

Alan Wilkinson and his wife sold their Whitmore Heath home to HS2 in 2019 for 1.2 million pounds under a Special Circumstances Scheme. The plan to tunnel beneath the village was later scrapped, and the house was rented out while the area waited for a decision on the project. Staffordshire police later found the property used as a cannabis farm with about 184 plants across five rooms. The house sits empty again, guarded by security teams as HS2 handles the ongoing costs tied to properties bought for a line that did not fully materialize.

HS2 says no homeowner was forced to sell and that the property was let on the open rental market. The project notes that returning the home to a lettable state would be costly, and security patrols remain in place to protect dozens of properties bought under the scheme. Across Whitmore Heath and nearby stretches, the broader property program involved 35 homes, with £3.79 billion spent on acquisitions and £633 million on scrapped sections. The remaining HS2 section still faces delays and budget pressures, even as the plan for a London to Handsacre route persists in parts.

The story reveals how large public projects leave a long shadow on small communities. When plans shift or collapse, the financial and social fallout can outlive the original timetable. The Special Circumstances Scheme was meant to smooth the exit for households caught in the project’s path, but the ongoing security and maintenance costs suggest a different kind of burden for taxpayers. The cannabis farm episode underscores a governance challenge: once public assets are bought, who bears responsibility for their post-project fate and what safeguards exist to prevent misuse?

This case also raises questions about memory and trust in rural areas. Residents see memories of a once-thriving village give way to empty homes and security patrols, while politicians debate timelines and budgets. As HS2 continues to navigate delays and cost overruns, the human cost—families, neighbors, and local leadership—adds a concrete, unscripted chapter to a story often told in numbers.

Highlights

The village remains a live case study in how public ambition translates into everyday life.