The comedian John Bishop has been one of HS2’s most outspoken critics – and may presumably be delighted that its future is in doubt – but he has also banked a big profit from the project.
Bishop’s Georgian-style country mansion in Cheshire was one of more than 900 residential properties, farms and tracts of land on the route that were bought by the company responsible for delivering the project between 2011 and 2018 for a total of almost £600m.
It also bought a house in Camden, north London, owned by Stanley Johnson, father of the prime minister,for £4.4m in March 2016, as part of a compensation scheme.
Bishop bought Whatcroft Hall in Northwich, Cheshire, for £2.25m in 2011. It was reported in April that he had sold the property to HS2 for £6.8m, a 202% price increase over the period.
A property that appears to be Whatcroft Hall is listed for rent at £10,000 a month on the Rightmove website.
The 202% rise far exceeds the average increase in property prices in the district where the property is located. According to Rightmove, the average property price in the area increased by 50% between January 2011 and September 2018, from £150,600 to £226,100.
Homeowners who live in the path of the proposed route are entitled to compensation, and HS2 has said it aims to achieve a fair price for both homeowners and taxpayers.
However, in April this year, BBC News reported that campaigners opposed to the rail project believed that some homeowners had been treated badly, and claimed that homes were routinely undervalued by HS2.
Whatcroft Hall, which is reportedly within 150 metres of the proposed rail line, was described in a 2010 estate agent listing as “a truly exquisite Grade II* listed country house nestled in approximately 24 acres … [with] beautifully manicured landscaped gardens and grounds incorporating horseshoe shaped lake with central island, sweeping lawns, paddock land, woodland, hard tennis court and mooring on to canal”.
In April, a spokesman for Bishop told the BBCthat the comedian had refurbished the house and grounds during the years he owned the property. It is understood that Whatcroft Hall was previously a 10-bedroom home but now has five large bedrooms.
The spokesman added: “John Bishop maintains his opposition to HS2. He is unhappy, like many others affected by the proximity of the proposed line, that he was left with no choice but to sell his family home to HS2. The proposed line had rendered it unsellable on the open market – thus destroying all he and his family had worked for.”
It is thought that most of the huge portfolio of properties bought by the HS2 company are being rented out.
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