East West Rail: Bedford homeowner felt duped over route plans

A man said he felt "duped" into buying a home that could be lost to the proposed new East West Rail network.

David White and his wife bought their house in Bedford in March 2021. He said on their first full day in the home, they learned of a "plan that would demolish half the neighbourhood".

Mr White said the rail firm and Bedford Borough Council failed to provide information about the rail plans.

The East West Rail Company agreed some residents were facing "uncertainty".

A spokeswoman for the council said: "Mr White has contacted the council and we are in the process of providing information. We cannot comment on residents' casework."

Mr White said local area searches were conducted in February 2021.

The 41-year-old said the report said the rail scheme would "utilise existing railway structure and would not require any new railway to be constructed".

After their first night at their new home, Mr White and his wife, Soleil, woke to find a "crew outside filming distraught neighbours about the plan that would destroy half the neighbourhood".

"We just thought it must be a mistake," Mr White said.

He said if the six-track scheme went ahead for the project, his house would be at risk of having a 15ft-high fence erected in his garden, and a construction site would spring up near his land.

The couple said they had a "genuine need" to sell their home as they could both now work from Sheffield, where they could care for Mr White's father, who has Alzheimer's disease.

"We've got next to no chance of selling it," he said.

"Our mortgage expires in a couple of months and we've been advised we're highly unlikely to get it re-mortgaged.

"It will default to the most expensive rate which would put our mortgage up by £1,200 a month.

"It will bankrupt us."

Mr White said that waiting to find out what the final route would be, and if the six-track scheme went ahead, was "the most awful, incredibly stressful experience".

"We were duped into buying a house that's blighted," he said.

"East-West Rail and Bedford Borough Council knew it... and we're now staring down the barrel at bankruptcy and I watch helplessly from afar as my father's health declines."

An East-West Rail Company spokesman said it recognised that some residents in the "Poets" area of the town were "facing considerable uncertainty at the moment" and it was "very sorry about that".

"We've always tried to reduce the negative impact as much as possible when developing this project, but unfortunately it is likely to impact some local residents - and that's why we have consulted on a Need to Sell scheme to come into effect for when we confirm the route," a statement said.

"We do recognise though that some homeowners are facing particular difficulties right now and we have escalated these issues with the Department for Transport.

"If there are other residents who would like to speak to us about their specific situation, then please get in touch as we do want to help."

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