Government still buying properties along HS2 route – despite scrapping scheme

Following Rishi Sunak's decision to cancel the leg, taxpayer has spent 1.4m on properties for a line that is no longer being built

The government has paid more than 1m to buy properties along HS2's northern leg since Rishi Sunak announced he was cancelling the scheme, the Observer can reveal.

The prime minister used his party conference speech in Manchester last year to announce he was axing the line that would have brought it to the city. It angered some senior Tories, while officials and industry insiders have since been scrambling to draw up plans for new capacity on Britain's railways, which had been relying on HS2's northern routes.