Have realised that property I’m buying is ‘safeguarded’ by TFL as its on the Crossrail 2 route

[Newhouse76]

Ive just had an offer accepted for a 2 bedroom ground floor flat in SW London.

After some online searching, Ive realised that the property has been designated by TFL as an area where Crossrail 2 could travel through so they have ‘safeguarded’ this area. This means that affected residents will need TFL permission to extend (I was hoping to extend eventually) and there is information about approaching TFL to buy your property!

Crossrail 2 is quite a while away I think however Im wondering if it would be sensible to pull out of this purchase. Im not sure if Crossrail will be under or over ground but this may impact my ability to sell in the future or peace of mind if i end up with a railway line in my back garden?

Any advice would be gratefully appreciated.

crossrail2.co.uk/discover/safeguarding/

[Newhouse76]

Thanks everyone! The crossrail helpline rings out and there isnt an ability to leave messages and other lines are dead. Unfortunately my solicitor hasnt dealt with this before but is trying to follow up TFL also.

The property is unusual as its a flat with a corner location and a garden double the size of others with its own back entrance and front door which makes it quite unique.

Id really love to buy it but im not sure if i would end up worrying - my sister is in a flat which is worth zero due to a cladding issue, and id hate to buy something that could have a longer term problem.

Need to do some more thinking...

[JoJoSM2]

It looks simple enough to buy 2 roads away so I’d do that instead to spare myself potential hassle. Flats aren’t in massively high demand at the moment so it shouldn’t be too difficult to choose somewhere without the issue.

[Bluntness100]

Speak to your solicitor they should be liasing with cross rail and answering the quesrions. As the first poster said, this could be very beneficial or a killer. Until you know the answers you don’t know obviously which it is.

[MrsElijahMikaelson1]

I wouldn’t buy it for sure.

[PragmaticWench]

It looks as though potential buyers can contact them to see if the property is in an 'area of surface interest' so you could find out if there might be a station or overground rail line nearby.

You definitely need your Conveyancer on this! There's a link in the to the RICS and they might be able to help. It does say foundations on building work of less than 3 metres should be fine, and most two storey extensions would only be 2 metres deep unless there's an unusual soil issue.

It could be that buying near a Crossrail station could increase a property value, so it may not be a negative. You'll only know if you dig into their plans deeper.