Highways spends £50m buying Thames Crossing houses

National Highways has spent in excess of £50m acquiring homes linked to the Lower Thames Crossing, one of the largest road schemes undertaken in the UK in recent decades, according to information released under the Freedom of Information Act.

The Lower Thames Crossing, a proposed new road and tunnel connection between Essex and Kent, is expected to begin construction next year. The scheme includes what is set to become the UK’s largest road tunnel and forms part of a £10.6bn programme approved by the government in March 2025, with an anticipated opening in the early 2030s.

FOI data shows that National Highways has purchased 71 properties affected by the route, the majority of which are now being rented out. Since 2018, the organisation has received more than £5m in rental income from homes it owns as part of the project, despite construction not yet having started.

The figures indicate that 76 properties fall within the designated route corridor, including homes in Essex, Havering and Kent. Of these, more than 50 have already been acquired, with further purchases under way and additional properties expected to be subject to compulsory acquisition powers at a later stage. National Highways has also bought a number of homes outside the formal project boundary after owners applied for their properties to be considered due to construction-related impacts.

Residents affected by the purchases have raised concerns about disruption and uncertainty, while campaigners opposing the scheme have questioned the timing and scale of the acquisitions, noting that many homes were bought well before the project received formal consent.

The Thames Crossing Action Group said the purchases risked creating the impression that key decisions had been settled long in advance of parliamentary scrutiny, arguing that the approach placed pressure on communities during the planning process.

National Highways has said that acquiring properties ahead of construction is standard practice on major infrastructure schemes and that extensive consultation has led to a substantial reduction in the number of homes affected by the final route. The organisation maintains that purchases have been made on a voluntary basis where possible and that owners are offered fair market value.

However, the scale of National Highways’ property ownership comes at a time when responsibility for delivering the Lower Thames Crossing is changing. With the Department for Transport now taking a more direct role in overseeing the scheme’s delivery, questions remain about how property management, compensation and long-term accountability will be handled as the project progresses.

National Highways said the Lower Thames Crossing would deliver significant benefits for regional connectivity and economic growth, while acknowledging the impacts on those living along the route. It added that it has been engaging with affected landowners for almost a decade and remains committed to fair treatment throughout the process.