Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, under the exceptional hardship scheme for the Thames Tideway Tunnel, how many applications to acquire properties have been (1) made, (2) refused, and (3) granted.

Thames Water Utilities Ltd established the Thames Tideway Tunnel Exceptional Hardship Procedure in August 2011. Since then Thames Water has received requests for 19 application packs and nine of these have been returned as completed applications. Of these, five have been refused for not meeting the required criteria, three have been withdrawn by the applicant, and one application is currently going through the process.

Thames Water's Exceptional Hardship Procedure follows closely those schemes adopted by the Department for Transport for major road and rail projects, such as Crossrail and HS2 which built on the experience from HS1. It is not a statutory requirement and it seeks to balance the interests of Thames Water customers, who would pay for the Thames Tideway Tunnel project through their wastewater bills, and those whose properties may be affected by the project.