WHY did the government spend £7.5million on this mansion house, on the fringes of Regent’s Park, only to allow it to stand empty for more than four years?

I spoke to neighbours in John Nash-designed homes in Park Village East this week who accused the DfT, department for transport and HS2 Ltd of “malfeasance” and “sitting on valuable assets” over its failure to bring the five- bed, three-bath home into use.

They suggested it could have been made available to the homeless families, or those struggling on the waiting list, or refugees.

Even on the private market the Grade II*- listed house, which was bought in August 2019 with tax-payers’ cash, could have clawed-back £100,000 each year if rented out.

Author Helen Low, who has lived in the street for decades, said: “It seems entirely wrong that this massive property has been sitting empty for so long. It could have been used to house homeless families, it could easily have had three families in there. We would rather have people living there than not. I think the whole street would agree with that. This is a family neighbourhood.

“To me, what has happened here suggests something broader about the project.”

The HS2 debacle has been rumbling on now for more than 10 years. In this neighbourhood, many lives have been ruined as the government ignored the opposition and ploughed in billions of pounds.

Rishi Sunak, as prime minister, cancelled the northern legs and paused work at the London end.

And yet tunnelling under Primrose Hill for a route from Old Oak Common has yet to begin with the government saying private investors will have to foot the costs.

As part of the HS2 project, the government moved to seize homes and businesses before they could start digging.

But homeowners were also given the opportunity to sell their homes to the DfT under a compensation scheme.

The DfT argues that clawing back rent from properties acquired due to the HS2 compensation scheme is crucial to recouping the costs of the overall scheme.

“So why has it been left empty for so long?” said Roger Low, treasurer of the PVE Residents’ Association. “It’s malfeasance, government malfeasance. It’s commercial stupidity.”

He added: “In our street, just three homes have been sold to the DfT. Two of them are occupied currently. Both of those took a very long time between the purchase and the rental. We are talking years.

“They are sitting on these valuable assets that could have been rented out and used in a moral way. It could have been opened up asylum seekers or people waiting for housing. But they would rather pay for people to stay in hotels.”

The empty house – 4 Park Village East – was owned by their former long-term neighbours Eveline and Nicholas Carn, who had spent years in a battle with the government over selling their property, going back to 2015.

During the consultation process, the couple petitioned the government saying they had been
prevented from selling up under the government’s compensation scheme.

They said: “The house is too uncomfortably close to the abyss that will be London’s biggest dig, possibly Europe’s biggest construction site.”

The 4 Park Village East situation is the latest example of HS2 bungling to be exposed and comes as pressure once again is piled on the government to abandon the Euston leg of the project.

National debate has now been refocused on the doubling costs of the railway to Birmingham just before the conference season.

An hour-long Panorama BBC special on Monday night investigated how MPs in parliament seemed to be repeatedly misled over costs of the project.

Compensation was made available to home- owners living unacceptably close to the construction site at an “un-blighted” rate of 10 per cent above the market value.

But the reality was only a handful of homeowners managed to meet the government’s criteria for this “need to sell” scheme.

One of those was Stanley Johnson, the former MEP and Gogglebox celebrity, who sold his six-bedroom, three-bathroom house at in Park Village East for £4.4million to the DfT in 2016.

Neighbours in Park Village East have been told that delays in fitting a kitchen to the property are the reason why 4 Park Village East has laid empty for so long.

David Goldstein, a property investor who lives next door, said: “You can make the argument for the property being used for homeless people and refugees. But purely on a commercial level, it could be bringing in at least £100,000 a year in rent. There have been builders in pretty much constantly since it was sold. Why is it not ready?”

Labour had questioned how HS2 was handled but supported the project – and party peer Andrew Lord Adonis had been a major influence on the infrastructure project.

Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer told me: “The last government left the Euston area in a state of limbo after years of chaos that disrupted local people and businesses.

“My government is working with stakeholders to bring clarity to the people of Holborn and
St Pancras. It is my expectation that residents in Park Village East and the wider Euston area will soon have the certainty that they understandably want.”

A HS2 spokesperson said: “We always seek to let properties acquired where it is financially advantageous for the tax- payer. It’s vital that we meet compliance standards in order for any property to be let. Some properties may need time for maintenance to meet current regulations before being let.”