Now that the Government has confirmed a preferred route for the £30 billion London to Birmingham high speed railway line (HS2), home owners and prospective sellers near the proposed track are being advised to consult property lawyers about the implications for a reduction in the value of their flats, houses and businesses.

Residential conveyancing solicitors who handle home sales in a large swath of England, from central London's Euston station across the north west of the capital through Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Warwickshire to the West Midlands, also will be warning buyers of possible disadvantages to owning a home with increased noise, likely disturbance from vibration, as well as views of trains, viaducts and tunnels instead of suburbs or countryside – all things which could result in a possible reduction the market value.

A six-month consultation period on the proposals for 200mph trains to reduce travelling time has been announced but people who need to sell can start making an application now for a payment under the Exceptional Hardship Scheme (EHS).

The EHS has been set up as a voluntary purchase scheme for property owners who have to sell their homes or commercial property but have seen the value fall because of their proxmity to the pending HS2 railway line.

Once the route has been confirmed, the EHS is likely to close and, thereafter, the only owners likely to be able to receive compensation will be those suffering from a Statutory Blight. If land is bought for the route, it will come under the usual compulsory purchase provisions.

More information about the EHS is on the official website of the company set up to promote and build the high speed railway line.

Unless new legislation is introduced, no other opportunities for affected property owners to claim compensation will be available until the trains are running, which may not be until 2026.

Up to 10,000 properties are estimated to be affected by potential noise and vibration. Although so far those living in the country villages on the HS2 route have made the most public objections, the area with the largest number of properties affected will be London.

Euston station, the route's proposed terminus will be extended several hundred feet to the west, entailing the demolition of at least 20 homes, 25 businesses employing hundreds of people, and two-thirds of St James's Gardens, a park next to the station.

Five blocks of a council estate near Euston, housing at least 500 people, will also have to go to accommodate the widened tracks required.

The line will be in a tunnel under the popular residential district of Primrose Hill but there is concern by householders that this could lead to damaging vibration to their homes.

Other suburban areas, such as Ruislip and Hillingdon, are also on the line of the HS2 route and local authority officials will be working with property lawyers to ascertain the degree of environmental and economic damage the new trains and tracks will cause.