Man flattening £500,000 lockdown 'monster mansion' after neighbour war
A man who built himself a “monster mansion” without planning permission during lockdown after he bulldozed his modest semi-detached house has finally started to destroy his creation following an order to tear it down.
Gurwinder Singh built the four-bedroom property in Willenhall, West Midlands, back in 2020. But he was hit with more than 95 complaints from local residents and ordered to tear down the half-built home by Walsall Council.
Neighbours fumed that the building work had made their "lives hell" while others described the "eyesore" as "like a Travelodge in the middle of a housing estate". Delivery driver Mr Singh appealed to the Planning Inspectorate but the council dismissed the appeal and upheld the original enforcement notice in July.
The half-built home is now in the process of being torn down (SWNS)He was also threatened with court action if he failed to comply with the enforcement notice by April next year. Work has now begun to demolish the structure and the first floor has been torn down, much to the relief of surrounding residents in Sandringham Avenue.
One neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said: "It's about time - this has been going on for way too long and we just hope he sees it through now. We always said he'd never get away with it but as time went on you did wonder. It's been hell living next to a construction site and half-built shell for three years. We just hope he rips the rest of it down and doesn't leave another mess. We'll be relieved when it's all done and dusted."
London flat for rent for £1,400 a month with bed tucked away in kitchen cupboard
The original property was demolished by Singh (SWNS)Another resident said previously: "The house is bloody huge and looks like a horrible monster mansion. None of the other houses in this area are that big, what on earth was he thinking? It was at least three times the size of the original house. It looks like a sports hall."
The dad-of-two had never applied for planning permission and was only given the green light for a side extension to the existing 1960s house in 2020. It is thought the brand new house would have cost in the region of £200,000 to build - and would have been the biggest property in the area.
Photos from inside the house after the demolition order showed the half-built site that had plagued neighbours for years (SWNS)Committee chairman Mike Bird said after they refused the respective planning permission last year: “This is a very serious situation. An extension was approved and what we got was a brand new house to the detriment of the adjoining neighbour. Walsall Council is going to put ‘force’ back into enforcement. I am sick and tired of seeing breaches of planning regulations around the borough because people think ‘I do that because I can’."
A spokesperson for Walsall Council said: "We are aware that the owner has started demolition work and continue to monitor in accordance with the enforcement notice. The owner is undertaking works themselves at this stage."
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