An Oxfordshire entrepreneur who “secretly lived in a flat hidden inside horse stables” on his ₤ 2.25 million Cotswolds estate has actually been purchased to rip it out.
James George, 54, has actually been informed to remove a one-bed flat on his 15-acre land near Chipping Norton.
West Oxfordshire District Council argued the flat, near Jeremy Clarkson’s Diddly Squat Farm and Soho Farmhouse, did not have preparing authorization to be utilized for property functions.
In 2014, the steady structure was set up, with preparing files consisting of stables, feed, storage area, and lodging.
In 2015, a one-bedroom property system within the steady structure was finished; James George argues it had actually been inhabited constantly from this point onwards.
The lodging was inhabited by a series of renters and member of the family. Preparation files specify that George’s mom lived there while going through chemotherapy, and later on his partner, Jeanette Mann, utilized it as her primary home from 2021.
In November 2023, George looked for to show that the house and steady block were legal through long-lasting usage, declaring he was ‘immune’ from enforcement due to the fact that the lodging was finished more than a years earlier.
Under preparing law, an unauthorised home might be spared enforcement if it has actually been utilized constantly as a house for 10 years before council action.
In November 2024, the council released an enforcement notification versus the retrospective preparation consent, which George interested the Planning Inspectorate.
After a website check out in July this year, the Planning Inspectorate has actually dismissed the appeal and supported the enforcement notification.
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The driveway to the estate (Image: Google Maps)
Mr George has actually been bought to vacate the structure, eliminate the cooking area, restroom, partition walls, and other domestic functions.
James George will be anticipated to have actually removed the functions in a minimum of 6 months, after a compliance duration was given in September 2026, with the steady structure brought back to its initial usage.
He informed the Daily Mail: ‘Absolutely, I do feel there’s been an oppression.
‘But the treasurer have actually stated it’s a binary guideline and “you have crossed the line”
‘It’s been adjudicated on and the law’s the law, so as bitter as I am, I do not believe there’s anything to be gotten from it.’
A representative for West Oxfordshire District Council stated: “Anyone endeavor structure work or performing a product modification of usage of land or structures must examine whether preparing authorization is required and acquire it before beginning.
“We take breaches of planning control seriously and act proportionately, taking enforcement action where necessary to protect communities and the local environment.”
The nation estate is presently noted for sale for ₤ 2.25 million
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