Buy my £20m house... then demolish it: billionaire sells up after planning battle

 
Digging deep: the house in Chelsea on sale for £20m
Mira Bar-Hillel30 June 2014

A billionaire debt collector and his wife are selling their Chelsea house for £20.5 million but are inviting the buyer to knock it down.

Paul and Selina Burdell, who run Link Financial, have been trying to redevelop the four-storey Victorian property for five years and last August finally won permission to demolish it and build a new one that includes a three-storey basement.

However, they have decided to sell the house — and the estate agents’ particulars say: “The property has planning consent for complete demolition to build a brand new substantial house of 10,750 square feet. This consent is highly unusual and provides a unique opportunity for a purchaser to build a brand new palatial style home in their own personal interior style.”

In 2009, the Burdells clashed with their neighbours, who include England footballer Frank Lampard, when they revealed plans to demolish two neighbouring houses to make way for what they described as a “stunning modern interpretation” of the street’s Italianate villas. The proposed design, with a flat office-like façade, was described locally as a “hideous monstrosity in a street full of beautiful houses”.

The approved plans for a new home with basement

In 2011, Kensington & Chelsea council rejected the application and said the plan was “bulky” and “overbearing”.

The couple, believed to be worth £4.2 billion, appealed but a government inspector agreed with the council.

A new plan featuring a neo-classical façade to match the others in the road was submitted, but still with a three-tier basement to include a swimming pool, sauna, gym, home cinema and car park. This application was approved by the council last year. The house was originally put on sale for £26.5 million but this has just been reduced to £20.5 million.

Mr Burdell, who races sports cars in his spare time, set up Link Financial in the late Nineties and turned it into one of Europe’s biggest recovery firms, buying debts from credit card firms.

Kensington council wants to clamp down on the excavation of double and triple basements, but will not be able to do this until later this year.

A spokeswoman said: “The application permitted three levels of basement. The decision was made for this application on the August 14, 2013. The basement still complies with our current policy.”

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