Five luxury £1m mansions demolished after they all breached planning laws

Ross McGuinness
Drone images of mansions under threat of demolition, Bolton, Lancs. See SWNS story SWLEhouses; The owners of five luxury mansions which were built too big and in the wrong place face the threat of having their million-pound homes demolished. Residents wanted to broker a deal with a local council after it was found the properties were not built in accordance with planning permission. It had been hoped council chiefs would wave through the latest application after it was recommended for approval by town planners. But the revised plans, which involved knocking down and rebuilding two properties and reducing the size of another at a cost of more than £1m, was last week thrown out by councillors.
Five mansions near Bolton, Lancashire, were built bigger than agreed and in the wrong location. (SWNS) (Tom Maddick / SWNS)

A set of luxury mansions each worth £1m have been demolished after they breached planning rules.

Four of the large six-bedroom newly built properties in the idyllic West Pennine Moors, Lancashire, have been razed to the ground.

Work to demolish the fifth of the five homes continued at the weekend.

The homes, near Bolton, Greater Manchester, have been destroyed after building inspectors found they were up to a third bigger and in different locations than permitted.

The Five luxury mansions, Bolton, Lancs, which face demolition. See SWNS story SWLEhouses; The owners of five luxury mansions which were built too big and in the wrong place face the threat of having their million-pound homes demolished. Residents wanted to broker a deal with a local council after it was found the properties were not built in accordance with planning permission. It had been hoped council chiefs would wave through the latest application after it was recommended for approval by town planners. But the revised plans, which involved knocking down and rebuilding two properties and reducing the size of another at a cost of more than £1m, was last week thrown out by councillors.
The five luxury mansions at West Pennine Moors that are being destroyed for breaching planning permission. (SWNS) (Lee McLean / SWNS)

Bolton Council initially ordered their demolition in 2018, but legal wrangling and pleas from homeowners meant the bulldozers didn’t move in until last May.

Recent photos show that the site, once a collection of dream homes, has become little more than rubble - with just one lone luxury mansion left standing.

Councillor Andy Morgan said: “Four of the five houses have now come down. It's the right thing to do.

“There are two applications for individual plots to be built with slight alterations.

“The intent is to rebuild them and save so much materials, brick by brick.”

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Building work began on the stone-built homes in 2014, when planning permission was granted for the conversion of a former farmhouse and four new homes around a central courtyard.

But finishing works were put on hold after a complaint was filed in October 2016, and Bolton Council found the houses were not being built in accordance with the planning permission.

Demolition work to remove five £1million pound mansions that broke planning regulations is almost complete – with just a single luxury property still standing. See SWNS story SWLEhouse. The six-bed detached properties on a stunning plot in the West Pennine moors wer up to a third bigger and in different locations than they were allowed, a planning inquiry found. Bolton Council issued an enforcement notice for demolition in 2018 and a planning inspector then gave the householders 12 months to demolish the structures and return the site to its previous state.
Just one of the five £1m mansions remained standing at the weekend. (SWNS) (Henry Lisowsky / SWNS)

An inquiry heard how plot one on the site had a 31 per cent larger footprint than allowed, plot two was 19 per cent bigger, plot three 32 per cent bigger and plot four 33 per cent bigger.

The local authority first issued an enforcement notice to flatten the entire development in 2018, following an impasse with the developers, Sparkle Developments.

But an appeal claimed the enforcement notice issued by the council to demolish the homes was excessive and too harsh to remedy any breach in planning regulations.

Demolition work to remove five £1million pound mansions that broke planning regulations is almost complete – with just a single luxury property still standing. See SWNS story SWLEhouse. The six-bed detached properties on a stunning plot in the West Pennine moors wer up to a third bigger and in different locations than they were allowed, a planning inquiry found. Bolton Council issued an enforcement notice for demolition in 2018 and a planning inspector then gave the householders 12 months to demolish the structures and return the site to its previous state.
One remaining £1m mansion at the weekend at the site in West Pennine Moors after four others had been demolished. (SWNS) (Henry Lisowsky / SWNS)

One of the previous homeowners, Elan Raja, told an earlier hearing that he had paid £1,057,000 for the plot in 2016.

He also claimed he had since spent more than £215,000 on the rental of an alternative property and other costs.

But council inspectors later decided to give a deadline of 18 May 2022 for all the mansions to be demolished.

A spokesperson for Bolton Council said: “We will of course continue to monitor the site in the coming weeks to ensure that the requirements of the enforcement notice are complied with in full.”

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