Omaze winner still waiting for keys to £6m Blakeney house
The winner of a £6m home is still waiting to receive the keys because unresolved planning breaches have held up the transfer. Vicky Curtis-Cresswell said she felt "pure joy" after winning the property in Blakeney, Norfolk, in an Omaze and Comic Relief raffle.But the house has been investigated by North Norfolk District Council after an anonymous member of the public raised concerns in March, that it had not been built to the approved designs.An Omaze spokesman said the company had submitted a pre-application to the council and was submitting a retrospective planning application as well.
Originally from South Wales, Ms Curtis-Cresswell had been searching for a rental property for her family while living at her in-laws' home. The former Miss Wales finalist plans to sell the property and buy a house in Wales.The prize draw raised more than £4m for Comic Relief.An inspection of planning documents and photographs of the property appear to show it has been built larger than permitted, the Local Democracy Reporting Service says.A tennis court and swimming pool built at the property do not appear to have planning permission.
Omaze said the planning discrepancies were not revealed during checks and surveys of the property before it was purchased. A spokesman said: "Omaze will transfer ownership of the property to the winner once all planning matters are resolved." To remedy the problems, the authority issued a series of recommendations which the company needed to action. A North Norfolk District Council spokeswoman said: "We are waiting for an application to be submitted by the owners to try and regularise the current breaches of planning control."We are expecting an application to be submitted by the end of this month."However, the retrospective permission could be refused, meaning the authority could take enforcement action and force the company to make changes. If the permission is refused, it could face a similar fate to a luxury home built by a West End producer in Cley.Adam Spiegel, behind shows including Hairspray and The Mousetrap, was required to rebuild his home after a lengthy planning dispute when the property was built larger than the approved designs, costing him millions of pounds to rectify the problems.
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