Bill Bailey launches planning battle to convert flats into £2m home

EXCLUSIVE: Strictly Come Dancing champion Bill Bailey launches new planning to battle to convert flats into £2million west London home with swimming pool

  • Bill Bailey has launched a planning battle to convert two flats into a £2m home
  • He submitted the extravagant plans to Hammersmith and Fulham Council
  • The Strictly star’s plans were approved in 2018 but put on hold due to Covid 
  • Three neighbours objected to the original plans because of noise disturbance 

Strictly Come Dancing winner Bill Bailey has launched a new planning battle to convert two flats into a £2 million home and splash out on a swimming pool.

The comedian, musician and actor wants to carry out the development next door to his existing ground floor flat in a designated conservation area in west London, despite opposition from some neighbours.

Bailey, 57, plans to make a single two bedroom apartment by installing internal stairs to combine separate one bedroom flats on the ground and first floor of a Victorian house.

He wants to add a ground floor extension to form an ‘extended living dining space’ with white-rendered walls, matching a modern extension on his ground floor property next door, according to council documents.

Bill Bailey, 57, and his dance partner Oti Mabuse (pictured) were crowned Strictly Come Dancing winners in 2020  

The plans also include excavating the rear garden to build a pool measuring 6m by 3m with a ‘movable rising and lowering deck’ matching a surrounding limestone terrace.

Bailey who has appeared as a regular panellist on TV shows such as Have I Got News For You, Never Mind the Buzzcocks and QI also wants to build a below-ground pool filter room, accessed via a landscaped stepped terrace.

A planning application for the project has been submitted to Hammersmith and Fulham Council by him and his wife of 24 years Kristin, a former costume designer who manages his business affairs.

The proposed ground floor plan for Bailey’s £2 million extension. The plans were submitted to Hammersmith and Fulham Council and are awaiting approval 

The couple were originally granted planning consent for their project in 2018, but were unable to proceed with building work due to Covid restrictions, according to documents.

They have now had to reapply for permission due to the work not being done within a three year time limit set by the council.

The new application proposes reducing the size of the swimming pool which was originally planned to be 13m by 5m.

Bailey who won Strictly Come Dancing with dance partner Oti Mabuse is waiting to hear whether he will be granted planning consent again.

This image shows the rear ground floor extension at Bailey’s home – next door to the planned proposed development site 

Three neighbours including two from the same household, had objected to the original plans, raising concerns about ‘increased noise and disturbance arising from the construction process’.

The local residents also cited worries about an ‘increase in noise and light pollution arising from the use of the extension and pool’, and suggested it was an ‘over development of the site’.

Other objections about ‘a number of other structures in existence at the application site and animals currently accommodated at the site’ were ruled by the council to be outside ‘the scope of this planning application’.

The proposed works in the new application includes putting a glazed roof on a covered access between Bailey’s existing ground floor flat and the development property next door.

The view of the next door garden that Bailey wants to develop. The comedian plans to make a single two bedroom apartment by installing internal stairs to combine separate one bedroom flats on the ground and first floor of a Victorian house

The access through a doorway formed by refurbished antique doors is planned to have a ‘controlled’ microclimate and will take advantage of ‘enhanced reflective light’.

The original design statement by Bailey’s planning agent states: ‘The reconfigured apartment is to include a ground floor single storey rear extension in order to obtain an extended living space which provides a strong visual and physical relationship with the landscaped garden.

‘The key components comprise full height bifold glazing and white rendered walls in order to create a visually harmonious counterpart with [next door].’

Planning officer Alexander Green made a report recommending approval of the original plans in 2018

He said at the time: ‘It is considered that the proposal would not have an unacceptable impact on the amenities of the occupiers of neighbouring residential properties and would be of an acceptable visual appearance.

‘The character and appearance of the host buildings of merit, terrace and wider conservation area would be preserved.’

Other famous residents who live nearby include MP Michael Gove, Top Gear presenter James May, comedian Miranda Hart and actor Nicholas Lyndhurst.

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