Posted on 03/21/2013 4:21:46 PM PDT by BenLurkin
The “iceberg home” mega basements dug three or four storeys into the ground with private cinemas, spas and swimming pools are set to be banned in one of London’s most affluent areas.
New draft rules that will limit basements to a single storey and impose much tighter limits on how far they can extend under a garden were today published by Kensington and Chelsea council.
The move follows a huge surge in applications for basements over recent years as wealthy owners have sought to by-pass planning restrictions on changes to their homes above ground by massively extending their living space underneath.
The subterranean extensions have often outraged local residents because of the noise, dust and disruption caused by digging them out, which can last for up to two years.
The couple want to dig out a two-storey basement at their riverside home in Cheyne Walk as part of a £10 million project that neighbours said would “create a dusty mayhem of a sprawling construction site in a peaceful conservation area”.
One of the most notorious applications was by former Foxtons estate agency owner Jon Hunt who successfully submitted plans for a cavernous basement under his home in Kensington Palace Gardens that included a tennis court and a showroom for his collection of Ferraris.
(Excerpt) Read more at standard.co.uk ...
Most people will gladly give up their freedom in exchange for the right to mind their neighbor’s business.
Makes sense. What if someone digs their basement too deep and hits the bottom of Britain and the island sinks? Britain may not be small enough to capsize, like Guam, but it can still sink.
Just build an underground parking garage and convert the back of it.
Having lived in Kensington 1 1/2 blocks away from the palace, there is NO other place to build EXCEPT DOWN!!!! It’s as tight as a tick EVERYWHERE!!! Busy JEALOUS Body.....everywhere.
I deeply pity them. If I wanted a subsurface addition to my home (it is all above ground), I would not even have to file for a building permit.
Free Men Need Not Ask Permission.
Too much Freedom is impossible.
Well-said!
What if one of these guys dug too low and struck magma? I once saw a movie where an oil rig off the California coast struck magma which heated the water which caused a mega-typhoon. I don’t know how well London could handle a mega-typhoon.
It probably because they might break into one of the tunnels our reptilian overlords use to stay out of sight.
Makes more sense than anything official they come up with.
You know digging too deep may unleash a dragon to terrorize the whole world like in “Reign of Fire” which happened to be set in England.
Excavating a large area underground next to a river is probably a very poor idea anyway.
Been there, done that, in the peaceful city.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/photo/chi-090406-great-chicago-flood-pg,0,7871513.photogallery
I well remember the problems created for a whole neighborhood because too many people dug to install swimming pools and the basements flooded as a result of less acreage to soak up the rain.
I think that is what the one official is referring t owhen he talks about “soakaway”.
But I don’t speak British
Not only did he get a fine for "excavating without a permit" but a bill for the rescue and another (bigger bill) for the demolition and removal of his house.
When subterranean excavations are banned...only outlaws....etc...
Kensington is NOT near the river.
True BUT if the EPA got wind of it and thought there was a chance of disturbing the breeding grounds of the rare seven-toed mole when you went to dig your basement they would land on you like a chicken on a June bug...
That was an amazing effect for a movie made in the mid 1950's.
Speaking during a debate in the House of Lords, he said: “Apparently, when Russians buy houses in London the one thing they really enjoy is digging down. I am not entirely sure why. Anyway, the builders appeared and they dug and they dug and they dug.
“I have no idea how far they dug but the result was that both houses on either side virtually collapsed into the hole, causing enormous inconvenience to them.”
Russians digging eh....They just pining for the fjords.....
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