Prize-draw £6m mansion breached planning law

Alleged planning breaches were found at Larkfields on the north Norfolk coast

A mansion worth at least £6m and offered as a prize in a raffle organised by Omaze breached planning rules, a council has said.

Officials at North Norfolk District Council said the Larkfields property in Blakeney, within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, was not built to approved plans.

Council officers will meet next week to decide what action to take, including whether it should force changes to the property.

Omaze said the winner of the three-bedroomed house would not face any potential costs related to planning issues.

The Omaze mansion looks across to Blakeney Point, a National Nature Reserve, where seals breed in winter and birds such as terns nest in spring

Entries for the prize draw are now closed and the winner is expected to be announced live on BBC One on Red Nose Day on 21 March.

Omaze has said that "a minimum £1m donation" would be made to Comic Relief following the raffle, which was advertised heavily on TV and online.

The council began investigating the property after an anonymous member of the public raised concerns earlier this month, saying it had not been built to the approved designs.

The property includes a swimming pool and tennis courts

Omaze published photographs and floor plans of the home in its marketing material, which appear to be different to the designs approved by the council in 2020, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

There are additional outbuildings, a tennis court and a swimming pool, which do not appear to have been subject to any planning application.

Andrew Brown, the council's Liberal Democrat cabinet member for planning and enforcement, said: "An investigation has been carried out internally and externally by the enforcement team.

"This has found breaches which are under consideration."

'All about the timing'

Brown added: "The next steps will be for the council's enforcement board to discuss the findings.

"They will look at the breaches to identify which are active and which are not."

When contacted by the BBC, the council would not be drawn on the nature of the alleged breaches.

It confirmed it would contact the owner once it had concluded its investigation and decided what, if any, the next steps might be.

Some of the planning irregularities may be immune from any enforcement action due to the so-called four-year rule, which means retrospective permission could be sought.

Brown added: "It is all about the timing of when the alterations were made."

A condition was placed on the property as part of its planning consent which removed permitted development rights, meaning any additional construction of features such as swimming pools and tennis courts would need permission to be built.

Blakeney is within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which means there are strict controls on development in the area.

A spokesman for Omaze said: "Omaze guarantees that no house winner would ever have to incur any costs whatsoever to remedy an alleged historical planning breach."

Comic Relief said it had been "strongly assured" that proper due diligence had been undertaken and that the winner of the house would incur no costs related to an investigation, should they arise.

"The aim of the partnership is to raise vital funds to tackle poverty," it added.

Larkfields was sold for £6m in July, according to property website Zoopla.

The BBC has attempted to contact Larkfields' former owner for comment.