London's wealthy dig down fast to beat planning curbs

Home owners in the wealthiest parts of London are rushing to extend their homes underground before new planning restrictions are brought in next year.

The number of planning applications involving basements has risen 80 per cent in 2013 to 1,550 and more than doubled from the 659 lodged in 2011, data from Kensington and Chelsea council show.

Underground extensions, or "digdowns", have become popular in expensive parts of the capital as property owners attempt to boost their home's value, motivated by soaring house prices. But the extensions have proved contentious, generating complaints from neighbours about noise and disruption and fears for the reliability of the construction techniques involved.

Although many extensions are relatively modest, there has been a substantial increase in the number of ambitious, large-scale excavations going down several floors and substantially increasing the property's size.

Home owners' aspirations for the basements have become increasingly grandiose, with swimming pools, gyms, carports, cinemas, extra clothes storage and staff quarters all featuring in planning applications received by K&C.

In response to complaints, local councils are now attempting to limit them. Hammersmith and Fulham Council introduced restrictions in 2009, and Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster councils are looking to follow suit.

K&C has already begun to impose substantial charges - as much as £800,000 - on home owners seeking permission to dig downwards, and it is set to seek approval from the Planning Inspectorate for its new restrictions by the end of March 2014.

The impending changes have triggered a rush to win planning permission before the changes are introduced, according to the council data.

In particular, householders with no immediate intention of undertaking construction work are seeking exemptions from any future change in the planning rules, according to Tim Coleridge, K&C council cabinet member for planning policy.

K&C's proposals are facing strong opposition from housing developers, Mr Coleridge said. As a result the council has delayed seeking approval for its plans in order to ensure they are legally watertight. "The big basement-digging companies put in a huge amount of opposing evidence and as a result we are now re-drawing our submission [to the inspectorate]."

Mr Coleridge said the cost of buying and selling houses was a key factor driving the rise in underground extensions.

"If the chancellor would be kind enough to remove the 7 per cent stamp duty tax [on homes over £2m], that would probably persuade a fair few people to move house rather than digging down to extend," he said. "We are not stopping people who want to live in a more modern way from doing so but if you want a bigger house, go and buy one rather than doubling the size by digging down."

Prices in Kensington & Chelsea have risen by nearly 10 per cent in the past year, boosted by demand from foreign buyers. The borough is home to some of the most expensive streets for buying a home in England and Wales.

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