I’m furious at my neighbour’s £1million home Homes Under the Hammer – they built it 1.2m too tall and they don’t care

RESIDENTS are furious over their neighbour’s £1million house on the auction block which they claim is too big.

Angela Vickers, 59, is at the center of a landscaping row after it was revealed she and her late husband Ian had built their home in Hampshire’s New Forest without permission.

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The couple bought a 4-acre property and five years ago submitted plans to demolish an old bungalow and replace it with a three-bed home.

They spent £250,000 to build their dream home, which featured in series 18 of the hit BBC series and included the couple being interviewed by presenter Lucy Alexander.

Homes Under the Hammer even featured Mr Vickers building the Oak House himself, complete with a ‘gorgeous’ swimming pool to the south.

It also had a north facing terrace, a garage with an office above, a chicken coop and a garden chalet.

But the finished house enraged neighbors after it was built 1.2 meters longer than agreed, faced a different direction and was in a different location than originally planned.

Neither the swimming pool nor the additional outbuildings the couple built had a permit, it turns out.

The Vickers initially applied to subsequently amend the building permit to include the swimming pool and the other changes, but these were denied and were ordered to demolish it.

The couple appealed against this and another application was filed and approved to downsize the building in July this year – after Mr Vickers died – in lieu of demolition.

But Vickers neighbors are currently questioning that permit and have called for a judicial review of the planning process.

On the Homes Under the Hammer show, host Lucy Alexander warned that getting planning permission for her home would be difficult.

But Mrs Vickers boasted about how her husband would win over the local authority.

She said: “I’ll send Ian in and he’ll charm her.”

And it didn’t take long for local residents to start taking notice.

After filing complaints with the local building authority, an enforcement order was issued to demolish the building.

Ms Vickers, widowed after her husband’s death aged 75, tried to resolve the situation and managed to persuade her to let her downsize the building rather than demolish it.

But the Vickers’ neighbors are determined not to end matters there.

Mark Atwill, a close neighbor, claims he is directly affected by light pollution and overlooks windows.

He said: “It wasn’t done in a considerate manner. It’s in the wrong place and the wrong size. All these extra things have been built in, like the swimming pool and outbuildings.

“The house is clunky. Garbage trucks pulled up next to my house when it was built. No one was informed until the consultation period was closed. It just seems so strange.”

A male neighbor who wished to remain anonymous complained about living near the house under construction.

He said: “It’s not personal. The house looks nice, but it shouldn’t be there.

“It was like living near a war zone when it was built.”

“It was like living near a war zone when it was built.”

Anonymous male neighbor

Raymond Clem, who lives down the street, wrote to the New Forest National Park Planning Board to object to Ms Vickers’ plan to downsize the house.

“As a close neighbor of this site, I am concerned that I have not received notification of this from the planning department,” he said.

“Since 2016, this site has been mired in controversy and countless submitted plans have confused the matter.”

Christina Folliard, another neighbor, wrote: “I am aware that there is an ongoing judicial review of the ridiculous prior authorization where the agency has reversed its positions and ignored all the enduring damage this development is causing.

“It encourages others with similar intentions to build what they want, as the Authority clearly has no ability or willingness to prevent or remedy such actions, especially as this is not the first time these applicants have behaved in this way to have.”

However, a local, Mr Fletcher, said: “A sensible solution was reached earlier this year which requires remedial action. Let them stand.

“The more spare change needed at Paysanne, the greater the disruption in my household.

“The enforcement order that required the demolition of the new property was disproportionate to the damage caused.

“All Mr. Vickers had done was build a house, and a good one at that. There was never any pretext, the process was open, and he invited all comers to come and see it.”

When Homes Under the Hammer revisited the completed project – with a local estate agent valuing the new home at £1million – Ms Alexander admired the new building and was particularly impressed by the ‘amazing’ pool.

Mr Vickers boasted on the show at the time: “There’s about 20 oak trees that went into this house – all the oak frames and stuff, the whole kitchen, doors inside and out, they were all made by us.

“Really a lot of job satisfaction all over the place.”

Ms Vickers declined to comment.

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