Incredible £6m mansion offered as Omaze lottery prize may have to be DESTROYED after huge blunder
An incredible £6million Omaze mansion in Norfolk has been found to have breached planning regulations, officials have confirm.
The Larkfields mansion in the upmarket seaside resort village of Blakeney has not been built according to approved plans.
North Norfolk District Council (NNDC) officials have completed an investigation into the property.
The three-bedroom house is being offered as the first prize in a Comic Relief fundraiser raffle in collaboration with Omaze.
It has been described as the company’s biggest prize ever, also coming with a Porsche 911 Carrera and £250,000 cash.
The investigation was prompted after a member of the public pointed out the beach house appeared larger than what was approved in plans, Eastern Daily Press reports.
The winner is due to be announced live on BBC One next month during the Red Nose Day broadcast.
The investigation revealed several unauthorised additions to the property that weren’t included in the approved plans.
The ground floor appears to have a much larger eastern side, referred to as a “boot room”, than was originally approved in 2020.
Outbuildings, a swimming pool and a tennis court have been constructed without apparent planning permission.
One condition of the property’s original planning permission was the removal of permitted development rights.
This means additional features like the pool or tennis court would have required specific council approval.
NNDC cabinet member Andrew Brown confirmed: “An investigation has been carried out internally and externally by the enforcement team. This has found breaches which are under consideration.”
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
- Man who won £4.5m mansion in prize draw refuses to quit job despite newfound fortune
- Woman puts £4.5m mansion up for sale less than three months after winning it in raffle
- Billionaire homeowners win £30m payout after possessions destroyed in ‘moth-infested’ London mansion
The picturesque coastal village of Blakeney falls within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, where property development is tightly controlled.
The council is due to meet next week to decide what action to take regarding the breaches.
This could potentially lead to requests for changes to be made to the property.
Brown explained: “The development has not been made in accordance with the original plans therefore there are potential breaches of planning conditions.
“However it will have gained planning consent if completed within a certain time period. It is all about the timing of when the alterations were made.”
The council will determine which breaches are ‘active’ depending on when each aspect was developed.
For ‘active’ breaches, they will consider whether any potential harm has been caused.
In a similar case in nearby Cley-next-the-Sea, a property owner had to rebuild his home after it was found to be larger than approved plans.
Fixing such breaches could be costly and troublesome for the property owner.
Omaze has guaranteed that the winner of the mansion will not face any costs related to the planning issues.
An Omaze spokesperson stated: “Omaze guarantees that no house winner would ever have to incur any costs whatsoever to remedy an alleged historical planning breach.
“Omaze further guarantees that all house prizes are transferred to winners with good and marketable title.”
The company had previously said they conducted thorough due diligence before purchasing the property.
They claimed the Norfolk mansion “passed all surveys and checks.”
Entries for the competition closed last Sunday.
Omaze, which launched in the UK in 2020, runs raffles featuring multi-million pound homes and other prizes.
The company gives a minimum of £1million to charity partners in each draw.
This particular draw is in partnership with Comic Relief for the national fundraising event’s 40th anniversary.