Couple face losing £500,000 TV dream home over planning mix-up

Published 21st Jan 2009

After investing £250,000 and a great deal of toil turning a village barn into a dream home, Steve and Lorraine Kinsey were looking forward to spending the rest of their lives there.

But they are about to be made homeless after falling foul of planning law.

The couple, who have four children, bought the property knowing it had permission only to be used for holiday accommodation.

They say that an estate agent informally advised them the local council would not oppose an application to make the Grade II-listed 18th-century former potato store their permanent residence.

The council, however, is expected to confirm this week that the family must quit their home in Happisburgh, Norfolk, which featured on Channel 5's Build a New Life in the Country and is valued at £750,000.

Their only option will be to generate funds for another family house by selling it to someone else as a holiday home or renting it to holidaymakers for short periods.

'We emphasised that it needed to be our family home as we wanted to move to the village but he was very reassuring and said it was a simple procedure.

'I was shocked when the council told us we should not be living there. We wouldn't have gone on television in front of millions of people if we weren't genuinely trying to build a family home and stay within all the rules.

'It has been devastating to find out we may not be able to keep what we have grafted so hard for. There have been tears and sleepless nights.'

Mr Kinsey, a former fireman who is now a tiler and plumber, said: 'This feels more like home than any other house we have ever had.'

The couple, who are both 47, fell in love with the area while visiting Mrs Kinsey's parents, who live nearby.

They moved from Stoke-on-Trent to Norfolk with sons Jack, 13, and Kurt, ten, in 2004 after buying White's Farm Barn for £136,000. In July 2007, they officially moved in. They have two other children who are grown up and have left home.

Their efforts to convert it into a sumptuous four-bedroom home - despite having no experience - were recorded by a film crew.

After nine months, Mrs Kinsey was sidelined when she aggravated a medical condition and needed a hernia operation - leaving her husband to finish the project by laying flooring, installing a kitchen and painting and decorating the entire property, which stands in an acre of land.

Next-door neighbour James Garrett-Pegge said: 'At a time when many residents in communities such as Happisburgh despair at the number of village houses that are used as holiday and weekend homes, here is a genuine family who are desperate to make their lives in this village.'

Ian and Sharon Cheney, who run the village stores and post office, added: 'We need families who support their village like Mr and Mrs Kinsey.'

North Norfolk District Council's development control committee will rule on the Kinseys' case tomorrow but council officers have recommended blocking any change of use. A report states that approval could set a precedent for 15 other barns with holiday occupancy restrictions within a half-mile radius.

Development control manager John Williams said: 'The council has had a policy for some time, resisting the conversion of buildings into homes unless they are within a village or town or adjacent to one.

'Houses can be permitted for holiday use. Our view is that permanent houses should be in a sustainable location close to services and facilities.'

Source: ' Daily Mail '

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