London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Incredible pictures show five mansions worth £1million reduced to rubble

Incredible pictures show five mansions worth £1million reduced to rubble

ASTONISHING photos show the demolition of five mansions worth £1million each after they were built "too big" - leaving homeowners devastated.

The almost complete six-bed properties were found to be up to a third bigger and in different locations than allowed under planning rules.

Five mansions each worth £1million have been demolished after being built in breach of planning regulations

The properties in Bolton were razed to the ground after being built too big

Councillors initially ordered their demolition in 2018, but it took four more years for the work to be carried out after developers appealed


Their plot is now little more than a pile of rubble after the final home was razed to the ground this week.

Councillors ordered the demolitions on the West Pennine Moors near Bolton, Lancs, in 2018.

But legal wrangling with developer Sparkle Developments and pleas from homeowners meant the work to take them down did not start until May last year.

An inquiry heard how plot one had a 31 percent bigger footprint than allowed, while plot two was 19 percent bigger, plot three 32 percent bigger and plot four 33 percent bigger.

The developer had claimed the enforcement notice issued by the council to demolish the homes was excessive and too harsh to remedy any breach in planning regulations.

And Elan Raja, who owns one of the mansions, told the hearing he'd faced a "nightmare" as he begged for his house to be left standing.

He said he paid £1,057,000 for the plot in 2016 - but has since spent more than £215,000 on the rental of an alternative property and other costs.

"It has had life-changing consequences for me," he said.

"I feel trapped in a vicious circle with deepening financial pressures and effects on my family.

"Every day feels like I'm waking up to a nightmare. The best way to describe it is a pressure cooker."

In spite of his pleas, the properties have now been torn down.

Councillor Andy Morgan said: “It’s the right thing to do.

"There are two applications for individual plots to be built with slight alterations.

“The intent is to rebuild them and save much of the materials.”

What to know about planning permission


While minor improvements to your home may not need planning permission, any major works will need the council's go-ahead.

You'll need planning permission if you're going to build a new property, make a major change to your existing home, or change the use of a building.

To find out if you need permission, contact your local council.

You can also search a register of planning decisions, to object or comment on proposed works in your area.

After you apply, you local authority will decide whether to grant permission.

It will take into account factors such as the number, size and appearance of the buildings, and how your development would affect the surrounding area.

You'll usually find out the council's decision within eight weeks.

If you're not granted permission, you might be able to appeal.

If you carry out works that require permission without getting it, you can be served an enforcement notice, which will order you to undo all the changes you've made.

You can appeal an enforcement notice, but it's illegal to ignore it.

Homeowners have been left devastated by the decision

The almost complete six-bed properties were found to be up to a third bigger and in different locations than allowed

Councillor Andy Morgan said: 'It’s the right thing to do. The intent is to rebuild them and save much of the materials'


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×