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| Foxtons founder defeats court bid to block mega-basement extension | Foxtons founder defeats court bid to block mega-basement extension |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The founder of the Foxtons estate agency group has defeated a court bid from the French government to block a mega-basement extension he is building to house his vintage car collection. | |
| Jon Hunt, whose grade II-listed mansion in Palace Gardens Terrace, west London, is next to the French embassy, had already started work. | |
| Related: Modern tribes: the basement digger | Related: Modern tribes: the basement digger |
| The couple, whose plans include a swimming pool at the former Soviet embassy, were granted planning permission and listed building consent in 2008, and a smaller scheme was given listed building consent in 2010. | |
| In 2011, the freehold owners, Crown Estates, granted a limited licence to allow certain excavation works to go ahead but the French government challenged the validity of certificates of lawfulness granted by Kensington and Chelsea council last April to allow completion of the project, arguing they were flawed, compromised its security and should be quashed. | |
| Robert Griffiths QC, representing the embassy, told Mr Justice Holgate there had been a lack of consultation and the excavation works already carried out did not amount to commencement of development, but were works of repair and refurbishment under the Hunts’ lease. | |
| The judge rejected an application for judicial review on the bulk of the embassy’s complaints. He only agreed that the council had acted unlawfully by failing to enter the certificates on its planning register. The French government will now have to pay the bulk of the council’s costs, estimated to be more than £100,000. | The judge rejected an application for judicial review on the bulk of the embassy’s complaints. He only agreed that the council had acted unlawfully by failing to enter the certificates on its planning register. The French government will now have to pay the bulk of the council’s costs, estimated to be more than £100,000. |
| Paul Brown QC, who represented the Hunts had told the judge: “They are acting lawfully. They have permission.” He said the French government had only launched legal action “because they don’t want Mr Hunt to complete the basement”. | Paul Brown QC, who represented the Hunts had told the judge: “They are acting lawfully. They have permission.” He said the French government had only launched legal action “because they don’t want Mr Hunt to complete the basement”. |
| Hunt sold the Foxtons chain of estate agencies to the private equity firm BC Partners in 2007 for £370m, weeks before the credit crunch hit and the property market slumped. | |
| Aside from his London residence, Hunt owns a large property in Suffolk called Heveningham Hall. | |
| In 2012, Hunt established Bacchus Partners, which is a property vehicle aimed at buying up derelict buildings and properties in urban areas and transforming them into mixed-use developments. | |
| Basement building has long been a controversial issue in London, particularly so in Kensington. Last December, after the council won a battle to stop some of the mega expansion schemes, councillor Tim Coleridge, said: “Basements have been the single greatest planning concern our residents have expressed to us in living memory. Many have experienced years of misery from noise, vibration, dust and construction traffic. He said that basement developers “have aggressively opposed us every step of the way”. |