Alan Chappelow neighbours ‘face £400,000 bills’

Published: 29 April 2010
by DAN CARRIER

A £400,000 bill for a cellar in a Hampstead street could land on the doormat of a neighbour if plans to replace a grade-II listed building are given the go-ahead tonight (Thursday).

The Town Hall’s planning committee are due to consider an application to knock down and rebuild the former home of murdered Hampstead pensioner Alan Chappelow in Downshire Hill. The reclusive writer was found battered to death in a back room in the property in June, 2006. 

The Heath and Hampstead Society have warned that a proposal to carve out a two-storey basement beneath the house will mean neighbouring cellars will have to be rebuilt – and say one builder’s estimate for the work is as much as £400,000.

A letter sent to the council by the society’s chairman Tony Hillier reads: “The implications to neighbouring buildings is likely to be more severe to neighbouring properties than suggested by the report submitted by the applicant. Numbers 8 and 10 have tanked cellars that may need to be rebuilt, with estimated costs suggested to amount to £400,000 to number eight. As such, there would be severe damage to neighbouring listed structures.”

The developer involved wants use a new basement for a cinema, swimming pool, shower and changing area, a bedroom and even a gym.

In October last year, the owners, registered as Ringline Properties, withdrew an application for the house at the last minute after facing fierce opposition from the Heath and Hampstead Society.

And according to a planning officer report, “the design of the proposed development has not altered in anyway”.