Sarah Beeny's Farmhouse Row Settled After Eight-Year Dispute

TV presenter and entrepreneur Sarah Beeny has emerged victorious in an eight-year planning dispute over an unauthorized extension to her farmhouse on her Somerset estate. The council, after years of legal wrangling and a previously issued demolition order, has now granted permission for the structure to remain.

The lengthy row began shortly after Beeny and her husband, Graham Swift, purchased the rural estate in Stoney Stoke for £3 million in 2018. They initially received approval two years later to demolish the existing 1970s farmhouse on the property. However, instead of razing the original building, the couple proceeded to extend it without obtaining the necessary planning permission.

When Beeny and Swift sought retrospective approval in September 2024, their application was denied. This decision was upheld when the couple lost an appeal at the Planning Inspectorate in February of the previous year, which ordered the demolition of the unauthorized extension.

Beeny's planning team, Avalon Planning & Heritage, identified a potential loophole related to another part of the original planning application. This involved the conversion of agricultural buildings into five new dwellings, a project that had not yet been completed. By submitting a new application to vary these conditions, Beeny and Swift proposed to reduce the number of new dwellings to four and retain the original farmhouse.

Jason Baker, Chair of Planning South (Somerset), ultimately approved the revised proposal. In a letter, Baker stated he was satisfied the application could be determined under delegated powers, deeming it acceptable due to the existence of a "fallback position" where prior approval for five new dwellings had already been granted. He also noted that the farmhouse offered "ecological and sustainability benefits when considering embodied carbon and biodiversity matters."

The decision has drawn criticism from local authorities and neighbors. Shepton Montague Parish Council maintained its objection, expressing frustration with the protracted enforcement of the demolition order and accusing the couple of attempting to circumvent regulations. Neighbor Kevin Flint voiced his discontent, stating that Beeny had created "bad feeling in the village" and suggesting that "anything unauthorized on the site to be demolished."