Fury as couple in UK seaside resort plan to replace £3.4m home 'ugly square box'

A millionaire couple have upset their neighbours with plans to demolish their £3.4million home and replace it with an "ugly square box". Ian and Camilla Penfold want to knock down the stylish waterside property in Sandbanks, Dorset, just a year after buying it.

They intend to replace it with a larger, flat-roofed, four-storey home. Some Sandbanks locals criticise the proposed property as too overbearing and yet another "ugly square box" on the millionaires' row. If built, the proposed property will have five bedrooms as well as a basement housing a gym, sauna, home cinema and golf simulator room. It will also have an outdoor swimming pool.

Critics claim the design goes against local planning guidelines. Sandbanks residents voted last year to stop the overdevelopment of the waterfront.

The referendum was in response to the "rash of uninspiring and poorly considered homes" and to end the "constant push" towards replacing traditional homes with modern four-storey developments.

The Penfolds have also been accused of "planning creep by stealth." In 2024, they won planning permission to alter and extend their existing "elegant" house, but they have now renounced those plans in favour of demolishing it and building their dream home.

Neighbours say it will be almost twice the height of the existing house and much larger than the extension they already have permission for.

Company director, James Hunter-Smart, who lives opposite, said: "The proposed building increases the mass, scale and height compared to the existing building.

"Whilst it is accepted that there is already an approved application... this new application exacerbates the problem. It is an overdevelopment and will produce yet another ugly square box when viewed from the harbour."

Jane Latham lives next door to the Penfolds in a quiet cul-de-sac called The Horseshoe. If the project is allowed to proceed, she fears her privacy will be breached and sunlight will be taken away from her patio.

She said the plan is "considerably larger" than that approved just last year to extend the existing property. Ms Latham added: "The increase in height, depth, overall scale and mass will exacerbate the impact on my living conditions over and above the current situation with the scheme that has already been approved."

Sharron Varley, who also lives opposite, said the design was far too high and would impact light at her property. She said the increase in roof height was "significant and unwelcome".

Ms Varley added: "The huge 'block shaped' building will be totally overbearing on our property, and we have serious concerns about this build."

The Sandbanks Neighbourhood Forum group has also objected. They said the house would be "overbearing" and overlook neighbouring properties. Forum members also alleged the owners had been "disingenuous" in their plans about the scale of the building.

In a letter they said: "This is a classic example of 'planning creep' by stealth, which has unfortunately been prevalent across the borough and Sandbanks over recent years.

"This application is a new application and should be judged on its own merits and thus the excessive height and bulk increase is unacceptable.

"It is also unacceptable as it will rise significantly higher that the adjoining properties...and therefore dominate this and the other houses along The Horseshoe and will look discordant from the harbourside."

Mr Penfold is a company director of an insurance brokers. His wife declined to discuss the plans when asked.

Their application states that the new house would constitute a "striking and innovative" architectural design, including flat roofs, louvres, full height glazing, timber cladding and brickwork with contrasting material.

It adds the replacement dwelling would be three storeys at the front and four storeys at the rear with the top floor recessed off the front back and sides in order that it would not be read as a true full storey.

The application continues: "This ensures that the impact to neighbours in terms of overbearing, overlooking and impact on sight lines from habitable windows is acceptable."