I’m being ordered to tear down my £300k newbuild because it ‘looks like a Travelodge’…I made a mistake but I’m a victim
A DEFIANT dad is refusing to demolish his illegal half-built dream home dubbed "Monster Mansion" by neighbours.
Gurwinder Singh has has vowed to save the property in a fight against planners, despite being told it it looks like a Travelodge hotel.
The delivery driver told of his "devastation" after he lost an appeal, with government inspectors now ordering him to demolish the £300,000 four-bed home.
But he insisted: “I’m not going to tear my house down and I’m begging the council not to either. We can work out a solution.”
In an exclusive interview with The Sun Online, 43-year-old Mr Singh revealed he spent his life savings on building a the house for himself, wife Rajwinder Kaur, also 43, and their two daughters aged 11 and 13.
He says he has been left "suffering from anxiety and depression" during a three-year "planning nightmare".
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Mr Singh also hit out at neighbours who have labelled his new home-to-be "Monster Mansion", a "monstrosity" and an "eyesore".
One local described it as "looking like a Travelodge in the middle of a housing estate".
Incensed neighbours living next to the property in Willenhall in the West Midlands previously described the "absolute hell" of trying to get the house torn down.
They have been celebrating after the Planning Inspectorate ordered him to rip it down earlier this month.
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Mr Singh bought a 1950s semi in the area in 2020, which he then demolished, and is in the process of building a home three times the size on the site.
However, the local council ruled the demolition breached planning regulations and rejected his bid for retrospective planning permission.
Punjabi-speaking Mr Singh believes he is being victimised and has “been taken advantage of” because of his nationality and struggles with the English language.
In his first interview, he said: “I am challenging the planning appeal decision. I am devastated it went against me and will do everything possible to save my new home."
He said it had been a “very stressful” time for him and his wife, who have been renting a modest three-bed semi in a neighbouring suburb and paying two lots of council tax.
The disputed home is only half-built and the family have never lived in it - nor the previous smaller house which was knocked down to make way for the new illegal property.
He said: "I’m disappointed in the way this has happened and devastated I lost my planning appeal.
"I want to keep my house but the council want to demolish it, but I will keep to fight it.
"Neighbours have been unfair about the house - they call it a monstrosity and I have no reason why."
He insists builders he paid £30,000 got the planned brickwork wrong, adding: "It wasn’t my fault.
“It’s all been very stressful - I have spent my life savings on this house for my family and we have never even lived there.
"I’m depressed, my wife is depressed. We feel let down by the system. It is a planning nightmare.
"But hopefully we can work out a solution."
Mr Singh told how he was now renting a three-bed semi in a nearby West Midlands suburb for £800 per month, adding: "All we want is to have our own home."
He is now being helped by Birmingham-based Lapworth Architects Limited, in a bid to challenge the planning decision.
Mr Singh needs to receive a fair hearing
Architect Mike Kalam
The firm's managing director Mike Kalam told The Sun Online: “As agents for Gurwinder Singh we are hopeful that a sensible resolution can be found and we are trying to move forward with a new application.
"Originally he had poor-quality drawings - he was let down by builders, but the council still accepted those poor drawings - and he was let down because of a language barrier.
“My client is suffering from anxiety and depression over this.
"I am helping him now - acting on a pro bono, free of charge basis - because it is a matter of justice and fairness."
Mr Kalan accepted the structure, footprint and scale of the property were "different from what Mr Singh had consent for".
But he insisted what has been built is "actually smaller" than a footprint originally given planning permission in 2021.
He added: "Mr Singh needs to receive a fair hearing and following the Inspector's dismissal we are instructed to prepare a revised application.
"Demolition should only be sought as an absolute last resort and we consider it to be entirely unnecessary at this juncture given that viable alternative options are available.
"We look forward to working with the council to reach a equitable resolution for all parties including Gurwinder."
When the Planning Inspectorate ordered Mr Singh to demolish the property despite his bid for retrospective approval, neighbours hailed the ruling as a "victory for common sense".
One resident told The Sun Online: "It was a monstrosity and many of us living here were incensed.
"He completely breached planning regulations, it was madness, and then he had the nerve to put in a retrospective application."
Local dad Dave added: "Bring on the bulldozers! We can’t wait to see that property knocked down.
"I can't feel sorry for him because he brought this on himself and along the way he made our lives hell.
"I bet he feels very hard done by but he should have put his proposal through the proper planning procedure, like everyone else does."
Others spoke of the "indescribable" stress that the building works had brought and questioned why Mr Singh was allowed to get as far as he did.
One resident even claimed that iron girders from the "monster mansion" were pushed into the home next door, forcing the OAP living there to move out.
The lady in question said: "It’s been a nightmare. I’m widowed, I live on my own and all I want is peace and quiet.
"Instead I’ve had jackhammers going off from 8am to 10pm every day and drills going through my wall.
"I was living a perfectly quiet normal life but it’s been taken away from me."
She added that she had to stop using certain rooms in her home for fear that the ceiling would collapse.
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A spokesperson for Walsall Council said: "We can confirm that the Planning Inspector’s appeal decision dated July 7, 2023 has been received by the local planning authority.
"The Inspector has upheld the council’s enforcement notice (with some changes made including compliance period)."
