Sarah Beeny is set to WIN eight-year planning row over her mini-Downton Abbey after being ordered to tear it down as council U-turns

Published: 00:30, 13 July 2026 | Updated: 00:36, 13 July 2026 English presenter and entrepreneur Sarah Beeny looks set to finally win an eight-year planning row over an 'illegal' farmhouse at her Somerset estate, nicknamed 'mini-Downton Abbey'.  The Property Ladder star was told to tear down the outbuilding she built, but she might now get to keep it after the council planning chair has given the green light in a dramatic U-turn.  Ms Beeny submitted a fresh planning application in April to keep the building despite being refused permission - and failing on appeal.  Now Somerset Council have done a 180 on the issue, with the planning chair recommending that Beeny and husband Graham Swift are allowed to keep the building.  The couple have even been praised by the chair, who said the farmhouse 'provides ecological and sustainability benefits’.  The bitter row began not long after they purchased their rural estate in Stoney Stoke, Somerset, for £3million in 2018 and began a huge overhaul - much to the anger of local residents and, until now, the council.  In 2020, they agreed to knock down the original 1970s farmhouse - which featured on her Channel Four show, New Life in the Country.  But four years later the building was not knocked down but rather extended - without planning permission.  Presenter Sarah Beeny (pictured, centre, with her family) might be finally coming to the end of an eight-year planning row  Four years after agreeing to knock down an original 1970s farmhouse, Ms Beeny went ahead with extending the building without permission instead They were refused retrospective approval in September 2024, and lost a Planning Inspectorate appeal in February last year.  The couple were told to tear the building down, but Ms Beeny's planning team - Avalon Planning & Heritage - found a loophole.  As they won approval to build five new dwellings converted from agricultural buildings, they submitted a new planning application stating that if they only converted four - not five - barns, then they could keep the original farmhouse.  Now, the Chair of Planning South (Somerset) Jason Baker has written to the council planning team urging the application to be given the green light through ‘delegated powers’ - meaning a planning officer could decide its fate. Mr Baker wrote: 'I can confirm that I am satisfied for the application to be determined under delegated powers, as the application is considered acceptable as there is now a fallback position in that prior approval has already been granted for five new dwellings on the farm which can be implemented. 'The proposal includes a legal agreement limiting approved development at Stokeford Farm by effectively surrendering one of the five approved dwellings in lieu of retaining the farmhouse which is considered acceptable.' In return for approving the scheme, Avalon Planning & Heritage has drafted a new Section 106 agreement, which they say would give the council more control over future planning applications and 'restrict the amount of development at Stokeford Farm to that which either already exists or benefits from consent’. They argue the new plan fits in with the council housing supply strategy - preserving a building is better than knocking it down. The Property Ladder host Sarah Beeny (pictured) has been fighting a long-running battle with local residents and Somerset Council over her 'mini-Downton Abbey home' Neighbour Kevin Flint, 73, a retired IT worker, said the unauthorised buildings should be torn down The documents state: 'As such the benefits of retaining an existing dwelling in the wider context of both a local and national housing deficit should prevail in the planning balance here'. They also argue on climate change grounds that to demolish the structure would ‘offer a significant whole life carbon savings of up to 36 per cent, when compared to the alternative of demolishing the existing building.’ Mr Baker agreed and praised Ms Beeny for benefiting the environment, saying: 'Furthermore, the retention of the farmhouse provides ecological and sustainability benefits when considering embodied carbon and biodiversity matters.  'The landscaping scheme is considered acceptable, and the proposal does not present any adverse impacts upon all other material planning considerations.’ This would be a remarkable victory for Ms Beeny after being in discussions with the council for the last 18 months regarding its demolition and, in December, officials said that they’d met with Ms Beeny and Mr Swift at their home, adding: 'As a result of this meeting, a clear list of actions and a timetable for implementing these actions has been agreed.’  While the district council, which makes the final decision, looks likely to give it the thumbs up, Shepton Montague Parish Council are still furious that the farmhouse remains standing and have stood firm with its objection.  The objection also berates the district council for their U-turn and said it undermined their ‘credibility and effectiveness'.  It read: 'Councillors expressed disappointment at the continued failure of the applicants to observe Condition 13 of planning application, requiring the demolition of the existing dwelling and outbuildings within three months of the date of first occupation of the new dwelling - they also expressed dismay at the continued failure of the Local Planning Authority to enforce this condition.  Ms Beeny infuriated locals by putting in a number of planning applications to overhaul her estate, with some likening her to Captain Tom Moore's daughter, Hannah, who built an illegal spa complex at her Bedfordshire house 'It was noted that the case for removing Condition 13 had been framed in different ways at different times, and that the offer to build additional housing units if Condition 13 were removed does not seem appropriate. 'It was resolved to recommend that the application be refused and condition 13 of application be enforced, and it was noted that the failure of the Local Planning Authority to enforce compliance with Planning law undermines the Authority's credibility and effectiveness, and that of the Planning system itself.' Ms Beeny had put in numerous planning applications, to the point that one local compared her to Captain Tom Moore’s daughter. Hannah Ingram-Moore built an illegal spa complex at her house in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire, claiming it was partly being used by her late father’s charity, but the council ordered her to tear it down. Neighbour Kevin Flint said: 'It's created a lot of bad feeling in the village. 'She was given permission to build the new house on condition she knocked down the old one which she extended and refurbished, it's just not on. 'She thinks she can move down here and ride roughshod over everybody but it's not going to happen. 'I think the fair thing would be for anything unauthorised on the site to be demolished like Captain Tom's daughter.'