Billie Faiers and husband Greg Shepherd finally begin grand renovations on their £1.4M Essex home (which could take more than a YEAR!) after planning rows with neighbours forced months of delays

• The couple – who are parents to Nelly, six, and Arthur, three – bought the four-bedroom property for £1.4 million a year ago and will raze it to the ground and construct their own dream five-bedroom home
• Dancing On Ice star Billie has admitted that she’s not speaking to the neighbours at her new property in Brentwood, after they opposed the couple’s plans to demolish the original rundown house 
• According to the planning application, all five bedrooms will be on the first floor with the en-suite master bedroom having a huge dressing room. Three of the other en-suite bedrooms will have walk-in wardrobes
• They’re also adding a two-storey side extension, single extensions to the front and rear, and completely re-landscaping the outside space. The planned work will incompletely transform and modernise the property 

Billie Faiers and her husband Greg Shepherd have finally started grand renovations on their £1.4million Essex home, after planning rows with their new neighbours  forced several months of delays.

The Dancing On Ice star admits that she’s not speaking to the neighbours at her new property in Brentwood, after they opposed the couple’s plans to demolish the original rundown house and replace it with a five-bed palace.

Bridges haven’t been built since they won planning permission in August with 31-year-old Billie saying earlier this month: ‘We’ve not seen anyone. But it’s just not a great start, is it?’

The work begins: Billie Faiers and her husband Greg Shepherd have finally started grand renovations on their £1.4million Essex home, after planning rows with their new neighbours forced several months of delays

She continued of the home, which was constructed in the 1920s: ‘The house is so old, whoever was going to buy it was going to have to renovate.

‘There’s only one neighbour to the side of us and he had a lot of reasons as to why he didn’t want us to go ahead, but it was getting a bit silly in the end.

‘It’s been a very long journey already and it’s about to get even more pressurised once the builders start work.’ 

They bought the four-bedroom property for £1.4 million a year ago and will raze it to the ground and construct their own dream home.

The planned result: A rendition of how the luxe property will look once the year-long project is completed has been unveiled

Grand makeover: The home is currently in rundown condition (left), but the couple plan to turn it into a luxury modern abode

Neighbours: The Dancing On Ice star admits that she’s not speaking to the neighbours at her new property in Brentwood, after they bitterly opposed their plans to demolish the original rundown house and replace it with a five-bed palace

According to the planning application, all five bedrooms will be on the first floor with the en-suite master bedroom having a huge dressing room. Three of the other en-suite bedrooms will have walk-in wardrobes.

Greg, 35, has been allowed to add a ‘man cave’, converting the original garage into a gym and games room, and there will be a play room for their two children Nelly, six, and Arthur, three.

They’re also adding a two-storey side extension, single extensions to the front and rear, and completely re-landscaping the outside space.

Greg has excitedly announced that work was to begin, posting on his Instagram this month: ‘So finally next week after a year trying to get planning permission. Works will begin! Let’s do this! #allthegearnoidea #shepthebuilder.’ 

Not a great start: Bridges haven’t been built since they won planning permission in August with 31-year-old Billie saying earlier this month, ‘We’ve not seen anyone. But it’s just not a great start, is it?’

Home purchase: They bought the four-bedroom property for £1.4 million a year ago and will raze it to the ground and rebuild

Planning: According to the planning application, all five bedrooms will be on the first floor with the en-suite master bedroom having a huge dressing room. Three of the other en-suite bedrooms will have walk-in wardrobes

He shared a photo of himself donning a hi-vis jacket and a construction helmet, ready to get to work.

It comes after Billie previously told MailOnline of her delight at being able to start work on their abode, which they purchased in January of last year.

She said: ‘We’re so pleased and finally got there in the end. They’ve estimated it’ll take a year to complete the renovations, which is very long time but we all know how quick time goes nowadays.

‘We’re living in our current home in the moment and stay here until the work is done.’

The TV stars will demolish the existing garage and conservatory to build a two-storey side extension and a single-storey rear extension.

Modern additions: Greg, 35, has been allowed to add a ‘man cave’, converting the original garage into a gym and games room, and there will be a play room for their two children Nelly, six, and Arthur, three

No stone left unturned: They’re also adding a two-storey side extension, single extensions to the front and rear, and completely re-landscaping the outside space

The abode will also be complete with an in-and-out driveway along with a single-storey front extension and landscape work.

It had been reported that Greg and Billie finally received official permission from Brentwood Borough Council to convert their property into a five-bedroom luxury family home after making a number of changes and compromises.

The official notice stated that ‘in pursuance of the powers conferred on them’ the couple would be permitted to carry out specific work.

According to The Sun, this would allow them to demolish the existing garage to build a two-storey side extension.

Additionally, they would be able to demolish the existing conservatory in order to build a single-storey rear extension. 

Exciting: Earlier this month, Greg revealed work is finally ready to begin on his and wife Billie Faiers’ £1.4million Essex home

The luxury mansion would also be complete with an in-and-out driveway along with a single-storey front extension and landscape work.

The Mummy Diaries stars had been battling with neighbours for months over their renovations plans. However, after reducing the building by a matter of centimetres, renovations were given the green light.

Among the changes that were in the revised plan were to make the height of the planned extension 50 centimetres lower and to ensure their home is further from their neighbours.

In their latest submission, Billie and Greg are quoted as saying: ‘The planning officer confirmed that these now overcome the reasons for refusal on the original application. They therefore recommended that a revised application be submitted.’ 

Delay: The couple had faced setbacks from neighbours to convert their run down 1920s property into a five-bedroom abode

Drama: It comes after the couple celebrated their planning permission milestone as they toasted wine in an Instagram post

Over the moon: Both Billie and Greg celebrated receiving planning permission after a ‘nine month wait’

MailOnline contacted a representative for Billie Faiers for comment at the time.

In a previous rejection response from the council officer’s report it was written of the potential house: ‘It would be the biggest house on the street and the increase in size from the original home would not be acceptable.’

The reports also had concerns about whether the home would be sympathetic to the local area.

The decision notice stated: ‘The proposed extensions when combined would create a development which is excessive in terms of bulk, size, massing, roof design and siting, resulting in overly dominant additions to the existing dwelling and a substantial building out of character and appearance within its context.

Home: Billie and Greg bought a run down £1.4 million 1920s property in Brentwood and submitted plans to turn it into a five-bedroom home over a year-and-a-half-long project 

Now: Billie previously shared a collection of snaps to the couple’s property renovation Instagram account called ‘homewiththesheps’ (current kitchen pictured) 

‘It would unacceptably reduce the spatial quality between properties which is characteristic of the area, to the detriment of local visual amenity.’

It’s been claimed the previous owners were granted permission to build two houses on the land, yet still, the plans for one large home were initially turned down.

The neighbours had expressed concern that the property would be too close to theirs and affect their privacy.

Billie previously admitted that the interior of the sprawling house is ‘old and dated’ and estimated that it will take the pair around a year to completely renovate it.

Elegant inspiration: TV personalities Billie and Greg also posted some inspiration snaps from Jonathan Williams Kitchens 

Details: Their vision includes white cabinets, marble counters and gold handles, as well as marble counter tops with gold taps

The couple revealed that they wanted to start off their journey by showing their followers a look at their current ‘old and dated’ kitchen on their home Instagram ‘homewiththesheps’.

They said they have planned to change the layout of some of the house, to make way for a kitchen extension which will become a kitchen/dining area/soft area, complete with adjoining play room and utility.

Speaking to HELLO!, she said: ‘We got the keys at the end of January but it’s a huge project, a big renovation. We are going in blind because we’ve never done it before and we are starting from scratch.

‘The architect has been in and for what we want to do, it’s going to be at least a year or a year and a half until it is safe for us to live in, so we are going to stay where we are for now.’

Plans: Billie and Greg penned, ‘Hello To all of our new followers❤️ …. Thank you for following us as we begin our new home renovation journey’ on their home Instagram

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