Lord Alan Sugar has been denied permission for an 'inappropriate' entrance at his £8.5million mansion.
The 76-year-old Apprentice host and business mogul had applied to the local authority for a new gated entrance and driveway at his huge property in Chigwell, Essex. But Epping Forest District Council have turned down his request, claiming it would be an 'inappropriate' and 'harmful' intrusion on a green belt area.
According to the MailOnline, the new entrance would have included 7ft-high painted metal gates, and would have replaced an existing set which he described as "no longer considered suitable nor fit for purpose". It would have been accompanied by a garden room outbuilding that would house a cinema and games room. But in a report, council officers voiced their fears that Lord Sugar would use the new structure as 'a separate dwelling' on his land - and said his home had already been 'significantly extended'.
The decision is the Sugar family's latest disappointment at the 112-year-old mansion. In 2021, a proposal submitted in his daughter Louise's name would have seen the entire house demolished and rebuilt to a bigger scale, but this was also denied on the grounds of Metropolitan Green Belt protection. Louise is understood to have taken over ownership of the property for £8.5 million without a mortgage in 2021.
Lord Sugar bought the five-bed home, which is set in three acres of lush parkland, for a now-modest sum of £800,000 in 1981. He also owns a beachfront property in Marbella, Spain, and previously had another mansion in Boca Raton, Florida, which he sold in 2015 for $6.8million (£5,400,000).
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In 1968, Sir Alan Sugar founded electronics importer and exporter Amstrad - standing for 'Alan Michael Sugar Trading'. The company then moved into manufacturing in 1970 and became successful after using injection-moulding techniques to make hi-fi turntable covers, which were much cheaper than those made with vacuum-forming. From there Amstrad began making amplifiers and tuners, and listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1980.
He is perhaps now best known for taking the central role in the BBC's hit reality show The Apprentice, which he has starred in for more than 18 years. In 2007, Sugar sold his remaining interest in Amstrad in a deal to BSkyB for £125million. He's also made his £1.21billion fortune through a number of other ventures, including being the part-owner of Tottenham Hotspur from 1991 to 2001. He sold his stake in the football club in 2007 for £25million. He's considered to be the 138th-richest person in the UK.
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