Omaze's £6m Blakeney home prize winner still doesn't own it
Unresolved planning breaches are holding up the transfer
The winner of a £6 million home on the Norfolk coast is still waiting to receive the keys as unresolved planning breaches are holding up the transfer.
Former Miss Wales finalist Vicky Curtis-Cresswell said winning the luxury property in Blakeney three months ago in an Omaze competition had “changed her life forever”.
But her plans to sell the multi-million pound mansion are currently in limbo after an investigation discovered the Larkfields property has been built differently from the approved plans.
The firm, which buys luxury properties as prizes for competitions to raise money for charity, has promised it will resolve a series of planning breaches – and pay any costs involved – before ownership is transferred.
But it may be some time before the 38-year-old from South Wales finally gets to enjoy her riches, as Omaze could be facing a lengthy planning wrangle with North Norfolk District Council.
It is in the process of submitting a retrospective planning application, which will seek to gain permission for any building work that did not previously have it.
Details of the issues discovered following a council investigation are yet to be revealed publicly.
But an inspection of planning documents and photographs of the property appears to show it has been built larger than permitted.
The original approved ground floor plans for the home in Blakeney (Image: North Norfolk District Council)
Other potential breaches include a tennis court and swimming pool, which also do not appear to have gained planning permission.
Omaze said the planning discrepancies had not been revealed during checks and surveys of the property before it purchased it.
An Omaze spokesman said: “Omaze continues to work with North Norfolk District Council in relation to recommendations made regarding the property in Norfolk.
“Omaze has submitted a pre-application to the council and is submitting a retrospective planning application.
“Omaze will transfer ownership of the property to the winner once all planning matters are resolved.”
To remedy the problems, NNDC issued a series of recommendations that Omaze needs to take.
An NNDC spokeswoman said: “At present we are waiting for an application to be submitted by the owners to try and regularise the current breaches of planning control.
“We are expecting an application to be submitted by the end of this month.”
However, there is no guarantee Omaze will be granted retrospective permission for the breaches.
The application could be refused, which may result in the council taking enforcement action against Omaze to force it to make changes.
If this happened, Larkfields could face a similar fate to the Arcady – a luxury home built by a West End producer in Cley.
Owner Adam Speigel has had to rebuild his home after a lengthy planning dispute sparked after it was built larger than the approved designs.
The debacle has likely cost him millions of pounds to rectify the problems.
However, throughout the investigation, Omaze has reassured the public that any prize winner would not face any potential costs related to the planning issues.
Larkfields, an impressive three-bed home built to resemble the luxury mansions found in the exclusive Hamptons area in New York, was billed as Omaze’s biggest ever prize draw.
It raised millions of pounds for Comic Relief.
But the discovery of the planning breaches overshadowed the high-profile competition, which was held for Red Nose Day.
Omaze initially intended to announce the winner live on BBC One, but this was later dropped after the revelations of the planning breaches.
The for-profit company was founded in the US and provides at least 17pc of the money raised through its prize draws to charities