Ed Sheeran spends $5 million to buy all neighbours' homes after they complained about noise and building work at his sprawling estate
Popstar Ed Sheeran has further expanded his $4.5 million 'mini-village' in his town of Suffolk by buying the home of a neighbor for $1.1 million after she complained "enough is enough" about his building work.
The singer's growing domestic empire, which is called 'Sheeranville' started in 2012 when he bought a modern farmhouse in Framlingham, Suffolk, the town where he grew up.
Since that property, Sheeran has bought four neighboring homes. He made the last purchase in the month of April – the home of next-door neighbor Sharon Jest, who had objected to his plan of building a treehouse and a 32 feet chapel, reports The Sun. She had insisted "enough is enough" after he submitted plans for the chapel and also built a pub and a wildlife pond, which locals suspect is being used as a swimming pool.
As in 2019, Sheeran is estimated to be $110 million. He grew up in the town and met Cherry Seaborn, his wife at Thomas Mills High School.
In 2017, the singer had objected to his neighbors' plans to build two homes in a paddock close to "Sheeranville". Since then, there have been a series of objections from neighbors against his own plans.
A planning consultant had written to Suffolk Coastal District Council on behalf of the star arguing that the paddock home proposal would "extend the village in an unplanned and superficial way into the countryside".
Tony Robinson was one of the seven neighbors who had objected to the singer's plans of building an Anglo-Saxon style chapel, where he wanted to marry his childhood sweetheart Cherry. Sheeran, however, argued that the chapel was necessary as some of his guests had "high profiles" and there was a need for "discretion" which his local church could not provide.
Robinson pointed out that building it would disturb the protected species great crested newts.
In his complaint, he wrote that Sheeran wanted to "satisfy the needs of the spiritual world" while overlooking his "obligations to the living world, particularly that of protected species".
And in her objection, Jest wrote there had been and "continues to be significant development of this site". She added that while neighbors have been "accepting", the chapel application meant that "enough was enough".
The objections resulted in the chapel plans being ditched and the star married Cherry in the local church.
The singer's home, a farmhouse with surrounding lane, was bought in June 2012 for $1.1 million That very year, he bought a 16th-Century Grade II listed house next door for $557,147. He then bought the four-bedroom detached home in front of his farmhouse for $1.14 million in September 2016. In October 2017, he purchased the bungalow on the other side of his driveway for $650,005.
At that time in 2013, Jest complained to the local council that his plans for a treehouse would "rise above the existing hedge and look directly into our property".
While he initially withdrew the plan, he submitted them again the following year and they were passed.
In 2017, he was granted permission to build a wildlife pond. He instead installed a jetty and steps, forcing neighbors to suspect that it was more for the star's use than for newts and frogs. Robinson complained, saying the pond was more for a "wild lifestyle" than actual "wildlife". His other neighbors Kenny and Carol Cattee complained as well saying that there was "loud music being played" near the pond and suspected that the pond was actually for swimming.
In October 2018, the council allowed him to keep the additions to his pond. However, last weekend it was revealed that he had put up a wall of hay bales around the pond.
In June, he won a battle to keep a 16 feet plaque on a barn he had converted into a pub – he had put it up without permission. While he was initially ordered to remove the sign outside the pub (which he had named The Lancaster Lock), planning bosses later reversed their decision.
Robert Scrimgeour, a council planning officer, said, "The signage does not cause me any concern and I judge that there is no harm arising from them that would adversely affect the character of the farmhouse."
In 2017, he applied for planning permission to create the private pub. It comes with underground rooms and a passage to the main house. Although the bar had to be restored with bricks and tiles, it was given the go-ahead.