Advertisement

Owner of mountain villa built on 26-storey tower block ordered to leave penthouse property - because he made it without planning permission

Ambitious professor Zhang Lin spent six years constructing the bizarre Beijing tower block property, which looks like it's been carved into the side of a mountain

Owner of mountain villa built on 26-storey tower block ordered to leave penthouse property - because he made it without planning permission

The owner of a fake mountaintop villa built on top of a 26-storey tower block has been ordered to leave the bizarre property, Chinese officials said today.

Ambitious professor Zhang Lin spent six years constructing the penthouse villa on top of a high rise building in Beijing.

But after complaints that he built the sprawling dream villa without planning permission, Mr Zhang has been ordered to leave the property within 15 days.

The faux-mountaintop penthouse covers 1,000 square metres, but has, perhaps understandably, not been too well received by his neighbours underneath.

Several have complained that his extensive building work has caused leaks and cracks in their homes, and there are even concerns that the huge structure could make the block collapse.


One resident complained of being constantly flooded, while another described Mr Lin and his building project as a 'menace'.

One unnamed neighbour said: 'This was originally a small attic when he bought it. But he tore that down and built this mountain on top of us.'

Chinese officials have given Mr Zhang 15 days to vacate the residence in the city's west district of Haidian - but they face a major issue.

'The only thing now for us is that we can't find the owner,' said the Beijing City Enforcement Bureau's Chen Yu told reporters.

'We have issued a lot of summonses, but he never came to us to be investigated.'