Yahoo News Escape to the Country couple’s £300k house loses electricity after ‘freehold dispute’
A house that appeared on Escape to the Country is at the centre of a row between neighbours after the property was left with no electricity.
Kevin Sheppard and Julie Waters bought an old coach house in the centre of Salisbury, Wilts, 15 years ago but claim their dream home, which appeared on the BBC One show, has turned into a “nightmare”.
They bought the semi-derelict coach house for £38,000 in 2008 before building a two-bedroom house in its place now thought to be worth £300,000, which they have since let out.
But their property has now been left without any power because it is situated on an island-like freehold with no access rights over the separate surrounding freehold, whose owners are not willing to give access over their land, it has been claimed.
Lights went out in December
The couple are in a dispute with Peter Jennings, a former Army officer and landlord, who owns the four flats next door to the coach house, situated in a grand Edwardian house, two of which had been owned by Mr Sheppard and Ms Waters until last December.
The day after they sold the flats next door, Mr Sheppard and Ms Waters claim that the lights went out in their coach house and it has been without power since, leaving them unable to sell it.
Mr Jennings, a married father of four, told The Telegraph this is because he owns the land between their property and the road where the mains are located, and that the couple had previously powered their house through one of the flats, which he now owns.
He claims their property was granted planning permission from the local authority but that the owners of the coach house never had rights for utilities or access through his freehold, which he says he bought to protect his family home from overdevelopment.
‘We are stuck in a nightmare’
Mr Sheppard and Ms Waters say they sought to sell the property on Escape to the Country last year, where it was listed for £295,000 as a desirable home. They later sold the house for £277,000 at auction but the buyer pulled out.
Pictures show posters on the coach house’s windows warning “buyer beware – no rights to utility services ... no parking rights, boundary dispute, no electricity” and “CCTV in operation 24 hours/day”.
Mr Sheppard, 58, who manufactures lenses for a local optician, told the Mailonline: “It has taken over our lives for such a long time.”
Mrs Waters, who has also reportedly unsuccessfully tried to power the property with solar panels, said: “We are stuck in a nightmare – we can’t live in our house, no one else can either.”
Scottish and Southern Energy Networks, which runs the mains there, said it “has been aware of this situation since the residents concerned made contact with us several years ago with their request for a connection to our network”.
A spokesman added: “The property in question used to have access to a private electricity supply, and even before the arrangement which provided this came to an end, we have been open to facilitating a potential solution that’s in the interests of all parties – and that remains the case.”
