Jamie Oliver forced to split huge 10-bed mansion in Primrose Hill into two houses after it failed to sell

Selling up: Jamie Oliver is rebuilding a wall he knocked down in his family home last year
John Stillwell/PA

Big is no longer beautiful in London’s stumbling property market — just six years after Jamie Oliver spent a fortune creating one huge 10-bedroom home in Primrose Hill out of two terrace houses by knocking through the party walls, he is getting ready to send the builders back in.

This time he wants them to restore the dividing walls brick by brick — after the house failed to secure a buyer during the six months it was on the market priced at just under £12 million.

His drastic action comes as stamp duty rises and foreign buyers’ nervousness about Brexit bring an end to mansion mania.

Agents say his scheme is likely to be the start of a trend as it becomes harder than ever to shift the colossal trophy residences that were being snapped up just two years ago.

Trend: Jamie Oliver’s house in Primrose Hill was created out of two properties
Jenny Goodall

Home buying agent Henry Pryor said: “There is not a lot going on at the top end of the market, but there is still plenty of money in the middle market and in particular there is demand for family homes.

“That is where the sweet spot is. People are able to afford them because of the equity in their existing homes. They are still able to borrow and they are still in secure roles. The very top end is just too difficult. I think Jamie Oliver’s being very sensible and I think we will see more of that.”

Jamie with wife Jools Oliver
Getty

Camden councillors approved Oliver’s plans last week and his U-turn has been welcomed by residents in Primrose Hill who campaigned fiercely against the original scheme to merge two properties. It followed similar knock-throughs by former Monty Python star Michael Palin and actress Helena Bonham-Carter.

Richard Simpson, chairman of Primrose Hill Conservation Area Advisory Committee, said he hoped Oliver’s de-cision would signal an end to knocking “already gigantic” houses into one.

“When you are facing a real housing crisis for quite a large number of people in London, it’s really very offensive for people to do this sort of thing. We were very upset,” he said.

“We looked at the new application and were perfectly happy. It is good this unfortunate episode is now over. It would be good if this sets a bit of a pattern.” Oliver bought the two Italianate-style adjoining villas for a total of £6.5 million in the mid-2000s. He spent hundreds of thousands of pounds converting them into a single five-storey double-fronted house in 2010. It has 10 bedrooms, three reception room, three kitchens and six bathrooms, with two basement flats below.

The chef put the property, described by estate agents as having “ample lateral space and extensive views over Primrose Hill Park”, on the market in February, but struggled to find a buyer.

A planning application lodged with Camden shows his “two from one” conversion will require restoration of a disused front door, rebuilding of internal walls that were previously knocked through, and a new brick wall to divide the two gardens.

Agents estimate that each individual house could sell for between £5 million and £6 million and a planned single basement flat could fetch £2 million.

Oliver has since bought a 17th-century Grade II-listed mansion in Highgate for himself and wife Jools, 41, and their children Poppy, 14, Daisy, 12, Petal, six, Buddy, five, and their 10-day old son.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT