Politicians have shot down a man’s bid to save himself from potentially having to tear down two brand new semi-detached family houses.
The homes in Berkhamsted’s Bank Mill deviated so much from planning permission that Dacorum Borough Council said they must go.
Unless an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate is successful, this means they will have to be torn down within three months.
A recent meeting of the council’s development control committee heard that this would have ‘devastating financial consequences’ on the business and family of the owner of the homes.
He applied to reduce the mass and bulk of the roof and make the homes fit in better with the area.
But councillors stuck by their original decision, not wanting to send ‘the wrong message’ to developers who flout planning laws.
Councillor Fiona Macdonald said: “I have no sympathy whatsoever.”