Ed Sheeran has upset neighbours over plans to convert two historic seaside cottages into a mega coastal home.
The 34-year-old snapped up the two three-bedroom 19th century terraced houses for a combined £1.95million.
The houses are situated in a strict conservation area along the Suffolk coast in what is quickly becoming one of the country’s trendiest seaside areas.
Now the Grammy winning singer has had a planning application to create his own ‘beach paradise’ accepted by East Suffolk Council.
Sheeran plans to knock through a parting wall to create a larger four-bed house.
But one neighbour complained the village was in critical need of more two and three bedroom homes amid a housing shortage.
The resident said: ‘It is concerning to see this proposal to convert two 3-bedroomed houses into one 4-bedroomed household. The application describes this as a permanent alteration to the two properties.’
Father-of-two Sheeran also owns a huge Suffolk estate dubbed ‘Sheeranville’ that boasts a pub, tree house, swimming pool, underground music room and a cinema with 35ft by 20ft screen.
The star has around 27 properties in an impressive property portfolio worth a staggering £70million – including flats in Covent Garden, three houses in Chiswick and a fisherman’s cottage in Dungeness in Kent.
A local said more than 60 per cent of people who live in village are in favour of more small family homes being built – and claimed it has a lower percentage of smaller properties compared to the average in both Suffolk and England.
They continued: ‘This position has not changed in the interim, on the contrary there are plans elsewhere in the village to demolish another 3-bedroomed dwelling to replace it with a 5-bedroomed house, losing a further smaller home in the process.
‘The proposal will reduce the housing stock of small family homes. Could the Planning Department please consider the impact of this proposal in a village which has fewer than 340 households.’
However, the planning officer dismissed these fears stating that the borough was already delivering housing above its target.
The report from the planning officer said: ‘The inspector further found that the loss of a single dwelling would not materially affect the Council’s ability to boost the supply of housing, nor would it have a harmful effect on the supply of housing in the borough and therefore would not conflict with the development plan as a whole.
‘Part of the inspector’s consideration in reaching the conclusion that no planning consequences of significance would occur was an assessment of the Council’s current housing delivery, which was above targets.’
Sheeran and his wife Cherry Seaborn didn’t need full planning permission but a certificate of lawful development, which bypasses full planning permission if it meets certain criteria.
The musician had previously been given full planning permission to demolish a two-storey rear extension, which his architects said was ‘poorly constructed’ and the replacement would be in keeping with the neighbouring property’s extension.
The local parish council objected to the plan: ‘subject to an assessment investigating the detrimental impact on the neighbouring properties being satisfactorily completed’.
It was concerned about the neighbours’ lack of privacy and suggested ‘half or fully frosted windows’, which was a condition of East Suffolk Council giving approval.
This will be Sheeran’s second home in Suffolk – which is where he grew up.
The Shape of You hitmaker has been involved in several legal disputes over his rights and his neighbours’ rights to expand their respective landmasses.
Sheeran revealed earlier this year that he was relocating to America with his family while on tour.
He recently snapped up a sprawling £9million home in New York, but for now it is believed he spends the majority of his time in Suffolk with wife and their daughters, Lyra, five, and Jupiter, three.
