Ben Shephard sells his Richmond home for £5.3million

This Morning star Ben Shephard has sold his beautiful house in Richmond for £5.3million after buying it for £2.95million.

The TV presenter, 50, who earns around £550,000-a-year for his ITV role, purchased the impressive property in 2016 and lived there with his wife Annie and sons Jack and Sam.

The four-bedroom home has an incredible sprawling garden, a large open plan kitchen, sitting room, and dining area.

The stunning space has a rustic farmhouse theme to it with a large wooden dining table and eight grey padded chairs.

The family have now upgraded to a gorgeous new home, which cost £3.5million and was formerly the official residence of a bishop.

He purchased the huge new property in an idyllic riverside setting in west London after upgrading from his former home nearby.

But there’s a hitch that comes with his dream home which has left Ben in something of a pickle: despite its size there is no driveway or back access and the only way in is through a small front gate.

And there is a public footpath right next to the property where passers-by can peer into the garden through a side gate.

The lack of access at the rear is going to make doing any building work to modernise the Grade II listed building difficult to arrange.

A source said: ‘It’s an absolutely beautiful house. But the layout means that if he wants to do any substantive works to alter it – and it does need updating – then he will have problems getting larger materials or the machinery in.

‘The only way in is via a relatively tiny front gate and as it’s listed he’s going to struggle to change the layout to alter that.

‘So good luck to his architect and builder!

‘I suspect that’s why it needs updating – because it’s so difficult to find a way to manage it.

‘But that headache aside, Ben and Annie are thrilled with it.’

‘It’s the only blot on the horizon for them on what is otherwise their dream home so he’s hoping to find some solution.’

Ben was handed a big pay rise when he teamed up with Cat Deeley last year to take over as hosts of This Morning – replacing longtime presenters Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby.

The pair are reportedly each earning around £550,000-a-year to present the programme four days a week.

Now it appears Ben – who is estimated to be worth around £3.6 million – is investing some of the cash in his new pad.

The move is said to have been overseen by wife Annie, a design consultant specialising in interiors and gardens.

She spent a year lovingly transforming the couple’s former home in Richmond into a stunning dream house.

And the couple may see their new house as something of ‘a project’.

There’s plenty of scope to re-style the somewhat staid interiors of the former ecclesiastical residence where a number of rooms downstairs were used as offices and formal reception rooms.

After it went on the market, estate agents were singing the praises of the ‘iconic house’ which is described as being in an ‘unrivalled setting’.

But hinting that there was work to be done, they added that it was ‘waiting to be transformed into a wonderful family home’.

The large detached property, which is thought to be 300 years old, was originally the home of Thomas Twining, who made his fortune in the tea trade after setting up his first tea house in 1706 in Devereux Court near the Strand in London.

It remained the family home for seven generations until artist and social reformer Elizabeth Twining bequeathed the property to the church after her death in 1889.

The house was used as a rather grand vicarage before going on to become the offices and residence for a bishop.

The 10-bedroomed property, which is located in a riverside conservation area, comprises almost 6,000 square feet of accommodation.

Estate agents highlighted how it offered buyers ‘an exceptional opportunity’ after coming on the market ‘for the first time in three centuries’.

The property is set close to the River Thames with a large Grade ll-listed church on one side and an historic park and gardens on the other.

The location is said to have once been ‘favoured by royalty for summer retreats’.

The house is described as having ‘an elegant period façade with an ornate entrance canopy and unique sundial feature’ above the front door.