Builders working on Harry Styles’ mega-mansion in north London have discovered dangerous invasive weeds in the garden of the historic home.
The pop star, 32, has already begun renovations combining two historic Hampstead homes into one jaw-dropping pad, complete with four bedrooms, a gym, cinema, art gallery and staff quarters.
The project was expected to take two years to complete, with Harry aiming to finish the work by October 2027.
Experts have now discovered four types of invasive weed at one of the properties, which Harry bought for £6.25million in June 2024.
Since then, the garden has run wild.
A new report shows there are nearly 25 square metres of weeds at the house, which can cause structural damage to buildings, destroy gardens and kill off flowers, release toxins and even fatally poison animals.
Harry’s team have found four types – Buddleia, Horsetail, Montbretia and Rhododendron ponticum – but the latter two, despite their hazards, are legislated species under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, which makes them even trickier to remove.
The situation has become so serious that specialists now have to excavate seven metres below the surface to remove the weeds and set up isolation zones.
Then the garden pests have to be disposed of at specially licensed landfill facilities.
The issues have arisen from an Invasive Weeds Management Plan submitted to the council for approval by the firm Environment Controls.
The report states: ‘The vast majority of invasive weeds’ underground plant elements (roots, rhizome, corms, tubers or seed banks – as applicable to the target weeds in question) is present under and within 3m of the plants above ground visible growth area. However, some roots and seed banks can travel much further than this.
‘A 7m zone is therefore given as a safe exclusion zone where any ground disturbance works outside the area are not likely to encounter the underground propagules of these plants.’
Planting these sorts of weeds at home or in the wild is illegal and can even result in fines and a prison sentence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
In the case of all four types of weeds that have been found in Harry’s yard, they can have disastrous consequences for the homeowner.
A property website warned of horsetail as ‘the deadly invasive plant that’s currently infesting UK property and land’ – and it has the toxicity to kill livestock and horses.
While the Woodland Trust was so concerned about the Rhododendron type that they sent out a press release headlined ‘Rhododendron is destroying our native wildlife’.
Harry is combining two properties together, which will have four bedrooms, a gym, art gallery, cinema and staff quarters.
A stand-alone pad adjacent to these two properties is being turned into a guest house and all the gardens and driveways will be amalgamated into one mega-compound.
The star’s plans received objections for being ‘out of scale’ and there were concerns by one neighbour over the loss of light, but these were dismissed by the planning officer.
The area is teeming with wildlife and one survey detected a feral pigeon’s nest, bat emergence from the buildings and a hole used by fox and other small mammals, which will have to be delicately covered.
If a bat is found to be roosting, builders have to immediately stop and Harry has to apply for a bat licence from Natural England.
