David and Victoria Beckham accused of 'drip-feeding' development of £6m Cotswold home by furious neighbours

The famous duo bought the property in the Cotswolds in 2016 for £6.1m and have continued to convert the Grade-II listed country house
Heather Carrick
By Heather Carrick
1st Sep 2023, 9:01pm
David and Victoria Beckham have been accused by neighbours of "drip-feeding" the development of a £6m property in the Cotswolds. (Credit: AFP via Getty Images)David and Victoria Beckham have been accused by neighbours of "drip-feeding" the development of a £6m property in the Cotswolds. (Credit: AFP via Getty Images)
David and Victoria Beckham have been accused by neighbours of "drip-feeding" the development of a £6m property in the Cotswolds. (Credit: AFP via Getty Images)

David and Victoria Beckham have been accused of "drip-feeding" the residential development of their £6 million Cotswold property by furious neighbours.

The famous duo bought the Grade-II listed country house at Maplewood Barn, near Great Tew for £6,150,000 in 2016. Throughout the years, the property have been upgraded to include new structures including a driveway and gates, an additional garage outbuilding, a tennis court, a treehouse, a security hut, an extension to the garage outbuilding and a landscaped pond.

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A new planning application has been submitted by the Beckhams to Oxfordshire County Council to convert the roof space in an outbuilding into a home office space. The application for the structure, which is already being used as a garden store, details "minor alterations" to the existing structure and that the changes would have "no impact on neighbouring properties". This includes adding new conservation skylights and access via a Tallet staircase.

However neighbours have hit out at the newest application, saying that the newest move was making the quiet community "residential by the back door".

David and Victoria Beckham have made a new planning application to convert an outbuilding on their £6m Cotswolds property into a home office. (Credit: Instant Landscapes SWNS)David and Victoria Beckham have made a new planning application to convert an outbuilding on their £6m Cotswolds property into a home office. (Credit: Instant Landscapes SWNS)
David and Victoria Beckham have made a new planning application to convert an outbuilding on their £6m Cotswolds property into a home office. (Credit: Instant Landscapes SWNS)

One neighbour, who has lodged a complaint against the application, said: "Many people locally indicated to West Oxfordshire Council the increase in the residential curtilage of this property will see an ever-increasing number of buildings and to date we have all been proved right."

Those in the local community had already accused the couple of "bringing suburbia" to the countryside with their previous development projects on the property. Another furious neigh said at the time that he "wouldn't be surprised if the celebrity couple applied for a funfair ride to be installed in the garden".

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The Beckhams have already withdrawn a previous application to build a 250-meter second access road into their home. Before being scrapped, the road was proposed to help access an allotment and glasshouse structure being built on the property.

Representatives of the Beckhams have been contacted for comment.

Related topics:David BeckhamNeighboursCommunity

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