‘World’s Most Expensive Bungalow’ Flattened After Planning Battle
15th June 2026
A multi-millionaire who bought a £13.5m home on Sandbanks, the exclusive peninsula in Poole Harbour, Dorset, has knocked it down to build an eco-mansion.
Tom Glanfield paid the record price for any property on Sandbanks in 2023. It became known as “the most expensive bungalow in the world” at £4,640 per square foot – a valuation equivalent to luxury homes in central Hong Kong or Monaco.
Seeing the potential of the substantial harbourside plot, he sought planning permission to demolish the run-down Edwardian bungalow, which had been in the same family’s ownership for 117 years.
However, the property sat within a conservation area and had been nominated to be added to the local heritage list.
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council refused Mr Glanfield’s initial application to demolish it and put a new five-bedroom home in its place.
Government ruins everything it touches. The British local council planning offices are even worse than NIMBY zoning authorities in the U.S., and almost as bad as fascist Home Owner Associations. Run away! Run away!