Red-and-white striped townhouse owner sues solicitors over row

A PROPERTY developer who angered some of her neighbours by painting her London townhouse in red and white stripes is suing her former solicitors, who she blames for causing her to become embroiled in a planning row.

Zipporah Lisle-mainwaring, 72, bought the property in Kensington in 2012 and planned to convert it from office use to a luxury home. But her plans were rejected by Kensington and Chelsea council, amid objections to the scheme from neighbours.

A bitter five-year planning battle ensued, during which Ms Lisle-mainwaring gained worldwide attention by painting the house in candy-cane colours in 2015. The 72-year- old finally won permission to build a residential home on the site in 2018.

However, Ms Lisle-mainwaring has now launched a claim for up to £4.6 million in damages from her former solicitors, Charles Russell Speechlys LLP.

The developer claims lawyers who acted for her during the purchase should have told her she was very unlikely to gain planning permission due to the council’s policy of protecting office space. She claims she would have aborted her purchase of the property had she obtained specialist planning advice. In papers lodged at the High Court, she is suing the firm for £3.6 million, the amount she claims to have overpaid for the property because she was not told of the policy, or £4.6 million in losses due to the fight and delay in getting the work done, plus interest.

However, the solicitors deny any negligence and claim that Mrs Lisle-mainwaring knew she was taking a “big gamble” buying a property without residential use permission – but that it paid off, because she eventually got that permission.