Tip Of The Iceberg?

The controversy around basement extensions continues. In the same month that barristers' Chambers Lincolns Inn proposed a subterranean facility and JCB announced a bespoke basements digger, a Private Members' Bill has been introduced to allow local planning authorities to restrict basement excavations underneath or adjacent to residential properties.

The Bill is being promoted by Karen Buck, MP for Westminster North, to:

• Alleviate the disruption suffered by neighbours during the construction of so-called "iceberg" basements which according to Buck involve "digging down several levels and hundreds of feet out for home gyms and spas, cinemas and gun rooms, and dance floors and the almost mandatory pools"; and