Nigel Farage is planning to transform his seaside property with a makeover costing an estimated £700,000, after receiving a £5 million gift from his crypto billionaire friend.
The Reform UK leader has received approval to redevelop the house in Greatstone, Romney Marsh, which could turn the “dilapidated” £575,000 house into a “substantial contemporary coastal home” worth up to £1.5million.
Plans include building a sizable extension, with the property also due to have four bedrooms, a sea view balcony featuring glazed privacy screens, and no fewer than six toilets.
Planning documents seen by The Mirror show permission was granted by Folkestone and Hythe District Council in November.
Mr Farage is being investigated by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner over the multimillion pound gift from Thai-based donor Christopher Harborne in April 2024, which he has claimed was for security.
Labour's Chair Anna Turley said: “Nigel Farage’s finances get murkier as each day passes.
“He said the £5 million was for security and 'wasn’t political in any sense at all'. Then he said it was a reward for Brexit. He needs to be open and honest as to whether any of it has gone directly or indirectly towards his private property interests."
Mr Farage has hailed Greatstone, which is on the Kent coast, as a “super place” which will “attract many people in the coming years”.
His company Thorn in the Side Ltd purchased the property in March 2023 for £575,000, with the renovation works expected to cost up to £700,000.
Once completed, the property could be worth “comfortably in excess of £1 million and potentially in the region of £1.25 million to £1.5 million”, according to a property expert.
Mr Farage had earlier been granted approval to demolish the property and build a new three-storey house, after an initial application in May 2024 - just weeks after receiving the gift from Mr Harborne.
The Reform leader is being probed over whether he fell foul of Commons rules by not declaring the £5million from Mr Harborne, with Reform claiming it was “a personal, unconditional gift” with no rules broken.
Mr Farage purchased a £1.4 million property in Surrey a month after receiving Mr Harborne’s gift.
Reform UK have said the offer and purchase process started before the gift, and a spokesperson for Mr Farage said that he paid for it using his fee from appearing on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.
Questioned on the plans for the Greatstone property, a spokesperson for Mr Farage told the Mirror: “Work on the first planning application began in November 2023, when an architect was first appointed - a long time before the unconditional gift was made.
“The second application related to more modest plans than those originally proposed. No building work has even commenced on the property in question.”
