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A furious homeowner claims low-flying planes on a Heathrow flight path are damaging his £3 million Georgian mansion.
Owner Daljit Bhail, 54, says it is ‘madness’ how his Grade II-listed property is being treated and has accused the airport of ‘abandoning’ the home.
He alleges large gusts of wind caused by aircraft have caused tiles on his roof to be dislodged, and blue ice – frozen sewage leaked mid-flight from plane toilets – had smashed a glass lantern just outside the house.
Mr Bhail says he and guests at his sprawling 18th century 28-room home, which he rents out on Airbnb, are being woken at 3am by aircraft roaring in to land at the airport.
But Heathrow has denied the claims and says it has ‘well-established programmes to protect local buildings from the impacts of airport operation’.
Has YOUR home been damaged along the flight path? Email matt.strudwick@mailonline.co.uk
The map above shows the location of the home and the flight paths for Heathrow airport
‘Vortex strikes’ caused by low-flying planes on a Heathrow flight path are damaging a £3 million Georgian mansion once owned by the founder of the SAS, it has been claimed
Owner Daljit Bhail, 54, says it is ‘madness’ how his Grade II-listed property is being treated and has accused the airport of ‘abandoning’ the home
He alleges large gusts of winds caused by aircraft has caused tiles on his roof to be dislodged
Mr Bhail has lived in the four-acre Georgian property, next to the south runway of terminal five, for almost 25 years after buying it for £600,000.
He says low flying planes over the past three years have caused ‘vortex damage’ – where large gusts of wind from planes have smashed into buildings.
Mr Bhail claims blue ice – frozen sewage leaked mid-flight from plane toilets – smashed a glass lantern just outside the house, which he rents on Airbnb.
The property investor, from Hounslow, London, said: ‘It’s just madness how they treat a listed building and the planes wake me and guests up at 3am.’
And a vortex damaged the roofing of the property, he claims.
He says Heathrow has ‘abandoned’ the house, which boasts an indoor heated swimming pool and basketball court, despite initially agreeing to fix the damage – a claim Heathrow airport denies.
It is understood the airport paid for a contractor to visit to do repair work for the vortex damage, but they were unable to continue due to a disagreement with Mr Bhail.
A broken skylight inside Mr Bhail’s property, which he claims to have been caused by ice falling from low-flying planes
He says low flying planes over the past three years have caused ‘vortex damage’ – where large gusts of wind from planes have smashed into the buildings
Mr Bhail says there has been scaffolding left for five months, and Heathrow haven’t sent anyone else back to finish the job
Mr Bhail said: ‘It’s a stand off – they sent an assessor out who confirmed the house had been hit by a vortex strike, and said they would nail down the tiles but then they said they couldn’t as it’s a listed building.’
He claims Heathrow then agreed to have someone come out to secure the roof in April. But Mr Bhail alleges the workman did a ‘shoddy job’ and left nails everywhere as well as putting his foot through the ceiling.
Pictures and videos show large nails sticking out of the walls in the loft.
Since then, Mr Bhail says there has been scaffolding left for five months, and Heathrow haven’t sent anyone else to finish the job.
‘The scaffolding now has ivy growing up it it’s been there so long,’ he said,
He says it is also costing him money, as he lets out the property on Airbnb, but can’t attract guests due to safety concerns and scaffolding.
Mr Bhail said: ‘Sometimes there is less than a minute gap between planes flying overhead.
Mr Bhail said he is currently in a ‘stand off’ with Heathrow and claims they said ‘they would nail down the tiles but then they said they couldn’t as it’s a listed building’
He says it is also costing him money, as he lets out the property on Airbnb, but can’t attract guests due to safety concerns and scaffolding
Mr Bhail has lived in the four-acre Georgian property, next to the south runway of terminal five, for almost 25 years after buying it for £600,000
‘It’s not just the damage – it’s really loud and they shouldn’t be flying that low.
‘If ice can fall off and go through a double screen window, which it has, what happens if someone is underneath?
‘It’s extremely dangerous!’
A Heathrow spokesman said: ‘We have well-established programmes to protect local buildings from the impacts of airport operations, including preventative works and noise insulation.
‘In the rare cases where a property is damaged, we work with specialist contractors who will assess the most suitable repair, at no cost to the resident.’