Jon Hunt, founder of Foxtons, has moved up the Rich List – The Sunday Times’s annual examination of the finances of Britain’s most affluent individuals and families.
This year – the 37th edition – sees Hunt rank 114th richest person in the UK, up from 120 a year ago.
Hunt, who sold Foxtons to City investment firm BC Partners for £375m in 2007, is now reputed to be worth just over £1.4bn.
Hunt featured in the news recently after it emerged that his efforts to make major improvements to a dilapidated home continues to drag on – 20 years after submitting plans to refurbish it.
The estate agency founder has faced major opposition from neighbours opposed to his plans, which includes the ambassadors of Saudi Arabia, France, Russia, Japan and Lebanon, all of which reportedly cited the United Nations 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
The 1846, Grade II-listed mansion in London, cost £15.75, with the first planning application made in 2008.
Central to his plans is a huge basement for his classic cars. Now, in an apparent attempt to satisfy neighbours, the original 51,129 sq ft basement – that is 55 times the floor space of the average home – has been cut from four storeys to two.
His latest submission to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea shows barely any work has started, with the windows boarded up.
The UN convention says all states must ‘protect the premises of a diplomatic mission against intrusion or damage’.
The nearby Indian High Commission made two objections in the past seven months, and Hunt beat off a 2015 High Court challenge by the French ambassador Sylvie Bermann, backed by the Saudis, Japanese, Russians and Lebanese.
Gopi Hinduja and his family, behind the Indian conglomerate Hinduja Group, topped the Sunday Times Rich List for the fourth year running with £35.3bn.
