Now owner of stripy mews house sues her lawyers for £4.6m

Neighbourhood watch: as a planning row continued, Zipporah Lisle-Mainwaring painted stripes on the front of the mews
AFP/Getty Images

A woman who infuriated her neighbours by painting her townhouse in red and white stripes is now bringing a High Court claim for £4.6 million against the lawyers who handled the property deal.

Zipporah Lisle-Mainwaring, 72, bought the mews property in Kensington in 2012 with plans to convert it from office use to a luxury home, with a double basement and swimming pool.

But her plan was rejected by the council, sparking a long-running legal battle during which time Ms Lisle-Mainwaring repainted the front of the building to the dismay of her neighbours.

She says she racked up more than £1 million in costs before finally getting permission to create a home on the site in 2018, though only with a single basement, and is now suing her former solicitors, Charles Russell Speechlys.

Ms Lisle-Mainwaring argues the law firm should have warned her she stood no chance of getting planning permission at the time she bought the property due to Kensington and Chelsea council’s policy of protecting office space.

Charles Russell Speechlys denies negligence, claiming Ms Lisle-Mainwaring knew she was taking a “big gamble” buying a property without residential-use permission, and pointing out that she eventually got that permission.

“The claimant is a wealthy and intelligent woman, possessed of fierce independence of mind, extraordinary determination and considerable experience both of the English planning system and of litigation,” said Roger Stewart QC, for the law firm.

Ms Lisle-Mainwaring’s barrister Benjamin Wood wrote in a written submission to the court: “Had [she] been properly advised by the firm, she would either have aborted her purchase of the property straight away or she would have obtained specialist planning advice and then aborted her purchase of the property.”

Ms Lisle-Mainwaring claims she is £4.6 million out of pocket due to increased building costs, legal fees and the fact she could not build a double basement.

Work is due to be completed next year after the existing property was demolished. The claim is due before Mrs Justice Bacon next week.

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