We're selling our £1.85m home after Leonardo DiCaprio screenwriter noise complaint led to 5-year council row

Richard and Victoria Kerrison said they were shocked after a single noise complaint led to a ruling they did not have the correct permission to let parts of the property. Their neighbour, a screenwriter who has had work bought by Leonardo Di Caprio's production company, had initially complained about loud music and children playing - which led to the five-year planning dispute.

Support from Bafta-winning actor John Hurt’s widow

The row worsened when North Norfolk Council and the Planning Inspectorate ruled that they did not have permission to use Roundabout Farm in Norfolk as holiday lets. The Kerrisons argued that planning permission is not needed to use a property as a holiday let and they have spent £90k in legal fees battling the decision. They even gained support from their other neighbour - the widow of Bafta-winning actor John Hurt, Lady Anwen Hurt.

Water issues

Victoria Kerrison, 62, said: "One person's opinion and a swipe of the pen has written us off. We've spent all this time building up a really good and solid business and we worked hard to keep it going." Victoria and Richard, 63, bought Roundabout Farm in 1997 transformed it from a run-down site into a place of "peace and tranquillity" for holidaymakers.

They have run the Farm as a barn conversion and bed and breakfast open to guests since 2007 - with their Courtyard Barn sleeping 10 guests. Trouble began in 2019 when the couple's neighbour, Helen Crawley, complained the water supply from the borehole she shared with the Kerrisons had deteriorated.

Loud music and children playing

Mrs Crawley, a screenwriter who wrote the screenplay for the 2008 film Skin, also raised concerns to the council about noise disturbances. She cited car doors slamming, children playing, people talking and loud music as noisy nuisances.

NNDC then contacted the Kerrisons to say they had received reports of multiple planning breaches at Roundabout Farm. The main issue centred on the use of the converted Courtyard Ban building as it was being used as a holiday let without the correct permission.

Victoria said: "There has been no contravene of planning - thousands of people in the UK rent out their houses as an Air BnB. There were three meetings through an enforcement panel and all of those meetings ended with: 'Do not have enough evidence to enforce'.”

Tranquil holiday let with rules for guests

The Kerrisons created their own new rules for guests, such as not going outside at 10pm and moving a hot tub further away from Mrs Crawley's land. The couple's cause gained support from their neighbour Lady Anwen Hurt, the widow of BAFTA-winning actor John Hurt. The Planning Inspectorate delivered their verdict on the Kerrisons' appeals in May and the couple were told they could continue using the 'Office' as their home.

Home on the market

Lady Hurt had provided testimony to prove the building had been used as a home for more than ten years which made it immune from enforcement. However, the Kerrisons were told that the Courtyard Barn had breached planning rules and they were told to cease using it as a holiday let by November.

The dispute has cost them £90,000 in legal fees and a major part of their beloved business has ceased to operate. They said: "We have to think: can we afford to still live here or do we move away? It is sad that you can have your life wiped out like that. If we can sell, we will go. But if not, we'll have to rethink what we're doing next.”

Roundabout Farm is currently on the market for £1,850,000.