Ricky Gervais warned his plan to rebuild riverside home is at risk of exposing him and others to dangerous flooding
In a blow for the comic, Ricky Gervais has been warned his plan to rebuild his riverside home is at risk of exposing him and others to dangerous flooding.
Ricky Gervais has been warned his plan to rebuild his riverside home is at risk of exposing him and others to dangerous flooding.
Prompting fresh concerns from the Environment Agency over his proposed mansion on the banks of the Thames, the 64-year-old comedian’s – lodged with Buckinghamshire Council after an earlier application was rejected in February, according to planning documents – seeks permission to demolish his £6 million property in Marlow and replace it with a new home featuring a gym and tennis court.
The site sits beside the River Thames, and the Environment Agency has raised formal objections, citing flood depths that could reach nearly one-and-a-half metres without adequate evacuation measures.
Environment Agency bosses have said the depth of a potential flood “could reach just under one-and-a-half metres” and warned without evacuation procedures the situation could be “fatally dangerous to the public and emergency services”, according to its response to the application.
Gervais’ flood specialists, in a report filed with the council as part of a flood risk assessment, conceded the hazard, stating a “warning and evacuation plan will be prepared” for Ricky and his long-term partner Jane Fallon.
Their report added: “Flood depths are expected to exceed one metre during the design flood event. Therefore, safe access from the site to an area outside the floodplain is not available.” It said the house itself “will be above the flood level” and “create a safe haven”.
The Environment Agency has recommended that Gervais and Jane contact Floodline and register for flood warnings.
It also said it would “require a Flood Risk Activity Permit… to undertake t proposed works as the main river, the River Thames, runs adjacent to the site”.
Natural England has separately required Gervais to obtain a bat licence after 333 soprano pipistrelle bats were recorded emerging from the existing property in 2023, according to ecological survey documents.
This is likely to mean building a new bat loft in the garage and installing two bat boxes in nearby trees.
Architects Anderson Orr have produced images of the proposed replacement home, which would take the place of the property Gervais purchased in 2014 for £2.75 million.
Ricky maintains a large property portfolio, including a £14.75 million house with nine bedrooms, a spa and a tennis court in north London, as well as two apartments in New York’s Upper East Side, which he reportedly bought for £1.1 million in 2008 and £2.5 million in 2011.
He previously faced objections from neighbours at a former £7.7 million home in Hampstead after excavating a basement to install an underground gym and indoor pool.
