George Michael’s home is currently being renovated (Image: GETTY)
George Michael’s sister has won a planning battle to restore the late singer’s £10 million mansion which had fallen into disrepair. The Faith hitmaker’s only living sibling, Yioda Panayiotou, has been granted permission to chop down historic trees at the abandoned property – despite complaints from conservation groups and neighbours. Yioda took ownership of the property when the singer died on Christmas Day in 2016 aged 53.
He left the bulk of his £98 million fortune to his two sisters, however, Melanie Panayiotou died three years later. As the sole owner Yioda is attempting to restore the property into it’s former glory. Her design team applied to Camden Council to remove a number of trees and prune others at the front and rear of the property. In January, landscapers sought permission to prune nine trees that had become a “threat” to the home.
The Wham! hitmaker purchased the property in 1987 (Image: Getty)
They were met with fierce opposition from a neighbour and community group Redington Frognal Neighbourhood Forum [RFNF], who branded the application as “regrettable” and “very concerning”.
The group said on February 16: “Any loss of mature trees which provide habitat for wildlife is regrettable.
“The need for maintenance is recognised, but should not be undertaken during the nesting season.”
It added that the trees are of particular importance as the property is located “in an area with much underground water”.
Then four days later, the group once again lambasted the plans on the basis of previous planning applications.
It wrote: “Having now checked the history of intent to fell notifications over the past years, it is very concerning that three mature forest trees have been lost: two poplars and a sycamore.”
However, Camden Council have granted permission saying the impacted trees are “not visible” or of “historical importance”.
George purchased the property in 1987 and lived in the mansion for several years.