
The extraordinary scale of London 's basements was revealed today as a study found 4,650 have been approved in just a decade as the super rich aim to improve their mansions with swimming pools, wine cellars and gyms.

'Iceberg homes' up to 59ft (18m) deep are being placed into Britain's richest areas such as Kensington and Chelsea as the wealthy add astonishing amenities including artificial beaches and even car museums under their homes.

Turkish baths, cigar rooms and banqueting halls are also among the features, with around 1,000 gyms, 380 pools, 460 cinemas, 380 wine stores and 120 staff rooms found in basement plans in the capital between 2008 and 2017.

The combined depth of every basement approved by seven London boroughs in the past decade is 50,160ft (15,289m) - 50 times the height of The Shard – with two of the basements said to include multiple pools.

The study by Newcastle University found 4,650 basement have been approved for homes in London in just a decade

Plans for billionaire Jon Hunt's basement at his £15million home on Kensington Palace Gardens

The basement of this six-bedroom house in Fulham, West London, extends over most of the footprint of the property

A private pool and leisure deck in the basement of houses at Wycombe Square in Kensington

A Turkish bath can be seen in the basement living room of this property in the Marylebone area of North West London

The ambitious plans by property developer Robert Beecham for a 200ft-long mega basement in Primrose Hill, North London

Researchers at Newcastle University found there were 785 large basements - going at least two storeys under the house, or one storey far under the garden, in the study carried out for The Guardian .

A further 112 were 'mega basements' – at three storeys in depth or two far under the garden. Some 67 are in Kensington and Chelsea, while another 34 are in Westminster.

The basements feature a total of about 550 media rooms, 340 games rooms, 240 saunas or steam rooms and 60 underground garages and parking facilities.

Emma Dent Coad, the Labour MP for Kensington and Chelsea, told the Guardian: 'I have sympathy for people who need more space for an expanding family.

A multi-millionaire put forward these plans to triple the size of his Knightsbridge mansion by extending beneath the ground

Plans for the excavation for a 45ft swimming pool, hot tub, sauna, massage room and ballroom at the Knightsbridge home

Building works for a basement at this Grade-II listed Georgian home on Brompton Square in London's Knightsbridge caused huge anger among residents after dragging on for a decade

A Victorian house on sale for £6.5million in Barnes has a home cinema in the basement along with a pool table

Some 676 standard, 279 large and 67 mega basements have been approved in Kensington and Chelsea over the past decade

Hammersmith and Fulham has seen 1,111 standard, 33 large and three mega basements approved over the past decade (left). Some 430 standard, 214 large and 34 mega basements have been approved in Westminster in the past decade (right)

This table from the Newcastle University study shows the sort of amenities people are putting in their basements in London

'But building a beach under your mansion when you're hardly going to be there is something else entirely.

BASEMENTS IN LONDON BOROUGHS Borough Standard Large Mega TOTAL Camden 434 155 8 597 Hammersmith and Fulham 1111 33 3 1147 Haringey 279 41 0 320 Islington 249 26 0 275 Kensington and Chelsea 676 279 67 1022 Wandsworth 574 37 0 611 Westminster 430 214 34 678 T OTAL 3753 785 112 4650

'While we have people sleeping on the streets we really have to look at what we're doing in our borough because that is bad planning.'

The study concluded that the sharp rise in basement construction over the past decade is 'emblematic of the profound plutocratisation of London'.

The authors, led by professor of cities Roger Burrows, added: 'The global excesses of wealth, focused upon such a small fragment of the global population, now find spatial expression in many of the neighbourhoods of central London.

'At a time when so many households face a crisis in their housing circumstances, the new subterranean geography of London is deeply symbolic of the realities of the intensification of global inequalities and their spatial expression.'

The researchers looked at the boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Camden, Islington and Wandsworth.

When is planning permission needed for basements? Creating a basement in your home will only require planning permission in certain cases. This includes converting an existing residential cellar or basement into a living space when it is a separate unit, significantly altering the usage or a adding a light well to change how the property looks. Permission is also needed when you excavate to create a new basement which involves major works. Creating a basement from scratch will probably need permission and building regulations are different if the basement is to be used as a 'habitable' space. This includes providing a fire escape route, proper ventilation and a defined ceiling height. However, generally permission for a conversion is not needed unless you are changing the look of the outside of the house or the building is listed. Advertisement

A simulated golf course built in the basement of an £11million property on Pont Street Mews in Knightsbridge

The basement living room of this property in Primrose Hill, North West London, which went on sale for £2.4million in 2008

A view overlooking the rear of a property where basement works were causing major structural damage in Kensington

Basement building can cause huge disruption for communities in London's wealthiest areas, including Kensington (above)

The magnificent basement swimming pool in another multi-million pound property located on Kensington Palace Gardens

How plans for a basement have left Robbie Williams and Jimmy Page at loggerheads for three years Robbie Williams and Jimmy Page have been at loggerheads for three years over a basement conversion in West London. Williams is renovating Michael Winner's old home in Holland Park, which he bought for £17.5million in 2013, and wants to build an underground swimming pool as well as a summerhouse. But he has faced opposition from Led Zeppelin star Page, who is fiercely protective of Tower House, the Grade I Listed 'magnificent tour-de-force' built in the 19th century which he has owned since 1972. Robbie Williams and Jimmy Page have been at loggerheads for three years over a basement conversion in West London Page has claimed the vibrations caused by construction would upset the structural integrity of the Tower House, and that its interior is 'richly decorated with a variety of finishes/techniques designed in a highly original manner'. But Williams's team responded to the neighbourly concerns by saying there will be 'no damage whatsoever to the finishes, fittings or structure of Tower House' and that the effect from the proposed basement is 'negligible'. Problems first emerged between the pair in January 2015, one month after William first submitted plans to overhaul his Grade II-listed home. Since then, Williams he has carried out a cosmetic overhaul but failed to build a mega basement. The singer has also incurred the wrath of neighbours whose gardens back on his property after he submitted plans for a summerhouse. In May 2017, Williams' builders were told to pay £4,670 after breaching noise regulations out of hours. Williams is renovating Michael Winner's old home in Holland Park (right), which he bought for £17.5million. Page's house is seen (right) Advertisement