Greg Shepherd reveals work on he and wife Billie Faiers’ house is finally underway

Greg Shepherd has revealed work is finally ready to begin on his and wife Billie Faiers’ £1.4million Essex home after a year of trying to get planning permission.

The couple had faced setbacks from neighbours to convert their run down 1920s property into a five-bedroom luxury family home.

But Billie, 30, and Greg, 35, are now getting their wish as he shared a photo of himself donning a hi-vis jacket and a construction helmet, ready to get to work.

He wrote: ‘So finally next week after a year trying to get planning permission. Works will begin! Let’s do this! #allthegearnoidea #shepthebuilder’. 

Greg was inundated with well-wishes from his followers, with one writing: ‘Mega excited for you and to see the transformation begin! Woo hoo, many congratulations to your exciting adventure.’

Another added: ‘How exciting can’t wait to see your journey. ❤️’

It comes after Billie previously told MailOnline of her delight at being able to start work on their abode, which they purchased in January of last year.

She said: ‘We’re so pleased and finally got there in the end.

‘They’ve estimated it’ll take a year to complete the renovations, which is very long time but we all know how quick time goes nowadays. We’re living in our current home in the moment and stay here until the work is done.’

The TV stars will demolish the existing garage and conservatory to build a two-storey side extension and a single-storey rear extension.

The abode will also be complete with an in-and-out driveway along with a single-storey front extension and landscape work.

It had been reported that Greg and Billie finally received official permission from Brentwood Borough Council to convert their property into a five-bedroom luxury family home after making a number of changes and compromises.

The official notice stated that ‘in pursuance of the powers conferred on them’ the couple would be permitted to carry out specific work.

According to The Sun, this would allow them to demolish the existing garage to build a two-storey side extension.

Additionally, they would be able to demolish the existing conservatory in order to build a single-storey rear extension.

The luxury mansion would also be complete with an in-and-out driveway along with a single-storey front extension and landscape work.

MailOnline contacted Billie and Greg’s representative for comment at the time.

It comes after The Mummy Diaries stars, who are parents to six-year-old Nelly and Arthur, three, have been battling with neighbours for months over their renovations plans.

However, after reducing the building by a matter of centimetres, renovations were given the green light.

Among the changes that were in the revised plan were to make the height of the planned extension 50 centimetres lower and to ensure their home is further from their neighbours.

In their latest submission, Billie and Greg are quoted as saying: ‘The planning officer confirmed that these now overcome the reasons for refusal on the original application. They therefore recommended that a revised application be submitted.’

MailOnline contacted a representative for Billie for comment at the time.

In a previous rejection response from the council officer’s report it was written of the potential house: ‘It would be the biggest house on the street and the increase in size from the original home would not be acceptable.’

The reports also had concerns about whether the home would be sympathetic to the local area.

The decision notice stated: ‘The proposed extensions when combined would create a development which is excessive in terms of bulk, size, massing, roof design and siting, resulting in overly dominant additions to the existing dwelling and a substantial building out of character and appearance within its context.

‘It would unacceptably reduce the spatial quality between properties which is characteristic of the area, to the detriment of local visual amenity.’

It’s been claimed the previous owners were granted permission to build two houses on the land, yet still, the plans for one large home were initially turned down.

The neighbours had expressed concern that the property would be too close to theirs and affect their privacy.

Billie previously admitted that the interior of the sprawling house is ‘old and dated’ and estimated that it will take the pair around a year to completely renovate it.

The couple revealed that they wanted to start off their journey by showing their followers a look at their current ‘old and dated’ kitchen on their home Instagram ‘homewiththesheps’.

They said they have planned to change the layout of some of the house, to make way for a kitchen extension which will become a kitchen/dining area/soft area, complete with adjoining play room and utility.

Speaking to HELLO!, she said: ‘We got the keys at the end of January but it’s a huge project, a big renovation. We are going in blind because we’ve never done it before and we are starting from scratch.

‘The architect has been in and for what we want to do, it’s going to be at least a year or a year and a half until it is safe for us to live in, so we are going to stay where we are for now.’