Mentmore Towers owner faces compulsory purchase over property disrepair

Mentmore Towers, the Buckinghamshire stately home used as the filming location for Wayne Manor in ‘Batman Begins’, is at risk of compulsory purchase if urgent repairs and ecological surveys are not completed.

Buckinghamshire Council issued a repairs notice on August 4, citing failing masonry and water ingress. The property has been added to Historic England’s ‘at risk register’ due to the threat of rapid deterioration. To prevent the Secretary of State from ordering a compulsory purchase, the owner, Mentmore Towers Limited, must provide evidence within a month that a licensed bat ecologist has been commissioned to conduct surveys.

The owner must complete three bat-emergence surveys before August 2027. Additionally, once repairs commence, council and Historic England officers must be permitted to inspect construction efforts on a weekly basis. The mansion, formerly owned by the Rothschild family, has also appeared in films such as ‘The Mummy Returns’ and ‘Ali G Indahouse’.