The billionaire ruler of Dubai has lodged plans to build an eighth house on his Highland estate – weeks after lodging plans for the seventh.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum wants to erect a five bedroom home on Inverinate Estate to accommodate visiting family members and friends.
As with previous applications, agents acting on behalf of the sheik say the application is justified because the estate, which boasts helipads, two large homes and a 16-bed hunting lodge, suffers from a ‘lack of accommodation’.
The 74-year-old, who was a friend of the late Queen Elizabeth II, has an estimated £14 billion fortune and bought the 63,000 acre estate in Wester Ross more than 20 years ago.
He has been expanding the number of properties on his land in recent years to make more room for guests and has previously upset locals with his plans.
The sheikh’s Inverinate estate in Wester Ross in the Scottish Highlands already has a number of homes and lodges
An image included with the planning application (above) shows the house as it would be situated on the 63,000 acre site
The sheikh’s cousin has shared images of the Dubai ruler enjoying his little corner of Scotland
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum (right) is the billionaire ruler of Dubai, who owns a 63,000 acre estate in Scotland (pictured on the estate in August)
The Highland retreat already boasts helipads, two large homes, a hunting lodge, a pool and a gym (pictured: Inverinate House, left, and new-build accommodation)
A proposed garden room (pictured as a 3D render) was approved last year after the new plans had already been submitted
The Highland retreat already boasts three large homes, a cottage and two lodges as well as three helipads.
A planning application has been submitted to Highland Council for a new build home at the site.
Technical drawings show it will have five bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, a lounge, kitchen, dining room and a snug area.
One of the en-suite bedrooms is on the ground floor, while the other four, each with built-in wardrobes, are located on the first storey.
A design statement submitted by the sheikh’s representatives states: ‘The visitors of Inverinate Estate typically travel in large groups of immediate and extended family and friends.
‘In recent years their travel to Inverinate has been limited by lack of accommodation.
‘This application seeks to enhance that accommodation by forming a new dwelling.
‘The proposed design has sought to sensitively place a modest dwelling house into an area of land which is well hidden from view.
‘The proposed traditional form, off white render and slate roof help the building sit comfortably in the collection of buildings that form the hillside pattern of development along the shore front.’
The local authority is due to make a decision on the planning application by March.
A separate planning application for a seventh property on the estate – an 11 bedroom lodge – was submitted last year and is still under consideration by officials.
In 2020, the sheikh won a planning battle to build a six bedroom lodge at the estate after the Scottish Government overruled a council vote to block it.
Locals claimed it would spoil the natural beauty of the area at Loch Duich and be too close to a neighbouring bungalow.
Government planning officials said they saw no reason not to allow the building as long as the sheikh pays for affordable housing in the area.
In 2022, the Sheikh was also given approval to add a luxury ‘garden room’ overlooking Loch Duich to the site after planners concluded it would not have a negative impact on the area.
There are several lodges at the billionaire’s ‘hideaway’ Scottish estate, which he purchased more than 20 years ago
The sheikh was reportedly a close friend of the late Queen Elizabeth II (pictured right alongside the Queen and Prince Philip in 2020 )
Sheikh Mohammed with his ex-wife, Princess Haya bint al-Hussein, to whom he was ordered to pay £554 million in Britain’s biggest divorce settlement
Princess Shamsa hasn’t been seen since she was allegedly abducted from Cambridge in 2000
Sheikh Mohammed has an estimated £14billion fortune. He snapped up Inverinate Estate more than 20 years ago as an escape from the brutal Middle Eastern summers – but owns several other properties across the UK, including homes in London.
He has had at least six wives, and is divorced from all but one of them, his first wife Sheikha Hind bint Maktoum bin Juma Al Maktoum. The sheikh is also reported to have sired around 30 children.
He was engulfed in controversy following allegations in 2018 that his daughter Princess Latifa was being detained against her will in the United Arab Emirates, of whom the sheikh is vice-president.
She is reported to have escaped from the country that year, posting on Instagram: ‘My father ordered his men to “beat me until they kill me”. They didn’t allow me to travel or have any freedom of choice at all, I had to take it for myself.’
She was then picked up in international waters and returned to Dubai.
However, her sister Princess Shamsa hasn’t been seen since she was taken off the streets of Cambridge in 2000 by men working for her father and flown back to Dubai on a private jet.
Latifa claims that her sister was also kidnapped. A UK family court later ruled that the sheikh had likely orchestrated the kidnap and torture of his two runaway daughters.
The judge found that the sheikh had used ‘the state and its apparatus to threaten, intimidate, mistreat and oppress with a total disregard for the rule of law’.
In December 2021 a judge in London ordered the sheikh to pay his former wife £554 million in Britain’s biggest divorce settlement.
He was told to pay Princess Haya bint al-Hussein an initial lump sum of £251.5million within three months for her and their two children’s security.