Ricky Gervais has sold his £2.95 million Buckinghamshire riverside home within days of listing it, shortly after securing council approval to demolish and rebuild the 1920s property as a Grand Designs-style mansion. Despite the rapid sale, he is likely taking a financial loss on the property after years of planning battles and substantial spending on architects and consultants, not to mention stamp duty and legal costs from the original 2014 purchase. The sale coincides with his announcement that he plans to marry his partner of 44 years, Jane Fallon, both aged 65.

Gervais originally purchased the riverside retreat for £2.75 million in 2014 and spent two years fighting for planning permission to redevelop it. His decision to marry is driven by inheritance tax concerns: unmarried couples cannot benefit from exemptions that allow estates to pass free of inheritance tax to a surviving spouse or civil partner, which would otherwise charge 40 per cent above a £325,000 threshold on his approximately £53 million fortune. The property, which features a mooring and tennis court, has been at risk of flooding, having experienced five major floods since 1947; the approved redevelopment plans included flood defences and raising the ground floor by 3 feet.