An English footballer and property investor has paid £2.3million for a piece of land in one of Berkshire’s crown estate leaseholds to build a massive luxury mansion, the Mail Online revealed.

Building work for the £7 million luxury mansion is underway after English footballer, Raheem Sterling snapped up the 3.5-acre plot owned by King Charles.

After gaining planning permission in 2015 to demolish the existing property and outbuildings, the ‘scaled-back’ plans appear to include a pool or water feature at the rear of the property.

According to plans, the multi-million-pound home will also contain an underground swimming pool and two-lane bowling alley.

The leasehold, situated on the crown estate in Berkshire will mean that Raheem will be required to pay an annual ground rent to the Crown Estate for however long they are in residence.

This particular piece of land has another 141 years left on its lease to the monarchy.

An expert told the Mail Online: 'Some people might think it unusual for someone as wealthy as Sterling to buy a property on leasehold where they never actually own the freehold of the land.

'Sterling will still have significant rights as the leaseholder. It is just that he will never completely own the land.

'He will obviously not be around when the lease expires in 141 years time, but the law states that whoever owns it at that point will be able to extend it. They will be able to pay to buy a new lease.

Original planning consent to demolish the existing structure was sought and granted in 2015 after it was thought to have been sold to Sterling for £1.85million.

New plans were put forward in 2017 to include a basement area with a squash court, gym, swimming pool and a basement car park with room for ten cars and accepted by the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in July 2022.

After further thought, the plans were changed to incorporate a scaled back version of the home.

This was apparently approved in December 2022 by the council before works begun at the site.

Drawings by the Berkshire based architectural company, Arktec, show that the master bedroom windows will open out onto a terrace looking out over the Berkshire countryside.

It is understood that teams of builders are still working on the new property with a number of construction vehicles present on the site.

Raheem Sterling and fiancé currently live with their two sons in a £6 million gated home in Leatherhead, Surrey.