British actor Benedict Cumberbatch is building his dream home after buying the apartment above his current property and making plans to convert them into one.

The Sherlock star has applied for planning permission to convert the two apartments in Hampstead, North London into a luxury three-storey home by knocking the two buildings together and expanding into the loft.

The house will eventually be worth an estimated $3.2 million (£2 million) once the work is complete.

A source tells British newspaper The Sun, "It's an ambitious project but it's being done with minimum disruption."