Believe me, if his wife had gone to the council offices with her hairy cheque book, a way may have ve been found to waive certain planning laws. Seriously, though, had he not gone down the surreptitious route and been open and honest, he would've had a chance of getting the house approved...
The jobsworths have told him to knock it down, purely because, by following the letter of the law, they can. No reason other than a power trip for a few local government no marks, who wouldn't last 10 minutes in the private sector.