'Southyork' left to crumble by buyer who paid over the odds

[mediastar]

Link

Questions were being raised today over the sale of Prince Andrew's former family home to a mystery Kazakhstani buyer who has allowed it to fall into disrepair.

The Duke of York sold Sunninghill in September 2007 for £15 million - £3 million more than its guide price. The Surrey home was on the market for five years and he was advised to drop its price to less than £10 million.

A Channel 4 Dispatches documentary last night questioned the sale, asking why someone would buy a house for several million pounds more than it was worth only to leave it to rot.

[drezzle]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1153465/The-fall-house-York-Why-mansion-sold-Duke-mystery-15m-deal-gone-ruin.html

Here's a bunch of pictures of it.  Looks like a royal statement to me  :(

[Fabulous Fake]

Since the site owners are accountable for the posts which appear here, its best if I say nothing about my thoughts on this one. :boredatwork:

[drezzle]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/gallery/2009/mar/01/property-monarchy?picture=343967711

More pictures -- strange story.

[wheet]

I can see two likely scenarios:
1) Everyone was caught in the real estate bubble.  Many people thought it would never stop.   So, it is quite likely that someone bought the house they hoped to flip for profit in a short span of time.    If they made other unwise investments, the money for upkeep may not be there anymore.
2)  The second scenario (needing a tax brake over a business loss) is less likely in this case.

[wannable]

Maybe the new owner wants it to rot to then make something new ?  The entire architecture is ugly IMO - doesn't look at all British.  For some reason it was compared to the series Dallas, very US.

[Kate]

Regardless, Can someone not fix it up enough, to allow homeless persons to use it? Turn the place into a food kitchen and put up cots. What a waste!!! IMO, of course!

[wannable]

Green belt area - Berkshire, don't see that happening there, seems to have been special permissions given to the Queen ?!  Too bad Andrew sold it to a non Brit.

[drezzle]

Although the queen gave the house to Andrew and Sarah when they got married, apparently that was only apparent.  Fergie had no financial ownership of the estate, and I'm not sure what Andrew's stake in it was either, because if he was the owner, then on divorce, he would have had to split it with Fergie.  I suppose he probably received it as a gift from the crown estates well after his divorce was finalized?