A controversial property developer has been made bankrupt at a court hearing.
Nigel Russell, who was once described by an investor as the 'landlord from hell', appeared at Liverpool County Court last Wednesday (March 2). It following a petition to the court by the 60-year-old's creditors.
Law firm DTM Legal represented the petitioners but said it could not comment on the case and it is not clear what was owed, the Liverpool Echo reports.
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Mr Russell, formerly of Duddon Hall Barns, in Tarporley, Cheshire, is now understood to be living in Marbella in Spain's Costa del Sol. He owned a number of significant properties in Liverpool such as the Richmond Hotel and student accommodation sites.
In 2018 he was charged with fraud relating to four developments across Liverpool but he was cleared after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) offered no evidence. Later the same year he was also cleared of sending a malicious communication to Louise Connelly, the then Private Sector Housing Services licensing manager at Liverpool Council.
In 2014 the ECHO reported how Liverpool Council were "bombarded" with complaints about Mr Russell from investors who failed to receive returns on their cash. The issue mainly related to a development at the Grade II listed former St Andrew's Church in Rodney Street, which Liverpool Council sold to Mr Russell for just £1 in 2010 on the proviso that it would be developed as student accommodation.
That development, and other projects, attracted investors from Canada, Brunei, Saudi Arabia and the Philippines.
One of his firms, Penlake, was struck off by the Liverpool Student Homes network after complaints from students about poor treatment, meaning the body would not recommend or refer anyone to move into any of his developments.
One investor said in 2014: "The last couple of years have been a complete nightmare.
"Nigel Russell can only be described as the ‘landlord from hell’ who seems determined to cause misery for us and, more importantly, our student tenants – many of whom are living away from home for the first time."
When the ECHO reported their concerns in 2014, Mr Russell said: "We spend a fortune in Liverpool and restored numerous historic buildings that would be still in a dilapidated state today and St Andrews had stood in that condition for over 20 years and no one wanted to touch it. All the investors got what they paid for and made great returns until the student market took a downturn in 2012 due to increased student fees and the restriction in visas being issued to foreign students.
"The amount of foreign students was reported in the national press to have fallen by 45pc"
Mr Russell developed his property empire in Liverpool after a spell in the USA in the early 1990s, at the height of the Florida time share boom. Another of his firms, Middle England Developments, went bust in 2013 owing around £3million.
According to a notice posted by the Insolvency Service, the bankruptcy order will last until March 2, 2023, when it will be automatically discharged.
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