Simon Cowell has sold his London home for £30m below the asking price, having rushed through the sale after being left in “constant fear” for his family’s safety after a series of break-ins.
The X-Factor and Britain’s Got Talent judge put the Georgian property on the market in July seeking offers in region of £45m. Days later he agreed to sell the house, in Holland Park, Kensington, for £15m, according to a lender acting for the unnamed multimillionaire buyer.
Cowell, who had lived in the six-bedroom property for 16 years, said he had decided to leave London to start a new life in the country with his partner and young son after a series of burglaries and home invasions.
The sale was agreed in just four days, with Cohort Capital providing a £5.5m loan to the unnamed buyer. Contracts were exchanged on 6 August.
A spokesperson for Cowell did not respond to requests for comment. A source close to the media mogul said: “The figures being thrown around are ludicrously wrong and nor did it take four days.”
This year, the 63-year-old music and TV executive was the target of an alleged plot to burgle his home, involving security consultants he had paid £500,000 to secure the property.
The scheme, which involved selling a decoder that could unlock the steel front door in seconds, was revealed by reporters at the Sun, whom Cowell thanked.
He said: “When I initially was told about this story by the Sun, I couldn’t believe it. It was like something out of a science fiction film. I was in total shock. The fact that it is possible for a person to obtain the software code to sell to someone, so they could rob the house my family live in, is disgusting. To even consider doing this is dangerous and reckless.”
The house was also burgled in 2015 while Cowell and his family were asleep upstairs. The thieves reportedly stole more than £1m-worth of jewellery.
“There is a constant fear it may be repeated and that it may be worse next time,” Cowell said in a statement to the court. “I’m very scared of what could have happened to my son if the burglar had gone into his room.”
In 2012 a woman with a brick got into the bathroom of the house, in what his spokesperson described as a very frightening incident.
Matt Thame, the founder of Cohort Capital, said: “Given the current turbulent market conditions, time is of the essence more than ever in the luxury real estate sector, and we’re delighted to have been able to close this deal in less than a week.”
