Tower that banker bought for £425k is on sale for £2m (after £3m in public grants)
Standing at 175ft, this ornate gothic tower is an impressive sight.
it has certainly proved something of a fairytale for its owner Christian tym, a banker who bought the tower for £425,000 – and is now set to sell it for more than £2million.
But the sale of Hadlow tower for private profit is raising eyebrows, as it comes after £3.25million of public money was ploughed into the restoration of the grade i-listed property.
the rise in the value of the tower – dubbed the ‘world’s tallest gothic folly’ – is understood to be due to the renegotiation of several deeds of covenant.
the tower in tonbridge, Kent, was built in 1838. But following years of neglect it was severely damaged in the great Storm of 1987. the Save Hadlow tower action group (SHtag) battled to get it restored, and were rewarded with grants totalling £2.8million from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) between 1997 and 2012.
the money was awarded to the Vivat trust, a charity that preserved historic buildings. it also received two grants totalling £450,000 from Historic England. SHtag was recognised with two Historic England angel awards.
the trust went into liquidation in 2015, and Mr tym, 42, bought the tower last year. it boasts 3,488sq/ft of living space, four bedrooms and 3.5 acres.
Earlier this month, angel awards founder andrew Lloyd Webber told the Sunday telegraph: ‘if it’s going to be sold, it should be returned to Historic England and the HLF ... i don’t think the public purse should be used to speculate.’ But yesterday the HLF said it decided not to ask for any money back at the time of last year’s sale and instead required Mr tym to make the tower accessible to the public for at least 28 days a year. Historic England said refusal to allow access could result in the new owner being required to ‘repay a proportion’ of the grant money. Mr tym did not respond to requests for comment.