Woman gets a £ 200k bill after refusing to pay ex share of flat
A WOMAN who tried to cut her ex- boyfriend out of the proceeds of a home they renovated together was hit with a £ 200,000 bill at the end of a court battle yesterday.
Advertising executive Chloe Thomas, 28, had planned to refurbish a run- down flat in a posh area with builder Gareth Powell and sell it for a profit.
Ms Thomas put up the money to buy the “uninhabitable” £ 315,000 property while Mr Powell did the work – on the agreement they would divide the profits if they broke up.
However when they did split in 2014, after eight years together, Ms Thomas tried to renege on their deal and claimed she was the sole owner.
Yesterday a judge awarded Mr Powell, 31, a third of the profits from the flat, which is now worth £ 445,000.
Judge Heather Baucher also ordered Ms Thomas to pay the legal costs, taking her total bill to about £ 200,000.
Speaking after the case at Central London County Court, Mr Powell said: “I was completely in love with Chloe.
“We had a strong relationship and I trusted her.
“We had great plans for the future. I thought I knew Chloe well but now I realise I didn’t.”
When the couple bought the flat at Wandsworth Common, in south- west London in 2012, Mr Powell borrowed £ 14,000 from his parents for building materials.
Ms Thomas’ mother later asked him to sign a contract entitling him to a third of the flat in case of a break- up.
Judge Baucher rejected a claim by Ms Thomas that she knew nothing about this agreement, saying she was “no wallflower”. Last year Ms Thomas turned down the chance to make Mr Powell a £ 35,000 settlement. which the judge said would have “saved the whole trauma of this case”.
Ms Thomas, who still lives in the flat, declined to comment. But her mother said: “We are very disap
pointed.”