Selling dream home crushed me
LILY Allen has said that being forced to sell her Cotswolds mansion to pay off a hefty tax bill was “soul-destroying”. And the singer admitted to checking the housing market daily to see if it was back up for sale.
Lily sold her £4.2million “house of dreams” in 2016, after she was sued for an “extremely large amount of money” by a former tour manager, meaning she could no longer pay the money owed.
Speaking on her own podcast, Miss Me?, Lily, 38, said: “I had a beautiful house, my house of dreams, in the countryside. I did it up so nice, it was like my life project, I was very proud of it.
“It was the place where I was going to raise my children.”
The pop star bought Old Overtown House in Cranham, Gloucester, in 2010.
At the time of the purchase, it had six bedrooms, five bathrooms and three reception rooms.
“I was always good with my tax. I’m a firm believer in paying tax and I think people in a higher earning bracket should absolutely pay as much tax as they possibly can. I have always put money aside to pay for my tax. [But] I was sued by somebody, which I hadn’t accounted for.”
Lily was referring to a £100,000 legal action she faced in 2014 after a former tour manager claimed a contract breach.
She added: “I had to pay him off with the money I had put aside for my tax.”
The star said she tried to work out a “deal” with HM Revenue and Customs to pay it back in instalments, but was told no and had to sell her home.
She added: “It was absolutely souldestroying, and a real lesson in life.
“You can think you have everything all sorted out, and you just don’t.”