Lily Allen has revealed that being forced to sell her Cotswolds mansion to pay off a hefty tax bill was ‘soul-destroying’ – and she checks the housing market ‘every day’ to see if it has gone back on sale.
The singer, 38, sold her £4.2 million ‘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.
Lily admitted she often checks to see if the property has ‘come back on sale’ and said she’d ‘love to have that house back’.
Speaking on her own podcast, Miss Me?, Allen said: ‘I had a beautiful house, which was my house of dreams in the countryside.
‘And, I did it up so nice, and it was like my life project, I was very proud of it, it was the place where I was going to raise my children.
Lily Allen has revealed that being forced to sell her Cotswolds mansion to pay off a hefty tax bill was ‘soul-destroying’
The singer admitted she often checks to see if the property has ‘come back on sale’ and said she’d ‘love to have that house back’ (pictured in a clip from her Miss Me? podcast)
‘And, I was always good with my tax, I’m a big firm believer in paying tax and I think people in a higher earning bracket should absolutely pay as much tax as they possibly can.
‘And, that has made me unpopular in certain political circles, having this view, and being quite public about it.’
She continued: ‘But anyway, I have always put money aside to pay for my tax.
‘What happened was, I got sued by somebody, for an extremely large amount of money, which I hadn’t accounted for.
‘I had to pay him off, with the money I had put aside for my tax.
‘And then when my tax bill came along, I tried to work out a deal with HMRC in which I can pay them back in instalments.
‘Which I would have been able to do, but they said no so, I had to put my house on the market.’
Allen was sued in 2014 for more than £100,000 by a former tour manager who claimed she broke a contract so that an American company could run her money-spinning comeback tour
At the time she was married to builder Sam Cooper (pictured during their wedding), but the pair divorced in 2018, and she has since remarried to Stranger Things star David Harbour
The Smile singer continued: ‘It was absolutely soul-destroying, and a real lesson in life.
‘You can think that you have everything all sorted out, and you just absolutely don’t.
‘You know a sad story, if that wasn’t sad enough, is that every day I still check the housing market to see if that house has come back on sale.
‘I’d love to have that house back.’
Lily bought Old Overtown House in Cranham, Gloucester, in 2010.
At the time of purchase, the property had six bedrooms, five bathrooms and three reception rooms spread over three-storeys in a house that is thought to date from the 1600’s.
The mansion is set in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and has been described by Vogue as ‘an English-cottage garden fantasy’ and ‘the sort of place Mrs Tiggy-Winkle might have lived’.
The magazine added: ‘There are meadows strewn with wildflowers, dells dotted with daisies, rose gardens and endless picnic spots by streams or ponds.’
The Grade II-listed home, which dates back to 1660, also comes with a four-bedroom cottage, two barns, an outdoor swimming pool, tennis courts and 7.5 acres of land.
Lily’s decision to move to the Cotswolds was prompted by a desire to withdraw from the world of music and focus on a life of domesticity complete with an Aga and wellies.
At the time she was married to builder Sam Cooper, but the pair divorced in 2018, and she has since remarried to Stranger Things star David Harbour.
