Lily Allen said it was ‘soul destroying’ that she had to sell her dream home in the Cotswolds to pay a tax bill.
Now I can reveal the pop star has lifted her spirits by moving into a new home in this country.
Lily, 39, has bought a property in Notting Hill, where she grew up.
“She’s a West London girl and loves being back,” says a family friend. ‘Her new place is just a ten minute walk from her mother’s house and they are very close.’
The Smile singer’s mother is Alison Owen, a film producer who made the recent Amy Winehouse biopic Back To Black.
Lily, who has two children with her ex-husband Sam Cooper, sold her 17th century home in Cranham, Gloucestershire, for £4.2 million in 2016 after being sued by an ex-tour manager for more than £100,000.
‘I had my dream house.’ she later recalled. ‘I had so much fun doing it, it was my life project, the place where I was going to raise my children.’
She added: “I’m a big believer in paying taxes. But I was charged. I had to pay it off with the money I had set aside for my taxes.
Lily Allen said it was ‘soul destroying’ to be forced to sell her dream home in the Cotswolds to pay a tax bill
Lily Allen’s country house in the Cotswolds which she had to sell to pay a tax bill
Lily, 39, has bought a property in Notting Hill, where she grew up
‘I tried to make a deal with HMRC to pay them back in installments but they said no. It was absolutely soul destroying and a real life lesson.”
The star married Stranger Things actor David Harbour, 49, in 2020 and the couple have a home in Brooklyn, New York.
Let’s hope she has a happier experience in her new home than in her North West London flat.
In 2017, an argument between her and her tenants became public after she expressed her irritation on social media.
The musician posted a message online to her followers saying she was essentially homeless because her tenants, an Italian couple, refused to leave.
Lily Allen and her mother Alison Owen (right), a film producer who made the recent Amy Winehouse biopic Back To Black
Lily Allen pictured on her wedding day to Stranger Things actor David Harbour, 49
She claimed she was unable to take back her flat because it was protected by diplomatic immunity.
But when contacted at the flat, the Italian couple said they could not understand the message.
Maria Bilotta, a photographer, said: ‘I’m really amazed. I don’t know why she did this.
‘We are diplomats. But I don’t want to cause any problems for our embassy. This is so stupid. I can’t believe this.’