A clifftop property featured on Channel 4's Grand Designs that was described by some viewers as the programme's "saddest ever house" has been sold to a London-based property investor who previously worked as a taxi driver, the Daily Mail reported.
The buyer was named by the Daily Mail as Sanjay Patel, 60, who purchased the Devon home through his company Hare Gate Property Ltd. The paper said Patel paid about £4.35 million for the house after it had been re-listed last year for £5.25 million on behalf of debt collectors.
The property, built by former owner Edward Short, has never been lived in. Short's attempt to construct a family home in the dramatic clifftop setting was chronicled on Grand Designs and, according to reports and viewers' reactions, contributed to the breakdown of his 20-year marriage and left him facing around £10 million in debt.
Short, 52, told the Daily Mail he had been informed the house sold for £4.35 million but said he would not receive any of the proceeds because of outstanding debts. "Everything I've had, I've lost," he said in the interview.
The sale concludes several years on the market for the property, during which Short battled against bankruptcy and creditors. Documents and listings shown in media reports indicate the house was marketed by debt collectors before the recent transaction.
The Daily Mail said it tracked Patel to a modest cul-de-sac in Edgware, north London, where he is understood to rent a semi-detached house. The paper described him as a former driving instructor and taxi driver who later moved into property investment. The report added that Patel is understood to be battling terminal cancer and may be unlikely to move into the clifftop home.
Channel 4's Grand Designs has followed high-profile, often risky building projects since its inception, and the Devon house became a focal point for viewers and commentators because of the personal and financial toll its construction appeared to take on Short. Media accounts of the episode and subsequent coverage have highlighted broader conversations about the pressures faced by amateur developers and those who undertake ambitious self-build projects.
Representatives for Hare Gate Property Ltd and Patel could not be reached for immediate comment. Channel 4 did not comment beyond its on-air coverage of the original episode. The property’s future use and any plans for renovation or occupation were not disclosed in the reports.