By Abul Taher
Last updated at 12:51 AM on 10th April 2011
Grant Bovey and his wife Anthea Turner have bought a new £5 million mansion – just a month after the businessman was discharged from bankruptcy.
More than 200 creditors are still owed millions of pounds after Mr Bovey’s property company Imagine Homes went bust in 2008.
The new mock-Tudor mansion is spread over almost two acres of land in a private road in Esher, Surrey, and boasts an indoor swimming pool with a vaulted ceiling and roof lanterns. It also has an accompanying steam room and viewing balcony.
Back in style: Grant Bovey and Anthea Turner have moved into the five-bedroom house
The property is reached via a bridge over a waterway. It has a double oak front door that opens to a grand, marble-floored hallway.
It also has a luxurious state-of-the-art kitchen and five bathrooms, including one with a Jacuzzi. The master-bedroom has a four-poster bed.
The house – which is inspired by the designs of architect Sir Edwin Lutyens – also has an annexe for guests, built on top of the garage.
Lap of luxury: Esher and the surrounding villages are known as the 'Beverly Hills of Britain' because of their popularity with TV stars and footballers
Esher and the surrounding villages are known as the ‘Beverly Hills of Britain’ because of their popularity with TV stars and footballers. Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard has a house in Esher, and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? host Chris Tarrant also lives there.
England captain John Terry lives in the nearby village of Oxshott with his wife Toni and their two children, while Girls Aloud singer Nicola Roberts bought a new home in Weybridge in 2009.
Mr Bovey and Miss Turner’s new house was put on the market for £4.75 million with estate agents Savills. But experts think it may have been worth £7 million before the credit crunch.
It is believed the couple rushed to sign the deal on Monday, two days before stamp duty in England and Wales went up to five per cent for homes valued above £1 million.
Expensive tastes: The indoor pool at the luxury home is just one of the high-spec features
On Friday evening, Mr Bovey and Miss Turner, 50, were seen moving in to the house with their entourage. When told that some creditors were angered by his new purchase, Mr Bovey, 49, said: ‘The house was bought with Anthea’s money and I have no equity interest in the property whatsoever.’
His spokesman said the couple had sold their £5 million mansion in Godalming, Surrey, which they had bought from Miss Turner’s friend, DJ Chris Evans.
Their £4 million ski chalet in the French Alps was under threat, but the couple have managed to keep it. Mr Bovey was one of the most high-profile victims of the recession when Imagine Homes – Britain’s biggest-buy-to-let company at the time – filed for bankruptcy.
He declared himself bankrupt in March 2010 at Guildford County Court, and was discharged on March 3 this year.
Mr Bovey is not allowed to become a director of a company, and not allowed to do business with anyone without telling them he was made bankrupt.
State-of-the-art: The luxury kitchen inside the house, which Grant and Anthea were seen moving into on Friday
It is a remarkable fall from grace for a man who once boasted that his company would be worth £1 billion and was waiting to float it on the stock market.
There are an estimated 200 unsecured creditors of Imagine Homes still owed up to £3.4 million. Among them is Christopher Holcroft, 64, a businessman from Knutsford, Cheshire, who lost £200,000 in deposits he placed for two luxury flats in Canary Wharf, East London.
Mr Holcroft said: ‘It’s disgusting that Grant Bovey has bought a new house. It’s appalling that the system allows him to do that. He clearly had assets hidden away if he can buy such a house.’
A couple from Nottingham lost their life savings of £84,000 after using it as a deposit for a house from Imagine Homes.
‘It seems very unfair he is buying this house,’ said the woman, who did not want to be named. ‘When most people become bankrupt, they can’t always go and buy another house worth that much.’
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