He later sold the majority of his housing to invest outside Britain, chiefly in mining and farming interests in Nigeria and, later, Zimbabwe. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Raja failed to foresee the drop in prices and kept buying, which eventually put him in financial trouble. Hoogstraten had become dissatisfied with a repayment arrangement the two men had made. Low-level lighting had been installed on the roof, where there was to be a garden, and there was space for a fountain below. Let us introduce you to Hamilton Place, the jaw-dropping, 40 million mansion which started to come to life in 1985. In April 1998, Raja sued Hoogstraten for conspiracy and fraud.[28]. In October 1993, Raja went to the High Court alleging breach of trust, demanded the return of the property deeds he had lodged with Hoogstraten, and alleged that Hoogstraten had fraudulently seized his properties using blank transfer forms. Once described by a judge as a self-styled "emissary of Beelzebub",. Read more: The story of Nicholas Van Hoogstraten, the man behind the vast, crumbling Sussex mansion. ", Asked how he would like to be remembered, he says: "I couldn't give a f**k. People are always remembered for the wrong things. Something went wrong, please try again later. Few have been inside, but one reporter who did, in 2000, when it was said to be two years off completion, described a grand central staircase and reception hall, with lift shafts already installed and expensive stone balustrades and pillars. Raja was stabbed five times in the heart and neck and was shot in the head twice at point blank range, dying as a consequence. [30], In the early part of 2005, Hoogstraten's strategy of dispensing with his own legal Counsel and inexplicably mounting his own defence by acting in person, ignoring the Judge's advice to abandon such behaviour, led to the judgement on the 19 December 2005 in favour and for the family of Raja, in their civil action against van Hoogstraten and were awarded 6 million by Mr Justice Lightman, after the court found that on the balance of probabilities "that the recruitment of the two thugs was for the purpose of murdering Mr Raja and not merely to frighten, threaten or hurt him". The fine was not paid and the company was then in the process of being wound up. [31] He was released in December after a potential retrial for manslaughter was found to have no legal foundation. The original multi-millionaire owner Van Hoogstraten, a convicted criminal who is now 75 and goes by the name of Nicholas von Hessen, is a Sussex native born in Shoreham and owns dozens of properties in the area. Nicholas van Hoogstraten with the construction plans for Hamilton Palace in Sussex in 1998. By the age of 22, adding the "van" to his name at this stage,[8] he owned 350 properties in Sussex[10] and was reputedly Britain's youngest millionaire, although The Times in 1967 and 1972 referred to this status as being "self-styled".[11][12]. [26], When neighbours called for the property to used for the homeless in early 2016, van Hoogstraten said in a statement: "The 'homeless' the majority of whom are so by their own volition or sheer laziness are one of the filthiest burdens on the public purse today. Though few have seen inside the mansion, one reporter who has described in 2000 a grand central staircase and reception hall, with lift shafts already installed and expensive stone balustrades and pillars. Describing van Hoogstraten's conduct as "wholly deplorable and contemptuous", Mr Justice Morgan said: "If there was any way I could make Mr van Hoogstraten pay for all this under the law, I would gladly do it. [3], Construction of the mansion began in 1985 and had cost around 40million by 2006. Few have been inside, but one reporter who did, in 2000, when it was said to be two years off completion, described a grand central staircase and reception hall, with lift shafts already installed and expensive stone balustrades and pillars. Whilst theres sympathy for complainants in these kinds of proceedings, theres a background to this case and theres already a mass of members of the public knowing about these proceedings. Many borrowers were unable to maintain his unreasonable payment terms and defaulted on their loans, losing their properties to him and enabling him to build up a substantial property portfolio along the south coast and in London. He is reported to have owned thousands of properties, the bulk of which were in Sussex, but his most well-known and ostentatious display of wealth is the gigantic Hamilton Palace, a mansion in Uckfield, East Sussex which is the biggest house built in Britain for a century but looks unlikely to ever be completed you can read more about it here and see the most expensive houses currently for sale in Sussex here. It couldn't be simpler and it takes seconds - simply press here, enter your email address and follow the instructions. Mr Van Hoogstraten, 75, who was once on first-name terms with Robert Mugabe and lives most of the time in Zimbabwe, made huge sums of money as a slum landlord and his fortune was once estimated at 500million. It's one of the reasons why nobody can tell me what to do. Before the hearing began, Mr Hamilton had requested a reporting restriction banning the publication of his name, on the basis it could damage his reputation. expensive private house built in Britain for a century and it is bigger than Buckingham Palace. By 2013, he owned more than 1,600 square miles (4,100km2) of land including Central Estates, owned mineral rights in the Marange diamond fields, as well as houses in Harare. Van Hoogstraten holds a 31 percent shareholding in HCCL. That's the stupidity of it. Hoogstraten lent money to Raja at a lower rate than the banks, and the loans were not recorded on paper so as to avoid paying taxes. His reference to floating down the Thames is one of several in the film, made in 2002, which comes with a violent, malevolent undercurrent. 9 talking about this. 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HELP US TO DO MORE OF IT BY DONATING HERE. The reasons he put forward were not reasons given in the relevant Home Office guidance. We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. Signing up to the KentLive newsletter means you'll get the latest news direct to your inbox twice a day. Van Hoogstraten told Lynn Barber, writing for The Observer in 2006, that he pays for the education of three children in every school in Zimbabwe: "Actually, it doesn't cost a lot of money in real terms, but I've set up things like that that will continue". But van Hoogstraten has been the subject of several interviews and documentaries over the years and has seemed happy enough to talk to journalists, many of whom have been on to the grounds of his vast Uckfield estate, which has been described in headlines as "devil's palace". It is a singularly macabre structure, with a golden domed mausoleum for Van Hoogstraten at its centre. Reflecting on what his vast wealth, and accompanying power, brings with it, his first thoughts are "a headache" and "a pain in the arse", adding: "I don't believe money brings happiness. It wont ever get featured in design magazines. Over the past couple of decades, he has been involved in widely reported disputes with neighbours over the huge estate. The huge space inside is almost empty apart from some building materials and the odd chair (Image: Lisa Powell) "I'm going to assume [God] is going to say to me, 'What are you doing here? In due course you are going to have it. Responding to suggestions that the house - now dubbed the "ghost house of Sussex" - should be used for the homeless, he added: "The 'homeless' - the majority of whom are so by their own volition or sheer laziness - are one of the filthiest burdens on the public purse today. He doesn't shy away from it, he never has. Hamilton Palace near Uckfield, East Sussex, the property belonging to landlord and property baron Nicholas Van Hoogstraten - now named Nicholas Adolf von Hessen - which began construction in 1985. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Their relationship went well until the housing-price bubble burst in 1989. He is said to have started making money selling stamps as a teenager before moving into property and, by the age of 22, had 350 properties in Sussex alone. Monsters are pitiable. And I'm an expert in arranging things by remote control. Nicholas Van Hoogstraten, the most notorious landlord in Britain, has confessed to hiding his 200m property empire behind at least a dozen aliases. You can also sign up to our website and comment on our stories by pressing here and signing in. He was described by one judge as "a sort of self-imagined devil who likes to think of himself as an emissary of Beelzebub". Raja also signed some blank property transfer forms and gave them to Hoogstraten. Asked if he has been happy with what has been produced as a result of these interviews, he says "Largely, yes. The chance of my offering an opportunity for them to occupy Hamilton Palace is just ludicrous." 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. Nicholas van Hoogstraten. With the profits he made from his Bahama property deals, he moved on to the British housing market, buying six properties in Notting Hill, London, before moving on to Brighton. Gave them to occupy Hamilton Palace is just ludicrous. disputes with neighbours over past! Some blank property transfer forms and gave them to occupy Hamilton Palace is just ludicrous. in. 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