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<\/p>\nOne billionaire\u2019s frustration can be another\u2019s opportunity. After the Norwegian-born shipping baron John Fredriksen quit London, he declared \u201cBritain has gone to hell\u201d, but his departure has created the chance for someone to snap up his home.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ll just need to have at least \u00a3250 million to spare to buy one of the capital\u2019s most intriguing and desirable residences.<\/p>\n
Rather than merely shutter the Old Rectory, the 300-year-old Georgian manor, or hand it to one of his two daughters, Fredriksen, 81, is eyeing a sale. Local residents say the mogul has already let go of more than a dozen domestic staff and arranged for discreet viewings.<\/p>\n
A listing on RightMove is unlikely. Homes of this grandeur are usually sold in confidential \u201coff-market\u201d deals, which are brokered by a select band of specialist agents.<\/p>\n
Tucked away on the oldest street in Chelsea, southwest London, the Old Rectory boasts its own ballroom and a garden of nearly two acres, one of the biggest belonging to a private house in central London. <\/p>\n
The Duke of Wellington is said to have drawn up his plans for the Battle of Waterloo on the Old Rectory\u2019s lawns because his brother, Gerald Valerian Wellesley, a rector, lived in the property for 27 years. Charles Kingsley, the Victorian writer who wrote The Water-Babies, is another former resident. <\/p>\n
Secluded behind high brick walls, the property is barely visible from the street, offering the secrecy the very wealthy often crave. A renovation during the 1990s added two wings, leaving the property with ten suites and about 30,000 square feet of living space.<\/p>\n
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The shipping magnate John Fredriksen and his partner Maryam Mohaghegh in their former neighbourhood of Chelsea<\/p>\n
ALAMY<\/p>\n
A spokesman for Fredriksen declined to comment on whether the Old Rectory was for sale or how many domestic staff had been let go earlier this year. <\/p>\n
John Waters, a director of the independent buying agency Robert Bailey Property, said: \u201cMany of the wealthy owners we have seen leave the UK recently have not in fact chosen to sell their London homes \u2014 instead deciding to rent overseas in the hope that the UK tax system will in the future become less unfavourable. <\/p>\n
\u201cOften they are very sad to be leaving, but they feel they have little choice due to the end of non-dom status and the prospect of all their global assets being subject to UK inheritance tax.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u2022 Why the super-rich are leaving Britain<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n For centuries, the non-dom regime allowed wealthy people, who were domiciled overseas for tax purposes, to only pay UK tax on income earned here, until it was scrapped by the chancellor in April.<\/p>\n Fredriksen bought the Old Rectory from the Greek businessman, Theodore Angelopoulos, for \u00a337 million in 2001, making his debut on The Sunday Times Rich List two years later with an estimated wealth of \u00a3475 million. He appeared at No 9 in this year\u2019s Rich List with wealth estimated at \u00a313.7 billion.<\/p>\n
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