Interior designer battles property boss in court claiming she undersold her ... trends now
A luxury interior designer who sold her London mansion for £10.3million is suing the estate agency that managed the sale for failing to secure a better offer - after the original asking price was set at £14.5million.
Tiggy Butler, who specialises in restoring historic multi-million pound homes, claims she was left out of pocket following the sale of her large neo-classical house, which overlooks Regent's Park in the centre of the capital.
The designer is now rowing at the Central London County Court with 'super-prime' property specialist Becky Fatemi, the boss of Rokstone Ltd, which sold Ms Butler's home.
Rokstone was the first to bring a claim after Ms Butler refused to pay the firm its £318,000 worth of commission, despite allegedly giving the agents 'fulsome praise' for their work leading up to the sale.
Tiggy Butler (pictured outside court), who specialises in restoring historic multi-million pound homes, claims she was left out of pocket following the sale of her large neo-classical house, which overlooks Regent's Park in the centre of the capital
The designer is now rowing at the Central London County Court with 'super-prime' property specialist Becky Fatemi (pictured outside court), the boss of Rokstone Ltd, which sold Ms Butler's property
But Ms Butler said she owes Ms Fatemi's agency nothing and decided to countersue, claiming the agents were in breach of contract because they missed chances to sell her house for more, leaving her up to £1.75m out of pocket.
Ms Fatemi and Ms Butler are now facing off before Judge Alan Johns, with Ms Fatemi's agency demanding its commission and Ms Butler seeking the extra cash she claims her home should have sold for.
The court heard Ms Butler bought her house in Chester Terrace in 2014 and spent two years restoring it to its former grandeur before putting it on the market in 2016 for £14.5m.
Ms Fatemi's agency was instructed in 2019 after the house failed to sell for three years, despite the best efforts of several other agents.
Daniel Petrides, for Rokstone Ltd, told the judge that the house still remained unsold in October 2020, by which time Ms Butler was in 'dire financial straits' and facing the imminent prospect of the house being repossessed by her mortgage company.
Having been informed of the situation, Ms Fatemi's agency dropped the asking price to £11.6m and by February 2021 had sold the house and its contents for £10.3m to tycoons from Saudi Arabia.
But Ms Butler subsequently refused to pay the agency the £318,452.01 commission Ms Fatemi claims it is owed.
Stephen Innes, for Ms Butler, told the judge that she is unwilling to pay the commission, claiming that the contract with the agency is non-enforceable because the terms were not clearly explained to her in writing,
