EXCLUSIVE Russian millionaire blasted over 'Britain's most expensive council house' forced to make drastic move a year after listing four-bed semi for £3.5m
A Russian millionaire who tried to sell a London 'council house' for £3.5m has been forced to concede defeat and make a drastic u-turn.
The ordinary-looking four-bed suburban property had attracted widespread mockery due to its eye-watering price tag when it was listed last year.
But owner Lukov Nikolov refused to bow down claiming the fee was justified because he spent £1.4m renovating the property.
When MailOnline visited the house this week, more than a year after it was put on the market, neighbours revealed the wealthy businessman had been forced 'move in himself' after failing to find a buyer.
The house was built in the late 1950s and used by police officers relocating to work in London for the Met Police.
But in every other respect it's equivalent to nearby council housing in style and size.
Despite being unable to find househunters with deep enough pockets, Mr Nikolov has now listed another property on the same road for £3m.
One resident told MailOnline: 'He's got another one too, just up the road, which has been on the market for a while.
This was because he said spent £1.4m renovating the property in the leafy neighbourhood
'The [second property] is huge. It's got a basement, a cinema and all the rest of it. They've probably doubled the square footage.
'I think he probably moves between them.'
When MailOnline approached Mr Nicolov's wife Srebrina at the property listed for sale we were no told no comment would be made.
Mr Nikolov bought the first property for £1.2m in 2015 and began to renovate inside.
He was able to dig down and create a new spacious basement 'flooded with natural light', which increased the properties' square footage by a third.
The home now deceptively spreads over 3650sq ft of interior space and has four floors as well as its own cinema room, which, in the view of Mr Nikolov justified the £2.3million increase in value.
Mr Nikolov's second property was bough for the cheaper fee of £878,000 before renovating it too.
Properties in Canonbury sold for an overall average price of £934,290 in the last few years, according to RightMove, with the majority of sales being flats, which sold for an average price of £633,512.
Terraced properties sold for an average of £1,659,972, with semi-detached properties fetching £3,873,333 - placing Mr Nikolov's property slightly below average.
The price of homes in the family-friendly London neighbourhood also soared over the last few years by nine per cent.
But even though prices are on the rise in the area, many of Mr Nikolov's neighbours thought he was being too optimistic when he first listed the property.
One man told MailOnline at the time: 'That can't be right! If that sells for £3.5million, I will put my house on the market for £5million the next day. It won't sell for that much in a million years.
'They'll never get that, even with a basement put into it. His other property on the road is very nice, he put a lot of effort into the renovations. But £3million will be silly.
'Most of the little houses along here range from £1.3-1.8million depending on what they have done to them.'
Another neighbour agreed, saying: 'That's not worth it for the price. They are smoking crack if they think they will get that amount!'
But some of their friends think the Bulgarian may be on to a winner.
One said: 'He's a nice guy and is always joking with people.
'I think it will sell for the price. People love this road, it doesn't feel like you live in London when you're here. Some of the houses along this road go for about £5million, so it's not the most expensive place here.
'If you renovate properly, you can easily double the value of your home here.'
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