Christian Fuller
BBC News, South East
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Adele has been accused of sabotaging the sale of Lock House with comments she made in a TV interview in 2012
Adele has been accused of sabotaging the sale of a £6m mansion she used to live in by its owners, who claim she once said it was haunted.
The award-winning singer rented the Grade II-listed Lock House in Partridge Green, West Sussex, in 2012.
The owner has submitted planning permission to transform the property from a single dwelling to three residential units and convert an existing garage and flat into a separate cottage.
In the submission, the owner said comments made by Adele about the 10-bedroom house being haunted during an interview had hindered the selling process.
“The first tenant, Adele, stayed for six months and blighted the property by saying it is haunted,” it said.
“This comment negatively impacted future marketing efforts and continues to affect the property’s reputation to this day.”
‘The creeps’
Discussing Lock House in an interview with Anderson Cooper on CBS when she lived at the property, Adele said: “This bit’s all quite scary, really.
“I’m not rattling around here on my own. It gives me the creeps.”
Adele did not use the word “haunted” during the interview.
After the singer vacated the property, it was relisted for sale, but received no offers.
It was then rented to a tenant who wanted to use the property to run a bespoke dressmaking business. But it was later discovered the tenant was running a residential retreat with 11 guest bedrooms and a fitness boot camp, the application said.
According to the application, the owner has actively tried to sell the property for about 14 years.
The only offer ever received was in August 2020, but the prospective buyer withdrew after learning about the property’s supposed haunted status, it added.
Lock House was originally constructed in about 1909 before it underwent a major reconstruction programme in 1940.
In 1971, it was divided up and sold at auction in 26 separate lots. But it was subsequently bought by the church and became the Convent of the Visitation.
The current owner acquired Lock House in 2003 from a property trader, who had previously purchased it after the convent relocated to Albourne.
According to its current listing, Lock House and its 32-acre estate features 10 bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, a tennis court, a helicopter pad and a cinema room.
It is up for sale for £5,995,000.
