'London is over': Billionaire reacts after failing to sell flat for Rs 285 crore

A billionaire who has been trying to sell his luxury penthouse in London has met with some disappointment after the property, listed for £28 million (about Rs 285 crore), hasn't attracted a buyer yet. One of the reasons for which, as his real estate agent stated, was that the flat was overpriced by about 30 percent. Ideally, the property price should have been slashed by about Rs 80 crore.

Sharing the billionaire's reaction to the lack of buyers, the realtor, who prefers to remain anonymous, told Bloomberg that his client declared over lunch one day: “London is over. “It’s not selling because London is finished."

The billionaire lives in Dubai and was in London to meet with lawyers and discuss the sale of his penthouse in Belgravia -- one of the hottest property markets in the city. He used to live in London earlier before his "non-dom" status expired. Short for "non-domiciled individual", the term is used for a UK resident whose permanent home, or domicile, is outside the UK. Those with this status may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income.

So, when the billionaire's "non-dom" status expired, he "decamped to Dubai" because he "doesn’t like paying" tax.