Cliff Richard plans to sell £3m home after police raid

The newspapers are claiming that Sir Cliff Richard plans to put his £3 million home in Sunningdale, Berkshire, on the market. The penthouse was raided by police while he was away in Portugal, and images of the raid were broadcast by the BBC. Some reports claim that he is selling because he is so upset about the intrusion into his privacy. So would you buy this spectacular home?

For sale
The Daily Mail quoted a friend saying: "He is putting the place on the market because he feels it has been violated by the search." "He says he feels it's akin to having your home ransacked by burglars." The Independent reported that he had been upset to think of detectives going through his belongings.

The home is not yet on the market, but Richard remains in his holiday home in the Algarve: he also has properties in Barbados and Manhattan.

Fans can only hope he is selling up in order to find another new home in the country.

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What is the home like?
The property particulars remain a matter of pure speculation, especially since the property is not yet for sale. However, there are a variety of other flats in the same development on the market at the moment, which give us a bit of an insight into the sort of lifestyle the buyer of Richard's penthouse can enjoy.

The development is called Charters, and is just outside Ascot in Berkshire, in the village of Sunninghill. The buildings consist of a striking art deco 1930s country house, and two buildings described as 'complimentary'. Throughout all three buildings, the apartments are large and impressive.

One is for sale with Knight Frank for £3.5 million, it is also a penthouse, and has three bedrooms, three bathrooms and three reception rooms. It's in the original 1930s house, which adds a great deal to the value. It sounds relatively modest, but large rooms, high quality fixtures and fittings from the likes of high-end kitchen maker Bulthaup, floor-to-ceiling windows and enormous terraces overlooking the communal grounds, give it a feeling of grandeur.

The development also comes with access to communal facilities including the tennis courts, indoor pool, gym, spa, communal gardens and concierge - leading Knight Frank to describe it as both 'magnificent' and 'opulent'.
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More modest
Richard's property is not quite so valuable as this one, as it is in one of the two newer buildings in the development. They have been constructed to beautifully complement the original building, but without the cachet of the original they tend to sell for less.

A comparable flat could be the £2.5 million three bedroom penthouse in one of the newer and less desirable buildings. It boasts less indoor space - although there are still three reception rooms, plus an enormous wrap-around roof terrace with a hot tub and what is described as a 'party room'.

The fact that Richards' property is being estimated at £3 million could be because it is even more luxurious, or simply because of the celebrity cachet that the 73-year-old singer brings to the property.

If you like the idea of living in the same sort of luxury, but with a lower price tag, then the development could still hold the answer. There's a £1.5 million three-bedroom flat in one of the newer buildings. Again it is developed to exceptionally high quality, but on a smaller scale.

But what do you think? Would you like to live there?

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