Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstrom loses legal battle over £1.1m Hamble house

3:37pm Thursday 21st February 2013 in News

Niklas Zennstrom Niklas Zennstrom

An internet entrepreneur today lost a High Court fight over a £1.1 million house overlooking a Hampshire marina.

Niklas Zennstrom sued after claiming that a ''contemporary Bauhaus-style'' house he bought from Helen Moseley and Deborah Wilks, in Hamble, was ''structurally unsafe''.

But Mr Zennstrom - a co-founder of communication service Skype - failed to prove that the couple owed him a duty under the Defective Premises Act.

A High Court judge said Mr Zennstrom had ''failed to prove his case'' and concluded that neither Ms Moseley nor Ms Wilks had been aware of any significant construction defects.

Mr Justice Edwards-Stuart said Mr Zennstrom's case had not looked promising from the start.

The judge was told - at a High Court hearing in London - that the couple had re-built the house, after buying it for £360,000 in 2004, then sold it to Mr Zennstrom for £1.1 million in 2009.

He said the evidence pointed ''overwhelmingly'' to the conclusion that Ms Moseley and Ms Wilks had created their ''dream home'' and did intend to sell when they embarked on a re-building project.

The couple - who celebrated a civil partnership in 2008 - said afterwards that they were relieved and added that the litigation had left them ''physically and mentally'' drained.

Comments(9)

moocowpoorchick says...
6:04pm Thu 21 Feb 13

jeez these two idi0ts only bought to sell that is general knowledge in Hamble, they sold then bought a house almost opposite to do up and sell but hopefully they might not do such a hash up on this one.

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wossit says...
8:48pm Thu 21 Feb 13

surely the full survey would have highlighted any problems, Mr Zennstrom looks like he's up his own a*s

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J.P.M says...
8:56pm Thu 21 Feb 13

Why do we need to know that "the couple celebrated a civil partnership"?

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SotonGreen says...
9:36pm Thu 21 Feb 13

Because in the bigoted world of provincial journalism a gay couple re clearly not to be trusted as their morals have already be shown to be iffy.

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J.P.M says...
9:38pm Thu 21 Feb 13

Not as iffy as their tattoos

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thinklikealocal says...
10:14pm Thu 21 Feb 13

moocowpoorchick wrote:
jeez these two idi0ts only bought to sell that is general knowledge in Hamble, they sold then bought a house almost opposite to do up and sell but hopefully they might not do such a hash up on this one.
Why are they idiots?

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J.P.M says...
10:15pm Thu 21 Feb 13

thinklikealocal wrote:
moocowpoorchick wrote: jeez these two idi0ts only bought to sell that is general knowledge in Hamble, they sold then bought a house almost opposite to do up and sell but hopefully they might not do such a hash up on this one.
Why are they idiots?
"George Osborne will be forced into an embarrassing climbdown over next month's budget by having to admit that borrowing this year will go up, not down, according to his own independent tax and spending watchdog"

ha ha ha ha ha!
CUE:-
Of course.......the last government.........

blah blah blah”

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chunky_lover says...
10:30pm Thu 21 Feb 13

does that mean they are gays?

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pfmxli says...
10:42pm Fri 22 Feb 13

I think there's an important word missing which changes the meaning of the judge's summing up: the 7th paragraph should read " . . . and did NOT intend to sell when they embarked on a re-building project."

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