An accountant who bought a Versace-designed apartment in London worth Rs 166 million (£1.5 million) has sued the developer after discovering the bathroom did not have a bathtub. The woman claims the developer worked with the fashion house to design the apartment, dubbed the Versace Tower, and promised her “ultimate luxury” interiors.
According to The Telegraph, Park paid a deposit of Rs 42 crore (£381,000) for a two-bedroom apartment and a parking space in the 50-storey Aykon London One building in Nine Elms. She decided to buy the property as her and her husband’s “primary residence until retirement”.
She even sold her previous home in 2019 to move into the apartment, which she had planned to move into in 2020. However, when the apartment was finally delivered in 2022 after a two-year delay, Ms Parker saw it and complained to the Central Lennon County Court that one of the bedrooms was smaller than expected and one of the two bathrooms did not have a bathtub.
She sued for 77 crore rupees (£700,000) in damages, alleging that the apartment was “significantly different from the layout of the apartment as described in the plans and description”, which she had seen before paying her deposit.
“The apartment was an off-plan property on the 29th floor, west-facing, and when completed it would have two bedrooms and two bathrooms, each with a bathtub,” said Ms Parker’s lawyer, Nazar Mohammad.
“It was supposed to be an open-plan layout. The defendant attached a plan to the sales and purchase agreement and she signed the same,” he added.
The developer, a Jersey-based entity owned by its Dubai parent company, has countersued the lawsuit, alleging that Ms Park had not completed the purchase.
Rupert Cohen, conducting cross-examination on behalf of the developer, said the brochure showed model apartments, noting that “at the top of each page it said ‘typical layout’.”
“Ms. Park refused to complete and instead sent a letter on October 14, 2022 seeking to rescind the contract. The defendant then served a notice to complete on November 22, 2022 and a notice of termination on January 9, 2023 after the plaintiff failed to complete. Ms. Park filed suit on April 21, 2023.
The case is still pending.