We bought £5.5M Notting Hill home… and it the basement flooded

A barrister and his wife are suing an acclaimed fashion boss for £5.5million after the Notting Hill home they bought from her flooded.

The couple accuse Paula Reed, former fashion director of Harvey Nichols, of deliberately misleading them when she allegedly told them that the property she was selling them had never previously flooded.

But just weeks after purchasing it in December 2024, Thomas Ford and his wife Jessica returned home to find the basement was submerged in water after heavy rain.

The Fords claimed they later discovered that the six-storey town house in Westbourne Road close to London’s trendy Portabello Road had previously flooded and allege that they uncovered a number of faults with it.

The wealthy couple claim that the central heating system did not work properly, that the kitchen had been overrun by rats and mice, one of the lavatories leaked and that rainwater leaked into various rooms, including the dining room and the basement.

Mr Ford and his wife Dr Ford, a successful theatre producer, are now suing Ms Reed in the High Court demanding their money back – plus up to £1 million in extra costs including the £571,000 they paid in stamp duty.

The couple say they would not have bought the house without the ‘misrepresentations’ by Ms Reed, 64, who told them that the property had never flooded.

The Fords maintain that the existence ‘of a number of misrepresentations demonstrates the willingness and intention of the vendor to conceal the truth and withhold matters that might negatively affect her sale of the property,’ according to court documents.

They say: ‘The misrepresentations were each known by the vendor to be false or she had no belief in their truth, alternatively she was reckless as to the truth or falsity of the representations made.’

The Fords claim that Ms Reed refusal to answer questions ahead of the court action is further evidence that she knew her misrepresentations were false.

Dr Ford declined to discuss the legal proceedings when approached for comment.

However, court documents reveal that the young family had wanted to buy a house in ‘move-in condition’ – and were reassured that the renovations work carried out by Ms Reed’s architect ex-husband Alfred Munkenbeck would enhance the property’s appeal.

But upon moving in, the Fords discovered a series of defects.

They found that kitchen extractor fan did not work, the range oven did not work properly, the burglar alarm did not work and that the roof leaked.

The Fords claim that Ms Reed knew that the house flooded as she left notes attempting to down-play the problem, by describing flood barriers as ‘damp absorbers’.

They say that the previous owner had admitted that the house had an issue with moths, but she mentioned nothing about rats and mice in the kitchen, for which traps and poison had been laid down.

The couple continue that her assertions that the central heating was in good working order is false because the higher floors do not heat up properly and many radiators do not work. They add that Miss Reed knew that the burglar alarm was faulty.

The Fords say they are entitled to the full repayment of the money they paid for the property, plus damages of up to £1million covering the stamp duty, the cost of moving, the cost of the reparations and interest on their money if they had not bought the house.

Ms Reed, 64, who rubbed shoulders with fashion giants such as Karl Lagerfeld and Dries Van Noten and starred on TV during a glittering thirty-year career, moved to Bude, Cornwall, after the sale. She is expected to contest the claim.