Doomed Notting Hill mansion to go back on market months after couple’s £33m refund because it was invaded by MOTHS… but neighbours think owner will have no chance

A home owner is planning to put his doomed west London mansion back on the market just months after his previous buyers bagged a £33.million refund because it was invaded by moths.

High-end property developer William Woodward-Fisher was ordered to take back the luxury home in plush Notting Hill earlier this year when Iya Patarkatsishvili and Dr Yevhen Hunyak won a High Court battle regarding the pests.

The couple sued the seller, a former Team GB rower, for not telling them about the moth saga which they said reminded them of the iconic horror film Alien.

They claimed the creatures ruined their clothes, spoiled their wine and forced them to install 400 traps around their house.

Now the Daily Mail can reveal Mr Woodward-Fisher is having another go at selling the property, with new pictures showing extensive building work taking place.

A group of builders were spotted regularly coming in and out of the unwanted home, with large black sheets covering its windows and the sound of renovation work echoing down the street.

One worker, from a company called Sitek Joinery, explained the house would be back on sale as soon as his team left the site.

He told the Daily Mail: ‘We’ve been here two months.

‘There were moths here when we arrived. They had been clearing them out and they ended up clearing them all out.

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William Woodward-Fisher, pictured outside London’s High Court this year, is planning to put his doomed west London mansion back on the market just months after his previous buyers bagged a £33million refund because it was invaded by moths

‘We’re here for four or five more weeks.

The owner [William Woodward-Fisher] is putting the house on the market. It will go up after we’re done here.

‘We’re just plasterboarding, sanding doing stuff like that.

‘We’re doing up the swimming pool and gym too.’

But neighbours, still reeling from a miserable moth ordeal which spread to their homes, reckon he has no chance of finding a buyer.

A man living opposite revealed that things were better in the old days and that the pest infestation had spread to his own house.

The neighbour, who has been in the same place for 35 years, said: ‘It used to be beautiful. Edward Grosvenor had it and it was just that one building.

‘Then the rest was added on.

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Now the Daily Mail can reveal Mr Woodward-Fisher is having another go at flogging the place, with new pictures showing extensive building work taking place at the property and black sheets covering the windows

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A group of builders regularly come in and out of the unwanted home, with loud construction sounds echoing down the sleepy London street

‘They are clearly trying to sell it but it will be hard.

‘They also now have someone in residence just there on the top floor.

They moved in with their daughter, now 16, 14-year-old son and labrador Loki – after ‘years searching for the perfect home’… but it turned into a nightmare

Mr Woodward-Fisher denied all claims, insisting that he gave honest and full replies on the pre-sale enquiries form, and that as far as he knew any previous moth problems had been eliminated by the time of the move.

Giving his judgment, Mr Justice Fancourt said Dr Hunyak had at times ‘exaggerated’ the extent of ongoing problems, but found that Mr Woodward-Fisher had given ‘false’ answers in the pre-contract questions.

‘I do not find that he was consciously trying to deceive the claimants,’ the judge said.

‘He simply wanted to sell the house and move on. As he admitted in cross-examination, disclosure of the infestation would likely have caused the sale to go off, and he would have been left needing to move out of the house and do expensive works to remove all the woollen insulation.

‘In my judgment, Mr Woodward-Fisher was hoping that the problem might have gone away and he was willing to take the risk that he was wrong about that.

‘He stated that he was unaware of any defect in the property that was not apparent on inspection…that was false, because the infested condition of the insulation in the floor voids and internal walls of the house was such a defect.’

A spokeswoman for Woodward-Fisher said at the time that he ‘strongly disputes the claims being reported regarding the recent High Court judgment’.

She said: ‘Whilst respecting the court’s findings, it is essential to clarify several points.

‘Mr Woodward-Fisher believes he acted in good faith and relied on legal advice during the sale process. He used a professionally recommended, warrantied moth-proof insulation.

‘Claims that the living space was “crawling with moths” do not reflect the evidence or findings during the trial and appear designed to sensationalise the issue.

‘Expert testimony confirmed that the infestation was primarily hidden behind walls in the insulation and was not readily visible.

‘The argument over whether moths are “vermin” reflects a technical and subjective legal interpretation.

‘Mr Woodward-Fisher’s understanding was supported by legal advice at the time, and he was entitled to rely on this.

‘The court acknowledged that the claimants resided in and made extensive use of the property for nearly six years, as reflected in the judgment’s financial adjustments.

‘This undermines the claims about the property’s condition.

‘Mr Woodward-Fisher intends to seek permission to appeal.’