JLS star Oritsé Williams former mansion which was ravaged by fire is being redeveloped into a luxury home, MailOnline can reveal.
The singer made a loss of £2.5 million after selling his Croydon mansion for just £500,000 four years ago.
Oritsé purchased the mansion, once owned by comedian Ronnie Corbett, for £3milllion more than ten years ago. However, five years ago a devastating fire destroyed the property in a suspected arson attack.
Aerial photographs previously taken in 2020 showed the decrepit mansion with a collapsed roof, blown out windows and gutted interior.
Now new owners have taken on the property with photos showing the home rising from the ashes.
The exterior of the property is being completely rebuilt with new modern windows fitted whilst the burnt out roof has been restored with elegant maroon tiling.
Solar panels have also been fitted to the sprawling property which is currently a building site.
Previously, the roof of the house had been completely gutted by fire, the house was covered in black mould and grass could be seen growing through the carpet of the hallway staircase.
The outdoor swimming pool also appears to be undergoing redevelopment alongside parts of the back garden.
Meanwhile, construction materials can be seen piled on the ground which surrounds the mansion as the new owners put their stamp on the property.
Planning applications seen by MailOnline show the property includes a games room, shrine and cinema in the new renovation plans.
A first application was lodged for alterations including the erection of a rear roof extension. This saw the roof restored after the property was impacted by fire.
A second application proposed the erection of single-storey rear extension and the erection of new pool house. This was refused by London Borough of Croydon who branded it ‘inappropriate development’.
The new owners then lodged a third development application for a new single storey extension.
Councillor Robert Ward, who represents Selsdon and Addington Village on Croydon Council, said that he ‘was pleased’ to see the property being brought back to life after being left ‘derelict for some time.’
Urban explorer Colin Smith, 36, from Hampshire, previously explored the £3million Croydon property in 2020.
Footage taken by Mr Smith at the time shows the kitchen fitted with top of the range solid marble countertops whilst the living room boasted an ornate fireplace.
Meanwhile, a safe for valuables which survived the fire was left abandoned in one of the many utility rooms of the three-storey property. The photos also showed that the upstairs bedrooms had been completely gutted by fire.
In addition, the home featured a hot tub in the bedroom and a ping pong table in the garden.
Around 70 firefighters were called to tackle the huge blaze at the property in June 2019, but they could do nothing to prevent the three-storey property’s roof being destroyed. No one was injured in the inferno.
Police launched an investigation into the cause of the blaze, after revealing they were treating the fire as suspicious.
Despite the police probe in relation to the fire being a potential arson attack, no one was ever arrested in connection with the incident and the investigation was closed.
Following the fire, Ronnie Corbett’s widow said she has been left devastated.
Anne Hart, 87, said she had been thinking about buying back the mansion she shared with the comedian for 33 years, before it was destroyed in the blaze.
Reacting to the fire at her old home, Anne said: ‘I’m heartbroken and Ronnie would be too.’
Oritse bought the six-bedroom home for £3 million with his then-girlfriend AJ Azari more than a decade ago.
Five years later he put it on the market at a knock-down price of £1.75million after he was charged with rape.
Williams was charged with raping a fan in his hotel room in Wolverhampton in 2018 but was acquitted by a jury in the summer of 2019.
He had been accused of launching a sex attack on a tattoo artist fan at a hotel room, after allegedly plying her and two friends with alcohol on December 2, 2016.
Friend and tour manager Jamien Nagadhana was also charged with sexual touching and assault by penetration of the same woman at the pair’s room in Wolverhampton’s Ramada Hotel.
A jury of eight women and four men took two hours and 17 minutes to find Oritse and Jamien not guilty of all charges following a trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court.
The once lavish home, in Croydon, south London fell into a state of disrepair after it was sold to Oritse.
