Ed Sheeran paid cash for all $70M properties in UK as he didn't want any mortage: 'He just bought it outright'
Singer Ed Sheeran, who was once homeless and often slept near Buckingham Palace or in trains, is currently the owner of a nearly $70 million property empire across the United Kingdom, without owing a penny in mortgage to the bank. According to The Sun, the 'Perfect' singer paid cash for the 22 properties he owns in London and Suffolk because he wanted to save himself from taking out a string of mortgages at the bank.
Sheeran, who has an estimated net worth of $244 million, dished out $24 million for his house in London’s trendy Notting Hill as well as $4.8 million for two neighboring properties. For his restaurant Bertie Blossoms on Portobello Road, he paid $1.8 million in cash.
His Sheeranville estate in his home town in rural Suffolk consists of five houses, all of which cost him a total of $4.8 million in hard money. The first one was built in 2012, costing him a little over a million. Some of his other properties include places at Covent Garden in central London and a pair of flats next to Battersea Dogs and Cats Home in south London. Some of the properties were purchased through Maverick Properties, the company Sheeran set up with manager Stuart Camp in 2015.
“He has a great portfolio of properties and he owns the lot free and clear. There was no need to borrow the cash from a lender because he already had it. Some people have the cash tied up so need to raise a mortgage but Ed has piles of the cash in the bank so there was no point in letting a bank earn money by lending him the money. He just bought them outright," an insider said.
It is hard to believe that Sheeran, whose recent Divide tour had a turnover of $600 million, was once struggling to make it big in London and spent nearly three years without a shelter over his head. In his book, 'A Visual Journey,' Sheeran describes how he slept close to Buckingham Palace and on the London Underground.
"I didn’t have anywhere to live for much of 2008 and the whole of 2009 and 2010, but somehow I made it work. I knew where I could get a bed at a certain time of night and I knew who I could call at any time to get a floor to sleep on. Being sociable helped. Drinking helped. I spent a week catching up on sleep on Circle Line trains. I’d go out and play a gig, wait until 5 am when the Underground opened, sleep on the Circle Line until 12, go to a session – and then repeat. It wasn’t that bad. It’s not like I was sleeping rough on the cold streets," he wrote.
Sheeran is currently taking a break from making music. He was currently placed on the top spot of Sunday Times Richest Musicians Under 30 2020, which consists of all the musicians aged under 30. Sheeran has beat musicians including Harry Styles, Sam Smith, George Ezra among many others.