Would you buy novichok spy Sergei Skripal’s house?

Would you buy novichok spy Sergei Skripal’s house? Council buy poisoned Russian agent’s decontaminated home after 13,000 hours of cleaning and plan to sell it as residential property

  • Sergei Skripal’s four-bedroom detached house has been bought by Wiltshire Council 
  • It has been lying empty since the assassination attempt with Novichok on Mr Skripal, 69, and his daughter 
  • It was bought for £260,000 on August 12, 2011, before the Novichok attack, according to the Land Registry

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The home of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal has been bought by Wiltshire Council.

The infamous four-bedroom detached house in Salisbury has been lying empty since the assassination attempt with Novichok on Mr Skripal, 69, and his daughter three years ago.

The council yesterday said it will ‘rebuild and refurbish’ the property, which boasts a new bathroom suite, two reception rooms and a 22ft lounge, to allow it to be used again as a home – but nobody will be allowed ‘to trade on its history’.

The house was bought for £260,000 on August 12, 2011, before the Novichok attack, according to the Land Registry. 

A council spokesman said: ‘Wiltshire Council has agreed to purchase 47 Christie Miller Road, Salisbury to enable the property to be brought back into use.

‘Once refurbished it will then be offered as a shared ownership property to local residents in line with the council’s affordable housing policies with a legal stipulation that it must be used as a residential property that it may not be sub let and that nobody can trade on its history.’

Reports say it took a total of 13,000 hours to sanitise the 13 sites around Salisbury contaminated by the nerve agent. The house was the last to be pronounced decontaminated.

Pictured: Police officers stand outside the home of Sergei Skripal on March 6, 2018. Circled: The infected door handle

The infamous four-bedroom detached house in Salisbury has been lying empty since the assassination attempt with Novichok on Mr Skripal, 69, and his daughter three years ago (pictured: one of the bedrooms)

The infamous four-bedroom detached house in Salisbury has been lying empty since the assassination attempt with Novichok on Mr Skripal, 69, and his daughter three years ago (pictured: one of the bedrooms) 

The home was finally declared safe enough for him to sell in September 2019 - 18 months after Novichok was smeared across the letterbox (pictured: The living room)

The home was finally declared safe enough for him to sell in September 2019 – 18 months after Novichok was smeared across the letterbox (pictured: The living room) 

Ex-double agent Skripal was left in a critical condition when his Salisbury home was contaminated with nerve agent on March 4 2018 (pictured: The kitchen)n

Ex-double agent Skripal was left in a critical condition when his Salisbury home was contaminated with nerve agent on March 4 2018 (pictured: The kitchen)n 

The home was finally declared safe enough for him to sell in September 2019 – 18 months after Novichok was smeared across the letterbox.

Ex-double agent Skripal was left in a critical condition when his Salisbury home was contaminated with nerve agent on March 4 2018. 

He and his daughter, then 33, were poisoned in a suspected attack by Russian spies. 

But a year and a half later the house in Wiltshire was decontaminated and refurbished ready for it to be put up for sale. 

It is believed Mr Skripal, who was moved to a secret hideout following the attacks, has been advised not to return for security reasons.  

The Salisbury home of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal (pictured in 2019) was declared safe enough for him to sell 18 months after Novichok was smeared across his letterbox

The Salisbury home of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal (pictured in 2019) was declared safe enough for him to sell 18 months after Novichok was smeared across his letterbox

Sergei and Yulia Skripal are pictured in a Salisbury restaurant together before they were poisoned

Sergei and Yulia Skripal are pictured in a Salisbury restaurant together before they were poisoned 

The site was declared chemically safe in March, but has now been refurbished and is ready for sale. Pictured in January 2019

The site was declared chemically safe in March, but has now been refurbished and is ready for sale. Pictured in January 2019 

Charlie Rowley

Dawn Sturgess

Three months after the Skripals were targeted, Dawn Sturgess (right) and Charlie Rowley (left) fell ill seven miles away from Salisbury in Amesbury after coming into contact with the same nerve agent 

Officials were said to have made effort to ensure the site doesn’t become a ‘dark tourism’ hot spot or turn into a museum. 

The house had been officially decontaminated in March 2019, but extensive work has since been carried out to restore the property to its former state.  

A footpath feared poisoned by the Novichok attack was re-opened. Police believed the alleged hit men had used the footpath and may have left traces of the deadly nerve agent on it.

Three months after the Skripals were targeted, Dawn Sturgess and Charlie Rowley fell ill seven miles away from Salisbury in Amesbury.

Ms Sturgess later died after spraying a perfume bottle contaminated with the same nerve agent on her wrist, given to her by Mr Rowley.

Wiltshire Police Sergeant Nick Bailey was also taken to hospital after coming into contact with the deadly substance, but was later discharged.