'I don’t think we’ll be going for a viewing': Flat where 'Muswell Hill Murderer' and necrophile Dennis Nilsen killed and disposed of 12 victims goes up for sale for £425,000
The infamous ground floor flat at 195 Melrose Avenue is the second property to have belonged to the notorious murderer to have come up on the housing market in the last month
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A flat in north London where serial-killing necrophile Dennis Nilsen butchered 12 victims and disposed of their bodies is the second property to have belonged to the 'Muswell Hill Murderer' to hit the housing market this summer.
The brochure advertising the flat calls it: "An excellent two bedroom ground floor flat in Willesden Green benefitting from a bright and airy interior throughout, lovely private garden with conservatory and a location ideal for local amenities."
But the Melrose Avenue flat on offer also comes equipped with its own grizzly recent history, which estate agents the estate agents fails to mention in its brochure.
“We just phoned up the estate agent and they said it was for sale,” the prospective buyer, who wished not to be named, told The Independent.
“Then they asked if we knew the history of the house. We said no and then they admitted the house used to belong to Dennis Nilsen.”
Melrose Avenue, number 195, now on offer for £425,000 was the scene of no less than 12 murders between 1978 and 1981, all committed at the hands of notorious serial killer and necrophile.
Not only did the flat play host to Nilsen’s murdered victims - mostly homeless, gay men that had been lured back with the promise of food, alcohol and shelter - its private garden was also the place where the serial killer built bonfires to dispose of the bodies he had dismembered and kept stored underneath his floorboards.
Nilsen, who is currently serving a life sentence in a maximum security prison in Yorkshire, admitted to having engaged in sexual acts with the corpses of his victims.
Dubbed the ‘Muswell Hill Murderer’ when his crimes came to light in 1983, Nilsen also said he dumped the entrails of his victims over the garden fence to be eaten by wildlife.
Incredible though it seems, Melrose Avenue is not the first property to have belonged to Dennis Nilsen to have come up on the housing market this summer. An advertisement for Flat 23D Cranley Gardens, also situated in leafy Muswell Hill, has an ominous warning note appended to it, stating: ‘Buyers are asked to research the history of this property’.
The Cranley Gardens property is being sold at bargain price. While similar houses in the area are listed for over £385,000, Nilsen’s old home has already been slashed from its cheap original asking price of £265,000 down to £240,000.
In contrast, the couple who had been considering viewing 195 Melrose Avenue told The Independent that they were surprised it had not been “massively reduced”. A property on the same road, also advertised by Parkinson Farr estate agents, who are selling the flat, has an asking price of £440,000.
When contacted Parkinson Farr declined to comment.
The couple told The Independent that they were “not still interested” in the house and were looking elsewhere for a property to purchase.
In the US, several states have strict laws regarding the disclosure of information that may affect the future price of a property. California requires sellers to reveal "anything material" that might affect value.
On 7 August the house in Cleveland, Ohio where Ariel Castro held three local women hostage for a decade was pulled to the ground by a local demolition company.