Fundraising page set up to buy Katie Hopkins' house and give it to asylum seekers

A crowdfunding page has been set up to raise money to outrightly purchase Katie Hopkins' house and use the luxurious property as a home for refugees or asylum seekers.

The controversial columnist has been forced to put her million pound mansion in Exeter on the market after losing a libel case to food writer and poverty campaigner Jack Monroe.

Hopkins, who was refused permission to appeal in the legal battle earlier in January, was ordered to pay Monroe £24,000 in damages last March after the High Court ruled comments the right wing commentator made on Twitter were defamatory.

In a May 2015 post, Hopkins appeared to imply Monroe had defaced or vandalised war memorials, which Hopkins later said was a case of mistaken identity and was incorrect. The dispute stems from a series of public Twitter messages exchanged between the pair after a monument to the women of World War II in central London was vandalised with the words “F*ck Tory scum” during an anti-austerity demonstration in Whitehall.

An advert for Hopkins’ five bedroom semi-detached house in St Leonards has now appeared on property website RightMove and is listed as costing £950,000.

“The property has been lovingly enhanced by the current owners including a stunning family room with quality kitchen and separate utility,” reads the listing. “Three separate reception rooms plus a handy downstairs cloakroom with shower. The bedrooms are all generous in size and all enjoy a recently refitted family bathroom on the first floor.”

“The top floor consists of a large double bedroom with a dressing room plus a bathroom. Outside is reasonably private with a 'country cottage' courtyard to the year. Gated drive for two vehicles and a double garage.”

But there is now a chance Hopkins’ home could be used to house refugees or asylum seekers if the fundraising page set up raises enough money.

“Katie Hopkins has been forced to put her £1m mansion up for sale after losing a highly expensive libel case,” reads the GoFundMe site.

“We all know Hopkins’ disgusting views on immigrants and refugees, so the plan my good people, is to buy Katie Hopkins family home and use it to either house refugees or asylum seekers.

“This would be a great victory for the people of this country because as we all know, this vile bigot has had far too much air time and drastically needs taking down a peg or two.”

The page explains that if the target sum is not reached then all funds will either be refunded or given to a charity that helps refugees.

“I will take a poll once the campaign is finished and post an update containing the link,” it reads. “If similar pages are started but are more successful, then we will consider the greater good and potentially donate whatever is raised on this page. Individuals can also send me a message for a refund if we are unsuccessful in acquiring Hopkins’ home.”

“Let's get sharing and make this viral! The chance to actually help people in need and to destabilise rancid Hopkins’ racist platform is surely worth it!”

The page, which has been shared more than 3,500 times, has only amassed £2,867 of its £950,000 goal, but had only been established for a day at the time of writing.

Hopkins, a former The Apprentice contestant known for her incendiary, xenophobic, anti-immigrant views, has been forced to cough up the complete costs of the libel case. This includes £24,000 in damages to Monroe and £107,000 to her lawyers to cover court costs.

Monroe, who gained prominence for blogging about cooking on a budget, previously told The Independent she was very grateful the case was now totally over.

The food writer, who is from Leigh-on-Sea, Essex and identifies as non-binary, said: “I’m extremely relieved that this long and exhausting case is finally over, as the practical, mental and emotional work involved has had an enormously detrimental impact on my work over the last two years.

“I feel I can finally move on. I found it bizarre that her lawyers would even consider that she might have grounds for appeal, considering she didn’t even turn up to the trial.

“I am proud to be part of a landmark legal case that demonstrates the accountability we must take for the consequences of our words, even on social media. I’m sober now, so will be celebrating by laying a new kitchen floor, and this whole thing to bed at last.”

It was announced Hopkins contract with the Mail Online “was not renewed by mutual consent” last November. This came months after Hopkins agreed to leave her job as a host on LBC radio in May after she tweeted a call for a “final solution” to Islamist terrorism in the wake of the Manchester arena attack.

Hopkins left The Sun in 2015 after writing a column that compared migrants to “cockroaches” and ”feral humans” and said they were “spreading like the norovirus”. The Devon-born columnist became the subject of a petition calling for her to be sacked.

Hopkins recently joined far right Canadian website the Rebel Media, where Tommy Robinson, the former English Defence League leader, is also a contributor. She will pen a regular column via a new website called Hopkins World and will also contribute investigative pieces and video commentaries.

The Independent contacted a representative of Hopkins for comment about the fundraising campaign.