Video: Mystery deal for Savile’s penthouse apartment

A deal for the penthouse flat in Roundhay was reported to be nearing completion in early December.

At that stage, the flat was still listed as a £325,000 property for sale on the website of Leeds-based Alan Cooke Estate Agents. Now, however, it has been removed from the site.

A source close to negotiations over the property yesterday said: “Yes, I think it has been sold.”

Documents lodged with the Land Registry still show disgraced star Savile as the owner of the property.

The Land Registry said yesterday that details of a change of ownership could still be going through its system.

A spokeswoman also said there was no time limit on how long a registered property’s buyer could wait before letting the organisation know about a change of ownership.

Alan Cooke Estate Agents yesterday declined to comment.

Savile bought the Roundhay flat at the height of his fame in the 1970s. He died at the property in October 2011, aged 84.

Proceeds from its sale will go to Savile’s £4.3m estate, which has been frozen by his executor, NatWest Bank, ahead of possible damages claims by victims following his exposure as a serial child abuser.

A joint Scotland Yard and NSPCC report last week branded Leeds-born Savile one of the UK’s most prolific known sexual predators. It contained details of more than 200 offences allegedly carried out by the TV and radio host during a campaign of abuse spanning six decades.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission yesterday confirmed it was reviewing the Scotland Yard and NSPCC report.

It said it was also looking at a separate report issued last week by Surrey Police.

The Surrey report said Savile boasted about his links to senior police officers in Leeds while he was being investigated over child sex allegations in 2009.

It also said an unnamed officer from West Yorkshire Police contacted the Surrey force on Savile’s behalf during the investigation.

• The video accompanying this article was first published in early 2012