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Grade-II listed house, Witanhurst is set on Highgate Hill, in five acres of grounds. The house is the second largest in London, behind Buckingham Palace, but has been largely empty in recent years, though it was used for some periods as the base for the BBC reality TV show Fame Academy. However, despite the fact that it is falling into disrepair and English Heritage has placed it on its ‘at risk’ register, it was sold five weeks ago for £32m.

Even more amazing is the fact that new owner Marcus Cooper has now put the house back on the market for £75m. When he bought the house property developer Mr Cooper promised to spend millions restoring the Queen Anne-style house to its original majesty, and he hoped to re-sell it for £150m.

Now, however, he has instructed Knight Frank to put it on the market once again. Mr Cooper said: “We are working up a scheme for the restoration and development of Witanhurst and are putting together a team including architects, historic buildings advisers and quantity surveyors. We are, however, aware of interest in the building in its current condition and have set a guide price of £75m should our agents receive enquiries.”

Buying a property and then quickly selling it again is known as ‘flipping’. In a strong market, people who do this can make hundreds of thousands of pounds in a few months. One recent example has been at Arsenal’s old stadium at Highbury. People who reserved flats in the new development on the site only a year ago could now sell them for double the price.

Director of research at estate agency Savills, Lucian Cook, said: “Flipping is a sign of a strong market. It has been common practice in the past two years in London, particularly on new property, where serial flippers have benefited from incentives offered by developers looking to sell off-plan as early as possible and then from the rising market. However, the recent volatility in the financial markets means flipping now carries more risk. Speculators must either do something to the property or be confident the demand from overseas buyers will continue to push prices up at the same pace.”