Helen Flanagan's money woes deepen: Actress knocked another £50,000 off price of marital home she shared with ex Scott Sinclair to finally sell it

When and Scott Sinclair moved into a spectacular six-bedroom mansion five years ago, they set up a special social media account documenting how they were going about creating their dream ‘forever’ home.

The couple posted a series of interior design and styling updates on an page called ’the Sinclair home’ – from the creation of a Harry Potter-themed playroom for their children to how a £15,000 sofa had been lovingly reupholstered in ‘beautiful dove grey’.

The sofa would later become a major bone of contention between the former celebrity couple after their 13-year relationship ended just a year after they moved into the property, which Sinclair had bought in June 2021 for £840,000.

Amid a decline in the couple’s fortunes and an increasingly acrimonious split, ex-footballer Sinclair, 37, is said to have stepped in to block the sale of the settee after former star Helen put it up for grabs on Instagram for £3,950.

The sofa has reportedly been placed with much of their other furniture in storage as the warring couple continue to argue over details following their split.

The episode highlighted the financial woes and the toxic nature of the relationship between the glamour couple who had previously given insights into their jet-set lifestyle in social media posts and glossy magazine photoshoots.

By the time their relationship unravelled, Helen – who was once worth a reported £3.5million – revealed she was struggling financially as a single mother, claiming she could not afford taxis to take her son to nursery.

As the pair moved on with their lives, they appeared to have taken a major step forward when their home was finally sold just weeks ago.

But it came after a series of significant price drops.

And now the Daily Mail can reveal the deal was worth tens of thousands of pounds less than had previously been thought.

The mansion – which is set in a picturesque Lancashire village of Belmont – was put up for sale for £1.5million in May 2025.

In a sign that they were looking for a quick sale, the asking price was dramatically reduced to £1.195million after just four weeks on the market.

But the property failed to attract buyers despite Helen, 35, reportedly ploughing £150,000 of her own money into renovating the massive 5,000 sq ft, three storey mansion.

The price was slashed again to £995,000, a reduction of more than a third of the original valuation, and finally sold in May – a year after going on the market.

But the sale only went through after a further £50,000 was knocked off the price tag, new documents reveal.

Land Registry records show the house was snapped up by a couple who run a property management company for just £945,000.

While it’s unclear what financial arrangements are in place between the couple, it seems Sinclair was the driving force behind the sale.

He paid for the property in cash and was the sole registered owner and, despite their lengthy relationship, the couple were never married.

When mother-of-three Helen began overseeing the personal touches on their dream home, she explained the couple had always previously rented homes, with Sinclair moving around the country playing for different football teams.

She went on to make it clear she wasn’t happy about moving after investing so much love – and money – into the property.

Helen said last year: ‘It actually makes me sad that I'm going to be leaving soon because I actually put so much effort into it.

‘When we moved I put a lot of my savings into doing the house up and making it look really beautiful.’

A friend of Helen’s added at the time: 'Scott pays for the house and all the bills and he's decided a six-bedroom place is way too big for Helen on her own with the kids.

'But Helen doesn't want to move and is digging her heels in. She loves the place, the kids are settled at the local school and her mum and dad live around the corner.

'Scott wants to buy Helen a four-bedroom home. He's even offered to put it in her name but wants to stop the maintenance payments.’

When the move finally happened, the former couple seemed to be in good spirits as they were reunited to oversee the property being emptied by removal men.

Helen wrote on Instagram: ‘I really, really didn’t want to move and cried loads at the end of April.

‘But it’s a fresh start now and I’m being positive and it’s going to be fresh energy and new beginnings!’

But a friend said: ‘Helen said she wasn’t planning to talk to Scott or even look him in the eye, things between them are still toxic. All the conversations about moving and the furniture have mostly been over email.

‘Scott is relieved the house has finally sold, but Helen is in limbo at the moment.’

Helen is thought to have been staying with relatives while she organises a rental property in the area.

In a thinly-veiled dig at her ex, she went on to post that it had ‘always been just us four’ – referring to herself and her children.

She wrote: ‘Saying goodbye to our beautiful home (Charlie obviously playing up).

'It's always been just us, just us four. I feel like I really found myself in this house and it's been special.

'There are no words for how much I love you babies and I will always teach you about what is important in life and what's not and about having morals and integrity and living your lives authentically and being true to yourselves.

'My relationships with all three of them will always be my priority and always will be to my last breath.

'There is nothing I wouldn't do for you three x Mummy's always got it, always x.'

Despite the posting, there had been a time when the couple seemed to have it all.

They enjoyed a fabulous lifestyle after meeting in 2009 when Helen was just 19 and starring as Rosie Webster in Coronation Street.

Helen, who was born in Bury, landed the role as a nine-year-old after previously featuring in adverts for Fairy Liquid and Daz.

She reportedly earned £400 an episode for her early occasional appearances which featured little dialogue.

But during her 12 years on the soap, Helen would go on to become one of the street’s most recognisable characters – earning £120,000-a-year and featuring in a number of dramatic storylines including her affair and subsequent abduction by serial killer teacher John Stape.

Sinclair was playing at Birmingham City when they met and after high profile signings for Chelsea, Manchester City and Celtic was reportedly earning up to £55,000-a-week.

But despite making nearly 500 league appearances during a 21-year career, Sinclair ended up as something of a journeyman footballer appearing for 14 different clubs.

He ended his career at Bristol Rovers, which was also the first team he signed for, bringing home a far more modest pay packet estimated at £2,600-a-week.

His contract was not renewed when the club was relegated to the fourth tier of the football league in May 2025 and although he has not officially announced his retirement he has not played since.

After leaving Coronation Street in 2012 to pursue other interests, Helen was reportedly paid £150,000 later that year after she appeared as a contestant on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here.

She went on to combine her career with raising a family after the couple became parents to their three children – daughters Matilda, 11, and Delilah, eight and son Charlie, five.

Despite appearances in reality TV shows, pantomime, brand partnerships and modelling work, Helen shocked fans when her fragile finances were laid bare during her appearance before magistrates in January last year after she was caught speeding twice and failing to give information relating to the identification of a driver.

Helen told the court that due to the remote location of her home she would ‘really struggle without a car’ saying she would not be able to pay £10 fares to take her son to nursery.

She said: ‘My job really is being a mum at home. Their dad works away. It's really difficult at the moment now for me to be earning money.

‘I earn money on social media but it kind of varies what I earn.’

She added: ‘I think there might be a perception maybe that I would easily be able to afford a driver but that's quite far from the case.

‘I’ve got enough money in my account to pay off my tax and my VAT and basically that's about it.’

Despite her pleas that being without a car would cause ‘exceptional hardship’, Helen was banned from the road for six months as well as being ordered to pay a £2,000 fine, £800 victim surcharge and £110 prosecution costs.

Then as the move came, she announced the sale of her sofa, along with the rest of the furniture, saying in a video: ‘So I’m just going to sell everything.

‘I worked with interior designers on my house, I actually spent all my savings… I spent all my savings doing up a house that isn’t actually under my name, I don’t recommend that!’

Helen continued: ‘Anyway, so yeah I spent a lot of money so I’m just going to sell it, I’m going to put it on Instagram and work it that way.’

Perhaps, highlighting how variable Helen’s earnings can be, the latest set of accounts of her company HJF Darling Ltd showed she had an income last year of £126,597 with total assets less liabilities standing at £85,446.