A block of flats, which tenants were told to abandon because of their squalid state, has been put on the market for £5.5 million - as the firm behind it is put into administration.

Eastern Daily Press: Mould at St Faith's Lane apartments in Norwich in 2018. It has since undergone renovation work. Photo: ArchantMould at St Faith's Lane apartments in Norwich in 2018. It has since undergone renovation work. Photo: Archant (Image: Archant)

The city council ordered all 25 tenants to leave the apartments at 60 St Faith's Lane in Norwich city centre in October 2018 for their own safety.

The order came after months of complaints about the state of electrics and heating as well as mould in the flats off Prince of Wales Road.

The council ordered the tenants out after the landlord, Faiths Lane Apartments Ltd, failed to carry out improvement work which the council had requested.

This newspaper first reported problems faced by tenants in October 2017.

Eastern Daily Press: The advert on Rightmove for the St Faith's Lane flats. Image: AbbotFox/RightmoveThe advert on Rightmove for the St Faith's Lane flats. Image: AbbotFox/Rightmove (Image: Archant)

And when this newspaper visited the flats last year amid a spate of complaints, the walls in one corridor were covered with mould.

Meanwhile the landlords - married couple Nick and Ayse Sutton - are millionaire property developers, connected to the Turkish Royal family.

Ayse, whose maiden name is Osmanoglu, is a princess of the Turkish Royal Family which once ruled the Ottoman Empire.

She describes herself as an interior designer and calls herself Princess Ayse Sutton on Companies House where she is a director and shareholder, along with her husband, of a firm called Imperial Property Company (Holdings) Ltd.

Eastern Daily Press: Nick Sutton, director of Faiths Lane Apartments, which owns the flats at 60 St Faith's Lane. Norwich. Photo: Twitter screenshotNick Sutton, director of Faiths Lane Apartments, which owns the flats at 60 St Faith's Lane. Norwich. Photo: Twitter screenshot (Image: Twitter)

That firm was the majority shareholder of Faiths Lane Apartments Ltd which owns the Norwich flats and has now been put into administration.

The block has been empty all year and the ground floor windows have been boarded up while refurbishment work takes place.

The property is now being marketed by abbotFox as a "significant investment opportunity".

The advert states that the 47 "serviced apartments" have a potential income of £870,000 a year.

Eastern Daily Press: Mould at St Faith's Lane apartments last year. Photo: ArchantMould at St Faith's Lane apartments last year. Photo: Archant (Image: Archant)

That would mean each apartment would need to be let at £18,000 a year or £1,500 a month.

The advert says the building is "undergoing a comprehensive refurbishment" and adds that the building would be valued at £6m with residential use.

The property was bought for £515,000 in 2012 by Faiths Lane Apartments Limited.