Dragons' Den star Steven Bartlett set to double his money on £8.5million Cape Town property as locals accuse him of 'flipping' the home and driving up house prices

By DOLLY BUSBY, SHOWBUSINESS REPORTER Published: 23:29, 8 August 2026 | Updated: 23:33, 8 August 2026 Private Eye mocks him as the 'king of self-mythologisation' because of his boasts about his lucrative business ventures. But there is one enterprise that BBC Dragons' Den star Steven Bartlett is less vocal about - upsetting the locals in South Africa by driving up property prices. The Mail on Sunday can reveal the Diary Of A CEO podcast host bought a £3.8 million property in Cape Town, spent two years doing it up, and is now selling it for more than double the price at £8.5 million. The 33-year-old, worth more than £37 million, bought the seven-bedroom mega-mansion on the slopes of Table Mountain in Bishopscourt in 2024. He rented it out to Warner Bros International productions to film parts of Germany's version of reality show The Bachelor and added features such as a padel court alongside the swimming pool, home cinema and spa. But the Botswana-born businessman has come under some scrutiny from angry residents who accuse him of 'flipping' - buying a house and fixing it up before selling it quickly for an inflated profit. Resident Sedick Dawood said: 'I love Steven, but here again Cape Town is being bought by foreigners, under the guise of 'foreign investment', but in reality pushing up property prices for citizens.' Dragons' Den star and Diary Of A CEO host Steven Bartlett bought a seven-bedroom Cape Town mansion in 2024 for £3.8 million, spent two years renovating it (adding features like a padel court), and is now selling it for £8.5 million South African residents and social media commentators have criticized the move, accusing him of house-flipping and driving up local property prices, making the area unaffordable for locals under the guise of foreign investment When the house recently went up for sale, one person on social media said: 'We are unable to enjoy or afford to enjoy our own land because of foreign demand.' It is unclear if 'flipping' the house was Mr Bartlett's intention all along. A friend of his said: 'Steven loves the place in South Africa, but he's just not able to visit it enough. His business has expanded so much - with offices in the US as well as the UK - that most of his time is taken up criss-crossing the Atlantic.' The friend added that Mr Bartlett was able to be there for only four weeks last year so it 'just doesn't make any sense to keep it'. His spokesman declined to comment.