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Myanmar’s authorities have once again put ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s lakeside mansion up for auction – marking the fourth time it has failed to attract any bidders.
Ms Suu Kyi’s colonial-styled private villa near Yangon’s scenic Inya lake is a historic landmark.
Located on University Avenue, the two-storey house spread across 1.9 acres (7,700sqm), is where she spent nearly 15 years under house arrest and became a global icon of non-violent resistance, for which she earned the Nobel Peace Prize.
On Tuesday, a court-appointed auctioneer emerged from the rusty gates of the mansion to start the bidding with starting price of 270 billion kyats (£102m) – a value that has reduced with each attempt to sell it off, falling from the initial £113.6m court-ordered asking price last year.
The auctioneer raised the bids three times as per protocol but received no offers, before declaring, “We hereby announce that the auction is not successful”.
The auction was conducted in front of journalists and police outside the Yangon mansion, which once served as an unofficial headquarters for Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party.
Ms Suu Kyi remains in solitary confinement with her whereabouts unknown at the hands of ruling military junta since February 2021, the day when her democratically elected government was overthrown in a military coup.
She was detained along with dozens of other leaders and activists, and a court later handed her a combined 27-year sentence after convicting her on a string of criminal charges that her supporters say were fabricated to discredit her.
The property was given decades ago by the government to Ms Suu Kyi’s mother, Khin Kyi, after her husband, independence hero General Aung San, was assassinated in July 1947. However, the property has remained in the midst of political and legal dispute after her estranged elder brother Aung San Oo mounted a legal challenge for a share in it. He successfully petitioned the court in 2019 to authorise the sale of the property and to claim an equal share of the proceeds.
Despite several attempts to auction the property, the house has struggled to find a buyer, partly due to its political significance and the broader instability in Myanmar following the 2021 military coup.
The junta has remained silent on the matter, but the repeated auctions are seen by some as a desperate attempt to erase Ms Suu Kyi's legacy, especially as she remains imprisoned following a series of convictions widely viewed as politically motivated.
The auction was also challenged by the shadow government formed in Myanmar after the 2021 military coup that is coordinating opposition to the military government.
Duwa Lashi La, acting president of the National Unity Government, declared that the property is a cultural heritage site and prohibited its sale or destruction.
The house, which Ms Suu Kyi used for political work, saw a series of landmark visits from foreign leaders, including leaders such as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, as well as former UN secretary-general general Ban Ki-moon.
The first attempt to auction the house failed in March 2024 followed by a second in August in the same year. The third auction bid happened in February 2025 before the latest again failed.
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