R. Kelly (WENN.COM)

R&B star R. Kelly’s Illinois home has been sold at a foreclosure auction for a fraction of the $3.5 million he built it for.

The I Believe I Can Fly hitmaker purchased the six bedroom, eight bathroom mansion in 1997, but bank bosses took legal action against the singer in 2011 after he allegedly failed to keep up with his mortgage payments.

Kelly tried and failed to sell the house for $1.6 million before financial executives reclaimed the property, which also boasts an indoor pool, theatre room and a private lake. It went under the hammer on Monday and was snapped up for just $950,000, reports TMZ.com.

The news will come as a blow to the star, who has struggled with money issues in recent years - in September, he was accused of failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes, adding to his existing debt of more than $4.8 million with America's Internal Revenue Service.