Rumours that David Beckham has bought a trendy 'shack' in a notorious Rio de Janeiro slum have driven up house prices and turned it into a luxury enclave, residents say.

The football star was said to have spent £250,000 on a seaview home in the Vidigal favela last year.

Since then, slum houses that originally fetched £2,500 are being marketed as trendy 'shanty shacks' with spectacular views for as much as £400,000 - even though the rumours are false.

A three-bedroomed house easily fetches upwards of £100,000, and it has led to an influx of rich foreigners moving in.

Among those who have made the favela their home is Frenchwoman Laetitia Lafayete, 40, who moved to Vidigal after marrying her Brazilian husband Lucas Tavares, 27.

Laetitia explains how she left a highflying job as an interior architect in Paris and moved to Brazil on a whim, in a search for a soulmate.

Sitting on her sofa in front of a balcony high up over Rio's beaches, she says: 'I was very Parisien. I'd spend my days in high heels, make-up and nice clothes, and I'd be on the town every night.

'But one day I realised I would never get married if I didn't do something drastic. I looked at a map to find where I could go to find a man, and decided on Brazil because I liked the type of men there. On the second day in Rio I met Lucas.'

Laetitia sold her two flats in Paris and arrived in Brazil with £150,000 - but soon realised that it wasn't enough to buy a house and start a business as she had planned.

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Rumours that David Beckham, pictured above in the Amazon Rainforest with child from local tribe, has bought a trendy 'shack' in a notorious Rio de Janeiro slum have driven up house prices and turned it into a luxury enclave, residents say

The football star was pictured in Rio last March on a shoot for advert. He was spotted relaxing by the rooftop pool at the trendy Fasano Hotel amid claims he had bought a house in the Vidigal favela

A view of the house rumoured to have been bought by David Beckham, a colonial-style building at the end of a quiet, tree-lined cobbled street called 'Road 3'

Perched on the side of the hill above lush Atlantic rainforest, it is the last house on the north side of the favela, mostly hidden behind a high green wall and wide wooden garage door

The breathtaking view from the top of the Vidigal favela, where Beckham was rumoured to have bought a house

The shanty town sprawls up a hillside overlooking the Atlantic ocean between two of Rio's most desirable neighbourhoods, Leblon and Sao Conrado, the plush beach district where England footballers stayed during last year's World Cup

Despite being surrounded by poverty, the 'shack' rumoured to have been bought by Beckham boasts a balcony, swimming pool and spectacular views over the ocean and Rio's Ipanema beach

There have also been claims that Madonna had also bought a house in Vidigal, on the same street as the ex-England captain

The Vidigal slum is in the heart of Rio's tourism district, but the community are up in arms about the 'foreign invasion' - with most people laying the blame firmly at the feet of England's most famous footballer

Like a number of other Rio favelas which have been 'pacified' - where police forces retake slums from drugs gangs controlling them - Vidigal has seen an increase in outsiders moving there

The couple, who have a one-year-old daughter, Shayana, eventually moved to Vidigal after renting a flat in Rio's Santa Teresa district for £400 a month.

She says: 'I bought this house for £15,000 and did some reforms, and when I decided to sell it three months later a buyer came forward offering £75,000. That's when I realised I was onto a good thing here. Instead of selling my house I decided to buy another, bigger one for £60,000.'

The couple are now turning the house into a hotel and restaurant in the belief that Vidigal will soon be attracting even greater numbers of foreign tourists.

The only downside of living in the favela, Laetitia says, are the 'uneducated' favela people. She says: 'People are very ignorant here. Our neighours play loud music any time of the day or night, there are no rules here.

'People are very lazy and no-one is professional. It's like living in Africa. I tell people, you know why you are third world, because you don't know how to work. It's very frustrating, everyone here is very difficult to deal with.'

A few favela alleyways up, Eduardo Andre, 30, is one of a group of locals carrying bags of cement for the construction of another new hotel, again being built by a foreign investor.

Eduardo, whose girlfriend is seven months pregnant, is just as critical of the foreigners who have arrived in increasing numbers 'since Beckham'.

'That's Beckham's house down there,' he says, pointing to the walled residence on Road 3.

He adds: 'They said the gringos would bring wealth to the favela, but I haven't seen any of it, in fact we're getting poorer. They're even kicking out favela people to make room for the gringos. There have been no benefits for favela people, quite the opposite.

Among those who have made the favela their home is Frenchwoman Laetitia Lafayete, 40, above, who moved to Vidigal after marrying her Brazilian husband

Laetitia left a highflying job as an interior architect in Paris and moved to Brazil on a whim, in a search for a soulmate. She says: 'I bought this house for £15,000 and did some reforms, and when I decided to sell it three months later a buyer came forward offering £75,000'

Laetitia Lafayete, pictured above with her husband , Lucas Tavare and their baby, said: 'One day I realised I would never get married if I didn't do something drastic. I looked at a map to find where I could go to find a man, and decided on Brazil because I liked the type of men there. On the second day in Rio I met Lucas.'

Lucas Tavares loves the view from their bargain shanty-town flat, above, but has faced claims from the community that they are responsible for gentrifying the area too much

Laetitia Lafayete loves her flat but complains: 'People are very lazy and no-one is professional. It's like living in Africa'

Laetitia Lafayete and Lucas Tavares, who have bought a second property, say: 'It's very frustrating, everyone here is very difficult to deal with'

The couple are now turning the house into a hotel and restaurant in the belief that Vidigal, above, will soon be attracting even greater numbers of foreign tourists

Vidigal overlooks Ipanema Beach and Ilhas Cagarras, and has struggled with drug wars. In recent years it has gentrified but historically when fighting occurs, residents must sometimes stay in their homes for days

Community leaders at Vidigal believe the Beckham rumours may have been put out by local estate agents hoping the effect would inflate house prices and help them sell their properties at a premium

'The gringos are all dope heads. They're so lazy, they wake up at lunchtime. And they think they own the place. When the throw a party they block off the street so if we arrive with shopping we have to stop at the bottom of the road and carry our bags all the way up.

'This used to be our favela, but now we have to ask permission to walk down our own streets. Can you believe that?'

He is one of a number of disgruntled residents who claim that in the months that followed the Beckham rumours, everything from property prices to food and services soared, pushing many poor families to the brink - and causing outrage in the community of more than 35,000 people.

The gringos are all dope heads. They're so lazy, they wake up at lunchtime. And they think they own the place

They also claim that rents have rocketed, with some landlords even forcing families to leave their homes to make way for richer foreign clients willing to pay much higher rents.

Community leaders believe the false information reported last April may have been put out by local estate agents hoping the Beckham effect would inflate house prices and help them sell their properties at a premium.

If so, they were at it again last week after another, similarly untrue, report claimed pop queen Madonna had also bought a house in Vidigal, on the same street as the ex-England captain.

MailOnline visited the Vidigal slum, in the heart of Rio's tourism district, and found a community up in arms about the 'foreign invasion' - with most people laying the blame firmly at the feet of England's most famous footballer.

The shanty town sprawls up a hillside overlooking the Atlantic ocean between two of Rio's most desirable neighbourhoods, Leblon and Sao Conrado, the plush beach district where England footballers stayed during last year's World Cup.

A view of the house rumoured to have been bought by David Beckham, a colonial-style building at the end of a quiet, tree-lined cobbled street called 'Road 3'

Perched on the side of the hill above lush Atlantic rainforest, it is the last house on the north side of the favela, mostly hidden behind a high green wall and wide wooden garage door

The property boasts an incredible view of the sea and is on the same road as a property rumoured to have been bought by Madonna

Since the news about Beckham the number of 'gringos' has rocketed, according to residents, with some claiming as many as 1,000 foreigners have made the favela their home

Like a number of other Rio favelas which have been 'pacified' - where police forces retake slums from drugs gangs controlling them - Vidigal has seen an increase in outsiders moving there, taking advantage of its privileged seafront position and much lower rental prices.

But since news about Beckham the number of 'gringos' has rocketed, according to residents, with some claiming as many as 1,000 foreigners have made the favela their home.

Everyone in Vidigal seems to know the location of 'Beckham's House', a colonial-style building at the end of a quiet, tree-lined cobbled street called 'Road 3'.

Perched on the side of the hill above lush Atlantic rainforest, No 112 is the last house on the north side of the favela, mostly hidden behind a high green wall and wide wooden garage door. The house has a balcony, swimming pool and spectacular views over the ocean and Rio's Ipanema beach.

The residence has now become a tourist attraction, with a constant stream of visitors taking their photos in front of it, while Brazil's national news programme even did a live broadcast from the street outside.

The truth, however, appears to be very different than the version told by almost everyone in Vidigal.

Beckham did spent two days in Vidigal early last year to film for his BBC documentary Into The Unknown, but he never went house-hunting, or even expressed an interest in acquiring a property there, according to Sebastiao Aleluia, vice-president of Vidigal's residents' association.

He says: 'We have tried to find some truth in these reports and simply haven't managed to find any.

A few steep streets down the hill from 'Beckham's House', mother-of-four Glaze Souza, 26, sits on the pavement outside her tiny one-room brick home

She is upset with the stars: 'I used to like him, but now I'm angry with him.The gringos are wanting to take over our space in the favela, and Beckham started it all. I used to take 100 reals (£25) to the supermarket and come back with a week's shopping, but these days it hardly buys anything'

Although Vidigal’s beauty is next to none, its hardships are real—the neighbourhood is notorious as the site of illicit activities, turf wars, and dense disenfranchisement

Many of Vidigal's community members are wage-workers in Rio's south zone and serve the city's hospitality industries

The slum is now home to some of the most sought-after real estate in Brazil. Above, a hotel is being constructed by Parisian Laetitia Lafayete, who moved in to take advantage of the cheap prices

Laetitia Lafayete, who married a Brazilian, are now turning their second home into a hotel and restaurant in the belief that Vidigal will soon be attracting even greater numbers of foreign tourists

'It's all just rumours and, to be truthful, lies. We have no idea where this information came from, but we have a good idea why someone might have done it.

'If a big name like Beckham buys a house in Vidigal then naturally house prices will rise, and that's exactly what happened. For a month nobody here talked about anything else. And as the saying goes, if you tell a lie long and loud enough, people will eventually believe it.'

Perhaps the only residents who don't believe the tale are neighbours of No 112. 'If only it really was Beckham,' says Louiza Prata, 22, whose aunt Iracema owns the house next door to 'Beckham's House'.

Across the road, the owner of another house some have claimed has been bought by Madonna, who gives her name as Antonia, says: 'It's a joke. Beckham never even came here. But people are still coming here to take photos in front of his house.

'Every time they come I tell them it's all lies, but it doesn't seem to make a difference.'

Jonas Barcellos, who owns the favela's only estate agent, Bella Vista, said that for a month after the Beckham story property prices spiked to a level never seen before in the community - and they have still not come down.

Jonas Barcellos, above, who owns the favela's only estate agent, Bella Vista, said that for a month after the Beckham story property prices spiked to a level never seen before in the community - and they have still not come down.

Sonia Franca, who works as a cleaner, says: 'The Beckham rumours have caused Vidigal to increase in value, but that's only good for people who already have money'

Sonia Franca adds: 'For us who live in rented accommodation, earning a minimum way, it just makes life more difficult. We already get left behind, and now we're even more behind than before'

The 51-year-old, who was born and raised in the shanty town, said: 'For years I was the only one selling property in Vidigal. But now other estate agents from outside the favela are trying to make money here. I'm sure it was one of them who put out this information.

He said a simple shack that used to be worth £2,500 ten years ago can be sold for £25,000 today, with a three-bedroomed house easily fetching upwards of £100,000. It means many young favela families are priced out of the market.

As a result Vidigal today has the 21st highest house pricing square metre in Rio, at £1,706, nearly twice the city's average of £996 per square metre and a massive rise on just a few years ago, according to official figures.

Jonas explained that the now famous 'Beckham's House' actually belongs to a German man called Jonas, who travels so much he is hardly ever at home. He bought it from another German, property developer Rolf Glaser, who lived in Vidigal for eight years.

He says: 'I think this is why people think it's the house Beckham bought. It is one of the favela's nicest houses, but it's hidden away and nobody really knows who live there.

'When the news broke and people started talking about that house nobody was there to confirm or deny it.

'Even today everybody believes it, but you won't find anyone who likes the idea. The price of everything has gone up, and everyone blames Beckham. It's good for a few people, like shop owners who can charge more, but it's bad for almost everyone else.

'Of course that's very unfair on Beckham, who has nothing to do with all this. Feelings are so strong here he should sue whoever put out this lie.'

A few steep streets down the hill from 'Beckham's House', mother-of-four Glaze Souza, 26, sits on the pavement outside her tiny one-room brick home.

She also believes the Beckham and Madonna stories, but claims if she she's either in the street she will deliberately ignore them.

She says: 'I used to like him, but now I'm angry with him. Beckham hasn't brought any good thing to Vidigal, he's only brought us harm.

'I used to take 100 reals (£25) to the supermarket and come back with a week's shopping, but these days it hardly buys anything. The price of a gas cannister for cooking has doubled. The gringos are wanting to take over our space in the favela, and Beckham started it all.

'If I come across him in the favela I'll pretend I didn't see him. I'd prefer to never see him around here.'

Recently, Rio has increased its police presence in the city's southern favelas and this has significantly decreased the illicit activity that once plagued the neighbourhood

Despite gentrification, there are still areas where the predominantly poor live, and the new developments are still few and far between

Glaze, whose husband, a construction worker, brings home a minimum wage of around £200, explains that she pays £90 a month on renting her small home, but fears her landlord may soon ask for more.

She says: 'Lots of families are being asked to leave their homes because landlords want to rent them to the gringos. Soon we'll have to leave the favela too, because we can no longer afford to live here.

'I'll have to find a cheaper place on the outskirts of Rio miles away from here. It will be sad because I've lived all my life here, it's my home.'

Daniel Delmiro, 34, responsible for the Vidigal community's Facebook page, says he has heard many stories of lifelong residents being turfed out of their rented homes to make way for foreigners.

He says: 'For a time you would see lots of signs outside houses which read 'For Rent Only To Foreigners'.

'A few months ago a mother, her husband and young daughter were asked to leave the home they'd been renting for ten years. They had to leave the favela and moved to another state, because they couldn't find another place they could afford.

'The landlady thought she'd make more money renting to gringos, and within weeks she had put in a Colombian man who was paying 1,000 reals (£250), double what the family had been paying.

'He paid on time for the first two months, then after the third month he suddenly moved out in the middle of the night, without paying. She was so repentant, she even tried to find the family again to ask them to come back, but they had already gone.'

Daniel says he fears that as the 'gentrification' process of the favela accelerates, most of Vigial's population will be replaced by rich outsiders.

'I can see a time, maybe in ten years' time, when the entrance to the favela will be like that of one of Rio's posh condos, where only the rich people who can afford to live there will be allowed in.'