Britney Spears smiles at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles September 7, 2008. [Agencies]

Britney Spears is selling her home for $7.9 million.

The troubled singer has lived in the six-bedroom six-bathroom home in Malibu for less than two years but has decided to put it on the market and find somewhere more private.

A source revealed: "Having more privacy and wide open spaces for her to raise her boys has been a goal for some time."

Because Britney's father Jamie is co-conservator of her estate, he had to get permission from the court to sell the 7,500 square foot hilltop property.

The listing for the property describes it as an "exquisite gated Italian Renaissance-inspired villa with three garages and a grand entrance foyer".

During her time in the house, Britney, 26, was rushed to hospital twice, including one incident which saw police forcibly enter the property after she allegedly refused to hand over her sons, Sean Preston, three, and Jayden James, two, to their father Kevin Federline.

Several police officers, fire engines, two ambulances and a police helicopter all appeared at the tumultuous scene.

(China Daily/Agencies September 26, 2008)