The Duke of Westminster’s property firm has been ordered to pay over £13,000 after a millionaire neighbour claimed that prostitutes, pimps and drug sellers invaded his ‘high-class’ Mayfair road.
Businessman and lawyer Peter Clifford, 62, sued over ‘nuisance’ brought on by guests to a block of flats subsequent door to his £4.4m three-bed mews home within the coronary heart of Mayfair.
He mentioned his life had been blighted by ‘seedy’ goings-on subsequent door that are owned by an organization by Hugh Grosvenor, the seventh Duke of Westminster, and a godfather to Prince George.
On one event Mr Clifford mentioned he noticed a ‘pimp’ standing simply three metres away from his window.
He claimed the billionaire duke’s firm, Grosvenor West Finish Properties did not do sufficient to stamp out the anti-social behaviour, which was out of holding with in any other case ‘high-class’ Bourdon Avenue.
Following a trial at Central London County Courtroom, a choose mentioned the duke’s firm didn’t take ‘cheap steps’ shortly sufficient to scrub up the world.
Choose Mark Raeside KC ordered the corporate to pay Mr Clifford £13,200 in compensation, however rejected a declare to a a lot greater cost after discovering that the issues had been ‘transitory’ and never everlasting sufficient to have an effect on the worth of his home.
Lawyer and businessman Peter Clifford, 62, (pictured outdoors court docket) sued the Duke of Westminster’s property firm over ‘nuisance’ brought on by ‘prostitutes, pimps and drug sellers’ outdoors his house
The Duke, Hugh Grosvenor, (pictured) should pay £13,200 after a choose discovered his property firm didn’t do sufficient to abate the anti-social behaviour on the flats, Bloomfield Courtroom, that are subsequent to Mr Clifford’s Bourdon Avenue house
Grosvenor West Finish Properties is a part of the Grosvenor Group, which traces its historical past again to 1677 and owns enormous quantities of prime actual property within the centre of London.
Outlining the case through the trial, Mr Clifford’s barrister Tiffany Scott KC mentioned Bourdon Avenue had been described by property brokers as ‘one of the vital prestigious’ addresses in Mayfair and a ‘centre for up to date artwork.’
In addition to proudly owning the Bloomfield Courtroom block of 12 flats, Grosvenor can also be the freeholder of Mr Clifford’s leasehold mews home subsequent door within the ‘quiet’ residential road, the place he moved in 2003.
However she mentioned anti-social actions had been linked to the block through the years which had been ‘inconsistent with the quiet and high-class residential character of the world.’
They included drug dealing, prostitution, unauthorised short-term lettings to ‘undesirable Air BnB holidaymakers,’ loud events and even threats of bodily violence to neighbouring residents.
And she or he claimed Grosvenor had not executed sufficient to deal with the issues.
Mr Clifford’s white Mayfair townhouse (proper) subsequent to Bloomfield Courtroom (left), a block of flats owned by the Hugh Grosvenor’s property firm
‘The defendant has taken no measures to cease a really common stream of individuals from getting into the constructing, regardless of understanding that they’re visiting both to occupy the flats on prohibited short-term vacation lets or else for the needs of drug-taking, partying, prostitution or different nuisance-causing actions,’ she mentioned.
‘The defendant permits them up the doorway steps, into the courtyard, into the constructing, into the carry, and thru the corridors.
‘The individuals about whose behaviour the claimant complains, in addition to the problematic behaviour itself, are emanating from the widespread elements of the constructing.’
Giving proof, Mr Clifford mentioned he had seen males going into the block with prostitutes, drug offers going down in public and drunk individuals, ‘completely uncontrolled.’
Issues acquired so dangerous that his main bedroom was rendered ‘uninhabitable’ by the noise outdoors, with a ‘pimp’ as soon as stood simply three metres away from his window, he mentioned.
He needed to set up CCTV cameras to discourage dangerous behaviour and had retreated from the master suite on the entrance of his home because of the disturbances outdoors Bloomfield Courtroom.
‘This explicit block is ideal for organised crime,’ he informed the choose.
‘It has no 24-hour concierge. It’s the kind of property that’s focused for precisely the form of nuisance we obtained.’
Grosvenor can also be the freeholder of Mr Clifford’s home (pictured) within the ‘quiet’ residential road, the place he moved in 2003
For Grosvenor, barrister Thomas Braithwaite mentioned the worst of Mr Clifford’s complaints had reached a ‘nadir’ in 2020 and 2021 however that issues had been a lot improved after the cameras had been put in in October final yr.
He denied that the corporate had not taken ‘cheap steps’ to make sure Mr Clifford’s ‘quiet enjoyment’ of his house was not interfered with by ‘nuisance’ from subsequent door.
The case was heard in a four-day trial by Choose Raeside and he has now dominated in Mr Clifford’s favour, saying there isn’t any doubt however that the three foremost allegations – prostitution, loud events and illegal short-term letting – had occurred.
‘It is unattainable, given the wealth of proof, to return to another view than that each one three befell at occasions between March 2018 and January 2021,’ he mentioned.
‘It’s fairly clear Grosvenor knew about these issues over that three-year interval.’
He mentioned Grosvenor had taken steps to attempt to eradicate the nuisance and that, following the set up of CCTV cameras final yr, the kind of nuisance suffered was ‘radically totally different’ to the intense complaints of crime earlier.
Grosvenor West Finish is a part of the Grosvenor Group, which traces its historical past again to 1677 and owns enormous quantities of prime actual property within the centre of London. The duke’s household’s wealth has been estimated at £10 billion. (Pictured: the duke in 2018)
However agency steps ought to have been taken sooner, which might have helped cut back the extent of nuisance Mr Clifford was subjected to, he continued.
An ‘apparent step’ – now being thought-about by Grosvenor – would have been to introduce a key fob system to maintain out these ‘with no proper to enter these flats,’ he mentioned.
‘There have been usually additional steps, which have confirmed profitable, that would and may have been taken earlier by Grosvenor to abate this nuisance,’ he mentioned.
Choose Raeside awarded Mr Clifford £12,600 in compensation for having to vacate his main bedroom because of the disturbances.
And he awarded one other £600 basically damages for his misery and lack of amenity.
An extra listening to will happen within the coming weeks to resolve who has to pay the substantial authorized prices of the case and whether or not Grosvenor ought to be pressured by court docket order to take any explicit steps to eradicate additional nuisance on the block.
