A judge has ordered the eviction of a group of squatters from a £15m property in central London bought by a Russian oligarch that they have been occupying for the past week.
More than 20 homeless people have been sheltering there since the squatters moved into the property in Belgravia on 23 January.
The squatters – Autonomous Nation of Anarchist Libertarians, known as Anal – arrived late for Tuesday’s hearing at Central London county court. District judge Barry Lightman had already made the order granting “possession forthwith” to Andrey Goncharenko’s representatives MCA Shipping Ltd, the registered owner of the leasehold.
The company is registered at the same address in Gibraltar as Redmount Group, which describes itself as a management services company “offering individuals and companies the opportunity to use advantageous jurisdictions for personal and corporate planning”.
The Redmount Group is one of the offshore companies named in the Panama Papers. Tim Lewis, who is registered as a director of both Redmount Group and MCA Shipping Ltd, provided a detailed witness statement to the court about the squatters’ occupation of 102 Eaton Square, Belgravia, on behalf of MCA Shipping Ltd.
The judge agreed to listen to the squatters’ representations despite having concluded the hearing. But he rejected their request for an adjournment to give them more time to seek legal advice and was not persuaded to agree to their request to set aside the order, finding them guilty of trespass.
“That’s squatting in colloquial terms,” the judge said. He also rejected the squatters’ request for permission to appeal.
A costs order for £8,735.86 was made against the two squatters named in the action, Jed Miller and Dwain Kaye. Both pointed out that it would be hard for Goncharenko’s representatives to be reimbursed as the squatters were about to be made homeless as a result of the possession order granted by the court and so would be unable to provide a contact address.
Miller accepted the court’s decision even though the squatters were considering appealing.
“The judge is a reasonable man,” he said. “A lot of people will be made homeless when the eviction happens but our crew will probably find another empty building for them to stay in, in the next couple of days.
“Our main priority is to highlight the large number of empty buildings in London and to try to ensure they don’t go to waste when there are so many homeless people sleeping on the streets this winter. We need to have a public debate about this.”
Miller added that he had been evicted from approximately 33 buildings he had squatted in the past seven years. “About 25 of those were owned by offshore companies,” he said.
“These offshore companies which own so many empty buildings in London are using them to minimise their tax liability. That is diverting money away from crucial public services like the NHS. So instead of that money being used to help people who are having problems it stays in the pockets of those who caused the problems in the first place.”
Since the squatters arrived at 102 Eaton Place they have provided food and clothing to homeless people as well as hosting film nights and talks on issues such as the large numbers of empty buildings in London and the growing toll of homelessness.
On Saturday the squatters were attacked by a violent group they believe to be fascists who hurled bricks, bottles and poles through the windows.
MCA Shipping Ltd’s solicitors, London-based Pemberton Greenish, declined to comment on the proceedings or on any connection between Lewis and the Panama Papers.
Westminster council said there had been a reduction in the number of empty properties in the borough, from 1,699 in October 2013 to 629 in October 2016.
Rachael Robathan, its cabinet member for housing, said: “A key priority for the council is to deliver more types of housing in Westminster. We are looking at all the powers we have to deliver more affordable homes, more quickly in order to meet the urgent need for housing and to support those who deliver vital services within the City and also people who are made homeless.”
She added: “Empty properties and buy-to-leave are just two challenges that the city faces and which the council currently has very limited powers to address. We will be talking to national government and the mayor as we go forward on the issues of homelessness and affordable housing across London.
“In the meantime, we will be applying our existing policies rigorously and our priority is seeing more actual homes which people can afford, ready for them to move into as quickly as the development process allows.”
