A tent encampment based outside a Grade I listed home belonging to the Duke of Wellington has been dismantled by police.
Migrants from Eastern Europe and Africa are among those who have been living at the English Heritage site outside the 250-year-old Aspley House, on the southeast corner of Hyde Park.
Built in the 1770s, the property is home to the current Duke of Wellington, Charles Wellesley, 80, who is a descendant of Queen Victoria.
Dozens of officers from Metropolitan Police and Westminster City Council could be seen dismantling makeshift shelters and removing tents from the site today.
Occupants reportedly looked “very shocked” when told to move on, the Daily Mail reported.
“They looked very unhappy. It came as a huge surprise to them. There has been a lot of moaning,” a local resident said.
“They probably thought they were here for a few more weeks.”
The tents reportedly sprang up around a year ago, while the site has been growing ever since.
Police have reportedly made a number of arrests at the site, though the Standard is yet to confirm this.
According to the Daily Mail, a 23-year-old woman was arrested at the site last month on suspicion of making threats to kill other tent dwellers.
Meanwhile, officers also arrested two other people on the site following a disturbance with one man, 48, in possession of a knife and a piece of glass and the other, a 33-year-old man, detained for fighting and making threats to kill.
Tent encampments have also emerged in other parts of central London, including Adelphi Terrace in Westminster and just outside Warren Street station in Camden, acting as a visible reminder of the spiralling nature of London’s homelessness crisis.
Westminster City Council has been managing small numbers of encampments since Covid, the Standard understands.
While the overall number of camps does not appear to be increasing, it remains consistent, with new rough sleepers arriving on the streets each day.
The council said the issue is part of a wider national problem, with Westminster on the frontline due to its four major railway stations, which naturally draw people arriving in London to set up temporary homes.
More people are recorded sleeping rough in Westminster than any other borough - 2,612. This is more than double the number in Camden (975), the next highest borough.
Since 2023/24 the majority of boroughs saw an increase in people seen sleeping rough. Hillingdon had the biggest increase, from 296 people seen sleeping rough in 2023/24, to 492 in 2024/25 — an increase of 66%.
