Multimillionaire entrepreneur Edward Davenport could lose £5m on the value of his
This morning, lawyers for Davenport argued before High Court judge Eady J that to grant an injunction to restrain the use of the £20m Georgian property at 33 Portland Place, London W1 for purely residential purposes would cause undue hardship to Davenport and would force him to sell the property.
Juan Lopez, barrister for Davenport, said “what it would mean is that the value of this building which has 110 rooms, is 20,000 sq ft and worth £20m would go down by a quarter, according to Knight Frank.”
In addition, Lopez said that the maintenance costs alone were £250,000 a year and that to demand that the whole of the building be used solely for residential was “wholly unrealistic – it is fantasy. Not one of the buildings in
“This would not only blight fundamentally Mr Davenport but also the property itself” which would “be left as a derelict, vacant building which gradually decayed,” he said.
Westminster City Council is applying for an injunction, under section 187B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, on the ground that the property does not have planning permission for use for commercial purposes.
The court heard that the property has been used repeatedly as a location for film and photo shoots, for ticketed parties and for tango and pole–dancing lessons despite having only a residential permission and in the face of opposition from neighbours and the council.
Eady J is likely to reserve his decision on the case until a later date.
christian.metcalfe@estatesgazette.com
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