Landlord furious as rogue tenant turned luxury Soho flat into a brothel

By Adrian Zorzut, Local Democracy Reporter

A landlord whose Soho flat was turned into a brothel without him knowing said prostitutes had men visit at all times of the day and used his luxury mugs as ashtrays.

Christian Pearce, 49, said his plush Sandringham Court flat near Carnaby Street was used as a ‘cigar lounge’ by three prostitutes who divided the apartment with makeshift curtains.

Mr Pearce said he only found out when residents began inundating him with calls. He said: “I thought they were joking, but then I was having photos of men leaving the flat and going down the stairs at 2, 3 and 4 o’clock in the morning.”

Christian claims a rogue tenant admitted to subletting the flat to the prostitutes. He said: “It’s a disgrace. The whole flat stunk of cigarettes. It took a month to air it out. They used designer cups as ashtrays and ruined them.

“They put up the curtain for the windows in the middle of the living room to separate it into two rooms. I now need to repaint the ceiling.”

But it’s not the only problem Mr Pearce has faced leasing his two properties in Sandringham Court. He said one flat had been sublet on holiday letting sites ‘three times on the trot’ and now he receives alerts anytime his properties are advertised online.

He said one tenant was asked to leave after advertising property ‘as soon as he got the keys’, while a second is being taken to court.

He said the building isn’t insured for short-term lets and he is concerned other homeowners may force him out because rogue renters are breaking conditions of the block’s lease.

Mr Pearce’s flats are not the only properties in Sandringham Court being advertised on holiday letting sites. There is currently an ad for a three-bedroom flat catering for seven people on one site Booking.com costing £1,100 a night in December.

A spokesman for Booking.com said when accommodation providers sign up with them, they must verify that they are legally permitted to rent out their accommodation. They said: “In the very rare instance that we might be alerted to a concern about a specific property we investigate immediately, just as we are doing in this case.

“We can then take appropriate action depending on the outcome of that investigation, including removing the property from our platform if necessary.”

Residents in the building have reported that guests of holiday lets vomit in hallways, leave doors ajar and have threatened them with physical abuse. One homeowner said: “It’s a disturbance and it’s getting out of hand.”

Another said firefighters have been called in multiple times to free guests trapped in the lift while another said it is constantly broken because holidaymakers overload it with their suitcases.

Another resident said he called the police after a pair of guests attacked him with a broken glass bottle after telling them to turn down their music.

He said: “People just don’t understand this building. This is where we live. For a lot of people, it’s a holiday home, but this is where we live.” He added: “We are all at the point of frustration.”

Westminster City council is trying to tackle short-term lets in the borough. councillor Paul Dimoldenberg, cabinet member for city management and air quality, said: “We are continuing to investigate short-term lets to determine whether they constitute a breach of planning control.

“We are sorry to hear about the negative encounters experienced by some residents which may constitute a breach of the terms of the lease, but as this is a civil matter the council has limited powers to resolve this.”

Pictured top: Mr Pearce at Sandringham Court (Picture: Facundo Arrizabalaga)