Plague of rats invade UK’s poshest square
Craze for basement extensions has forced rodents into £70 million mansions
AS WEALTHY residents of one of Britain’s most prestigious enclaves, they might expect to be immune from the more unpleasant aspects of city life.
But the well-heeled locals of Eaton Square and its surrounding streets in London’s Belgravia are, in fact, being forced to confront perhaps one of the worst – a plague of rats.
The square, owned by the Grosvenor Estate and once the most expensive in the country, boasts stucco- fronted properties that change hands for up to £70 million.
The Duke of Westminster, Russian oligarch Andrey Goncharenko and Dame Joan Collins all own homes there or close by. Now they have been joined by an invasion of rats, driven into homes and gardens by building work on properties in the area – including luxury basements constructed to extend the square footage of homes.
According to furious residents, the work is disturbing nesting rats and causing problems with sewers .
But, anxious not to anger the influential Grosvenor Estate, which owns the freeholds of the properties, most affected residents wish to remain anonymous.
One claims she woke to find seven rodents in her small garden, and two inside her house. ‘The porters have said everything is in hand,’ said another, ‘and that pest controllers have been called. The problem is all the building works that are going on, and problems with sewers. It doesn’t seem to matter how much money you have – you are still living with rats.’
Etiquette expert Liz Brewer, who lives in neighbouring Eaton Place, said she has suffered numerous infestations of rodents. ‘They have mostly been mice, but there have been perhaps one or two rats,’ she said. ‘I often work late at night and I’m sitting at my desk and they’re just sitting there, looking at me.’
Dame Joan has a £3 million home in Eaton Place and in 2017 said she was f orced t o move out and live in Claridge’s instead because of disruptive building work.
The Grosvenor Estate has been owned by the Duke of Westminster since the late 17th Century.
It now includes 300 acres of land in Mayfair and Belgravia, and £6.5 billion in property around the world.
Eaton Square, a residential garden square, was developed in the 1820s and is one of the capital’s most expensive addresses. It has been home to financier George Soros, t he Duchess o f York, Formula 1 heiress Petra Ecclestone a nd f o r mer J a mes Bond Si r Sean Connery.
Nigella Lawson reportedly sold the flat she shared with ex-husband Charles Saatchi for £25 million to property tycoon Christian Candy in 2012.
One of the square’s luxury homes, complete with 41ft gold- l i ned swimming pool, lift and ‘ winter garden’, was on the market for £70 million in 2013. A spokesman for the Grosvenor Group said it was unable to comment.