It was Britain's most expensive house, selling for £210m in 2020. 2-8A Rutland Gate in Knightsbridge boasts 45 rooms, four lifts, an indoor pool, and 116 windows, 68 overlooking Hyde Park. Yet no one enjoys these views; the palace has been empty for years.
However, someone lives just outside. On the porch, a makeshift tent made mostly from umbrellas houses Anders Fernstedt, a former journalist who has lived there for three years. The porch is cluttered with baskets, books, pictures, teddy bears, and flowers. Inside, the 24 marble bathrooms were once decorated with semi-precious stones, but Fernstedt now urinates into a plastic bottle. "Everest base camp problems," he jokes.
A History of Opulence and Secrecy
The property was originally a row of houses until the early 1980s, when billionaire and future Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri combined them into a single palace. Hariri, who made his fortune building palaces for the Saudi royal family, adorned the home with 24-carat gold leaf wastepaper bins. After his assassination in 2005, the house passed to Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz. Upon his death in 2011, the contents—including jewel-encrusted bathroom suites and gold bins—were auctioned in 2015.
In 2020, the house sold again for £210m, reportedly to Cheung Chung-kiu, a Hong Kong billionaire. However, the Financial Times revealed the actual owner was Hui Ka Yan, founder of Evergrande and then China's richest man. Evergrande's debts led to the house being relisted in 2022 for £200m, with planning permission to expand further. Hui pleaded guilty to fraud in 2024, and the house is now in his ex-wife's name, Ding Yumei, whose assets are frozen. The property's ownership is obscured through a company registered in the British Virgin Islands.
Offshore Ownership and Housing Inequality
Research shows offshore residential property in England and Wales has risen from £64bn to £80bn over the past decade, with London holding 81% of the value. Half of this value lies in Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea. Rowland Atkinson, author of Alpha City, notes that London remains a hub for the super-rich due to its history and social circuits, but these properties often function as assets, not homes. "It's bizarre that in the middle of a housing crisis, you can find a magnificent home lying empty for years," he says.
In 2025, England had over 300,000 long-term empty homes, up nearly 15% from the previous year. In London, 340,000 households are on waiting lists. Chris Bailey of Action on Empty Homes argues that building luxury towers doesn't help the poor or homeless. Shelter's Charlie Trew calls empty homes "a visible sign of the housing emergency" and advocates for converting them into social rent homes.
Anders Fernstedt's Story
Fernstedt, born in Sweden in 1968, worked as a journalist and studied horticulture in Edinburgh. After a series of jobs and personal setbacks, including a spinal fracture and living on a sailboat, he ended up homeless. He faced no-fault evictions and was attacked by a drug dealer, losing all his possessions. He now lives on the porch of 2-8A Rutland Gate, accumulating items and maintaining a "pretend garden." He attends a nearby Russian Orthodox church for food and clothes and has befriended neighbors, including a retired ambassador.
Fernstedt remains cheerful despite his circumstances. "I'm like the princess and the pea," he says, showing his mattress and a Hungarian goose down duvet. He has no ID, as the Home Office lost his passport, and no money. "No money is better than a little money," he explains. He views his situation as a "pretend reality," imagining he is a child camping in a treehouse while his parents are inside the mansion.
The stark contrast between Fernstedt's tent and the £200m empty palace underscores the housing crisis. As he puts it, "Every day I think surely tomorrow I'll be rescued."
