The key facts

  • Anders Fernstedt has lived on the portico of the mansion at 2-8A Rutland Gate for more than three years; the house was sold in 2020 for £210 million to Hui Ka Yan and has stood empty ever since
  • Hui Ka Yan was sentenced to life imprisonment; his wife's assets are frozen and the house cannot be seized by liquidators
  • According to Crisis, more than 200,000 people are homeless in London; Prime Minister Andy Burnham has promised to offer rough sleepers a bed by Christmas

Life on the portico of a £210 million mansion

In London's Knightsbridge, passers-by are drawn to an unusual arrangement of plants, garden umbrellas, bags and children's toys at the entrance to the mansion at 2-8A Rutland Gate. This is the dwelling of Anders Fernstedt, a Swede who has lived there for more than three years. The house, once considered the most expensive in London, was sold in 2020 for a record £210 million (€244 million, $278 million) to the founder of the Chinese group Evergrande, Hui Ka Yan. Hui never moved into the house, which was registered in his wife's name; due to the freeze on her assets, the mansion cannot be seized by liquidators and remains in limbo.

The path to homelessness

Fernstedt grew up in Sweden, worked in the US in the technology sector, and moved to England in 2016, where he worked as a journalist and fact-checker, including at The Economist. The work dried up around the time of the COVID pandemic. His savings from a stake in an American tech company ran out, and he found himself first in a tent, then in temporary accommodation where he encountered violence and people with severe addictions. He has never been inside the mansion: the house looks neglected. He sleeps all year round under the roof of the portico and a large umbrella, where mattresses and bedding are placed. According to him, it is not cold there in winter, and in summer he gets fresh air since he has no walls.

Support from neighbours and the community

Fernstedt has built relationships with bakeries, cafés and flower shops, from which he receives unused food, flowers and access to electricity. He uses a homelessness charity in the Victoria area — for showers, clothing and social contact. Some neighbours object to his presence, but many believe it protects the house from thieves and vandals. The toys at his dwelling, he explains, are a way of endearing himself to his neighbours' children and grandchildren. Neighbours sometimes give him food and clothing, including Italian jackets.

Context: homelessness in London

According to the charity Crisis, more than 200,000 people in London are classified as homeless. From April to June, 4,392 people were recorded sleeping rough in London — 4% more than in the same period last year and 58% more than ten years ago. According to government data, in 2025 London had 105,138 empty homes — one in every 37 homes. Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who took office in July, has promised to offer 'every rough sleeper in England a route off the streets by Christmas'. Fernstedt understands that his stay at the mansion could end at any moment, but says he no longer worries about it.