London: Indian businessman Anand Ahuja and his wife , Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor, seem to be stuck right in the middle of a property tangle in London’s rather posh Notting Hill, after chatter came out that a company tied to them bought five flats in the nearby apartment building close to their £21 million mansion.
So yeah, the whole thing is supposedly connected to their fairly bold redevelopment ideas for a historic site in west London. The mansion, reports say was picked up in 2023 , is now in the middle of serious renovations, and the plans reportedly include higher end luxuries, like a swimming pool and leisure amenities or whatever you want to call them.
As per the reports, a firm linked to the family has shelled out more than £4 million for five flats plus garage spaces in the adjoining Hillcrest block. Some residents have voiced that they worry those units could end up being used to house household staff connected to the neighboring mansion.
This has apparently split the building’s residents pretty firmly. Detractors say the purchases might let the couple gain extra say in decisions that impact the apartment block, and even how it’s managed long term. Meanwhile supporters push back and say it’s simply standard real estate investing, and they’ve even accused critics of jumping to conclusions about why the family bought anything in the first place.
And then, kinda on top of all that, there’s the other side of the controversy, with claims that people tied to the property owners hinted the flats could be used another way, like social housing, if objections kept going. The remarks, as they’re being described, have turned into sort of a big centre point in this on going dispute, even so, the exact situation around what was said and when is still argued over.
On the other hand, representatives for the family have denied that there was any plan to acquire the units in order to set up staff accommodation . They say the buying was mainly for investment purposes, not for housing staff. There are also reports suggesting that Sonam Kapoor was not really directly involved in the company linked to the acquisitions, which adds another layer to the back and forth.
The property in question is also said to be one of the bigger residential purchases the Ahuja family has made in the UK lately. The £21 million Notting Hill building, was acquired by Harish Ahuja, who is associated with Shahi Exports, and it is expected to eventually become a home for Anand Ahuja and Sonam Kapoor after the redevelopment is finished.
Meanwhile, as the redevelopment carries on, the dispute keeps surfacing the kinds of frictions that can pop up when major luxury projects rub up against established residential communities, especially in some of London’s most in-demand areas.
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