Belgravia tenants take on billionaire Duke

Britain's richest landowner, the Duke of Westminster, has been accused of imposing outrageous service charges on some of his tenants.

Seventeen leaseholders who live in a converted mansion block in Belgravia face bills of up to £70,000 each for maintenance and repair work.

The bill includes a charge for £152,750 to paint the outside of the building - but residents say it was painted only four years ago.

They are now taking the Duke to a special tribunal in a bid to force him to lower the figure. Leading the residents' claim is Vanessa Brady, 44, an interior designer who has a twobedroom top-floor apartment with no central heating.

She said: "It is outrageous. One woman is paying £70,000 this year and another lady who is 90 had to leave because she couldn't afford to stay. One lady has just two years left on her lease and she's got to pay £60,000."

Miss Brady said her bill for this year was £28,000, compared to £6,000 when she moved in seven years ago.

Another resident, designer John Bloomfield, who owns a two-bedroom flat, said: "More than £1 million has been spent on this building over the last 10 years. There is no control, they are playing with our money."

The tenants claim the charges levied on the flats make their leases unsaleable. The buildings in Eaton Square, which are situated near to the homes of Sean Connery and Baroness Thatcher, include porters, caretakers, private gardens and a tennis court - and are worth up to £750,000 each.

The action is being taken against Grosvenor Investments Limited, the block's managing agent; Eaton

Square Properties Limited, the freeholder; and Belgravia Estate Services. All three are part of the Duke's property empire, which includes 100 acres in Mayfair and 200 in Belgravia and has been estimated at up to £7billion.

The claim is being heard today by the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal (LVT) in central London. The residents are representing themselves throughout the hearing.

Following a Standard campaign in the mid Nineties, flat owners won the right to challenge service charges at the LVT, where solicitors are not required and each side pays their own costs.