Billionaire halts mass eviction after London Centric investigation
Exclusive: Asif Aziz's Criterion Capital hoped to remove hundreds of permanent tenants and replace them with lucrative temporary accommodation. That plan appears to have been shelved – for now.
Hundreds of Londoners will be allowed to remain in their homes after London Centric uncovered a plan to carry out “one of the worst mass evictions in our capital’s recent history” by a company controlled by billionaire landlord Asif Aziz.
Aziz’s Criterion Capital appears to have halted the mass eviction amid political pressure from Sadiq Khan, after we revealed the company’s intention to make vast numbers of private tenants homeless just before renters gain new rights at the start of May.
After the mayor of London read our coverage, his spokesperson issued the following statement on Monday morning:
“It is completely unacceptable for Criterion Capital to evict hundreds of people out of their homes due to no fault of their own. The deputy mayor for housing has contacted Criterion to make the mayor’s position clear and strongly urge them to reconsider.”
One tenant waiting to find out her fate described how she had been “crying all weekend” at the prospect of being made homeless.
“I’d never missed a payment, looked after the property, and had done everything right – and I was still getting kicked out,” she said.
The eviction plan affected, at a minimum, hundreds of flats owned by the Aziz family. The true scale of the planned clearances across the family’s property holdings may have been even larger.
After making a vast numbers of private renters homeless, the plan, according to sources with knowledge of Criterion’s business, had been to use their flats as temporary accommodation. This form of housing is much more lucrative and is paid for by local councils using public funds.
Tom Copley, the deputy mayor for housing, wrote directly to Asif Aziz after London Centric’s investigation was published, saying it is “unacceptable to force Londoners out of their homes for no good reason”.
Copley told Aziz, who recently moved to low-tax Abu Dhabi, that he appeared to be trying to get ahead of the Renters’ Rights Act, which makes it harder to evict tenants:
“To evict tenants shortly before the implementation of the Act would be a short-sighted and cynical attempt to bypass the rules and show a disregard for the very spirit of this much needed legislation.
“I cannot countenance the prospect of so many Londoners losing the security of a good home and being put at risk of homelessness. If this is indeed the case, the Mayor and I urge you to urgently reconsider.”
A big misunderstanding?
Only a few days ago, hundreds of residents of Criterion-owned buildings across London received paper notices slid under their doors, informing them they had two months to get out of their homes. When they rang their landlord to ask for an extension, they were instead asked if they’d like to leave earlier so the landlord could take vacant possession of the whole building.
By Monday afternoon, London Centric understands the same tenants were being informed that the entire thing was a big misunderstanding based on “rumours” and “false information” spread by journalists.
Hundreds of households were told that there had never actually been any intention to evict them from their homes and that it had merely been the start of a discussion about future tenancies.
Baffled residents described how they began receiving door knocks from Criterion staff, asking them to record a video identifying themselves and read from a script stating they no longer wished to be evicted by the company. Nothing was written down and residents did not receive paper confirmation that their eviction had been abandoned.
A commitment to “tackling homelessness”
Sadiq Khan’s direct criticism of Asif Aziz is notable as he has previously posed with the billionaire and publicly endorsed the family’s philanthropic campaigns.
Only a few days ago Khan joined the Aziz family as they turned on the capital’s Ramadan lights.
In a LinkedIn post, Asif Aziz described his pride at watching his daughter Rahima Aziz join the mayor to launch the display.
The lights are funded by the Aziz family’s charitable arm and covered in the family’s branding. The annual launch has become a chance to promote the Aziz family’s public persona as pillars of the London business community. In addition to this, their charitable activities include paying for Aziz-branded internships for MPs and at national newspapers.
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Asif Aziz has previously said that “tackling homelessness” is one of his main objectives in life, and the Aziz Foundation has this year partnered with youth homelessness charity Centrepoint.
The Aziz Foundation receives funding directly from the family’s residential property holdings – meaning the tenants threatened with eviction have been helping to subsidise the family’s more PR-friendly charitable activities which give them access to the top levels of the British establishment.
The sudden U-turn could prove costly for the Aziz family who, according to sources with knowledge of the company’s operations, had intended to replace the private rental tenants with hundreds of much more lucrative temporary accommodation units. These are paid for by local councils using public funds under their obligation to deal with homeless people.
“So many questions to answer”
Stuart Neaverson is the Merton Labour councillor who represents the Colliers Wood ward containing Britannia Point tower. He has been on the ground at the site since last week and dubbed Criterion’s actions “one of the worst mass evictions in our capital’s recent history”.
He said hundreds of residents had been saved from eviction: “Criterion have so many questions to answer on how they will repair their broken relationships with tenants they've so badly let down, as well as the local community."
Neaverson now wants Criterion to go further and repay the council the £3m spent by the local authority putting up emergency scaffolding after windows began falling out of the company’s building. Aziz’s company has so far refused to pay, with local taxpayers instead picking up the bill, while still pushing ahead with a large planning application for new buildings on the site.
“Turned this around for probably thousands of people”
The way in which the eviction U-turn was handled by Criterion has left some residents uncomfortable.
On Monday afternoon, Britannia Point resident Becky was asked to record a video on her doorstep stating her name and declaring: “I’m under no pressure to leave” in order to keep her flat.
She said the lack of paperwork and repeated visits from strangers knocking on her door were unnerving: “Everyone’s just really scared. We don’t now know what to believe.”
Our investigation will also increase public scrutiny of the Aziz family’s vast London property holdings, which range from retail units used by tax-evading sweet shops, to windowless hotels in converted car parks, and suburban pubs.
Where this leaves the tenants who have already been evicted by Criterion Capital in recent weeks is another question. Some residents had already moved out or made plans to leave as a result of the eviction notices, while others had already signed new, more expensive tenancies elsewhere.
One resident, who now hopes to stay in their Criterion-owned flat, said that London Centric’s reporting had “turned this around for probably thousands of people”. But they said that they would ultimately use any extra time in their home to find a new landlord: “I don’t want to pay my money to that type of company.”
Criterion Capital and Asif Aziz did not return multiple requests for comment on why they attempted the mass eviction – or why they had a sudden change of heart.
This story began with a single tip about evictions in one building. On a hunch, having reported on Aziz’s business for the last year, we sent London Centric reporter Polly Smythe to spend two days travelling across the capital to see if this was a widespread issue. She spent time talking to sources and going door-to-door working out the unprecedented scale of the evictions.
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For those getting up to speed on Asif Aziz, Criterion Capital, and their influence on the capital, here’s some of London Centric’s coverage from the last year:
Asif Aziz’s company has bought London’s oldest YMCA on top of his windowless hotel
Asif Aziz’s Edinburgh hotel project ended up hosting tax-evading gift shops
We’ve got more stories about him and his businesses in the works. Get in touch if you have something we should be looking into – all of our best tips come from our readers. If you work for Criterion Capital, we can guarantee confidentiality if you reach out to us. If you want to set up a burner email address for extra anonymity, we recommend Proton Mail.
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