Sadiq Khan urged to target billionaire landlord on rogue database

Campaigners say Monaco-based developer John Christodolou has refused to pay compensation due to tenants reports Kumail Jaffer, Local Democracy Reporter

A group of people standing outside a courthouse holding placards — Credit: Somerford Grove Renters

The Mayor of London is facing calls to officially designate a billionaire accused of refusing to pay out compensation to tenants as a rogue landlord.

John Christodoulou, a Monaco-based property developer thought to be worth around £2.7billion, was ordered to pay out £263,555.69 to 47 tenants in Hackney last year.

Somerford Grove Renters, which represents 170 flats in Olympic House, Simpson House and St John’s Court, had challenged the landlord over operating unlicensed houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), which meant the buildings were not subject to the safety and quality standards required by law.

At the time, Judge Robert Latham said: “The respondent can only be characterised as a rogue landlord.”

However, tenants have still not received compensation almost 18 months on, prompting calls for Sir Sadiq Khan to investigate his behaviour and look at adding him to the rogue landlord database.

The mayor provides an online rogue landlord and agent checker to name and shame private landlords and letting agents who have been fined or prosecuted – but City Hall officials say they can only act when councils inform them of any enforcement actions taken.

Green Party assembly member Benali Hamdache has also written to the Mayor of Hackney, Zoe Garbett, to ensure Christodoulou faces a banning order against his companies if he does not pay the outstanding debt owed to tenants.

He says there are fears that the tycoon may be “phonenixing” his holdings, meaning firms found guilty of mismanagement would be dissolved and the actions carried on under a new name.

“John Christodoulou is a billionaire based in Monaco, a tax-haven, and is one of the largest private landlords in the UK,” Mr Hamdache wrote.

“Time and again, tenants and leaseholders have had to challenge his business practices. We need local and regional authorities to have no tolerance for rule breaking.”

Tenants first launched action against Christodoulou in 2020 after a request for rent relief during the pandemic was rejected. At the time, residents claimed the landlord told them they could use money ‘saved on lunches’ to pay their rent in full.

Six years on, residents from 15 different flats across Olympic House and Simpson House were awarded the six-figure sum through a rent repayment order, which forces a landlord who has broken the law on housing standards to pay back part or all of the rent.

Jordan Osserman from Somerford Grove Renters said: “We’ve been fighting for justice at Somerford Grove for more than six years. In 2025, we won more than £250,000 for tenants in rent repayment orders against our billionaire landlord John Christodoulou – but we still haven’t been paid.

“If an ordinary person receives a fine, they have to pay it. But when you’re a billionaire landlord, it seems there are all kinds of ways to avoid accountability.

“We’re asking the Mayor of London to help us hold our landlord to account. A tribunal judge described him as a ‘rogue landlord’, and London has a rogue landlord database. It’s time to use it.”

Hamdache told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “For too long landlords have had all the power, while tenants have organised themselves and pushed back with very little backing from the law. Now with the Renters’ Rights Act, there’s a much bigger opportunity for decision makers to take a no tolerance approach towards rogue landlords. I’m positive about working with the mayors of Hackney and London to see tenants treated right.

“I’m standing with Somerford Grove residents so that they finally get their justice. The idea that John Christodoulou and his businesses could evade paying tenants their compensation is just outrageous. Decision makers have to take action with the powers they have and call for new powers if those are insufficient.”

It is understood that the breach in question does not meet the legal threshold required under housing legislation to issue a banning order against the company – effectively rendering the local authority unable to do so.

Dylan Law, deputy mayor and cabinet member for safer homes and housing services at Hackney Council, told the LDRS: “The landlord in question dodging repaying debts owed to tenants – seemingly by liquidating their business while continuing to let out properties at Somerford Grove and elsewhere – is unacceptable.

“The fact landlords can evade their legal responsibilities and subsequent debts without being banned from operating shows severe flaws in the existing system. There is now an increased need for central government to strengthen renters’ rights and help councils prevent the worst landlords from letting out homes.

“As a new administration, we will use every power and resource at our disposal to hold rogue landlords to account and protect tenants.”

A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said: “The mayor is committed to doing everything in his power to secure a fairer deal for all private renters.

“Alongside our new three-year funding for tenant rights groups, we use every tool available to expose bad practice. The mayor’s rogue landlord and agent checker is reliant on councils uploading records of their enforcement action against landlords and agents.

“We work closely with London boroughs to ensure renters’ rights are upheld.”

John Christodoulou did not respond to a request for comment.

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