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Felix Dennis |
Millionaire embarrassed about his low Soho rent
A MULTI-MILLIONAIRE media baron is renting a flat in Soho on a peppercorn rent – despite a personal fortune of £750million.
Felix Dennis, the country’s 95th richest man, has been a Westminster tenant since 1971.
Mr Dennis, the former editor of the counter-
culture magazine Oz, has furnished the former brothel in Kingly Street with the trappings of his wealth.
Because of a clause in the Rent Act of 1969, he cannot be moved.
He said: “I’ve been a sitting tenant since 1971. I’m one of the richest men in England and I’m a tenant. Under the Rent Act they can’t get me out. I’ve had Crown Estate, Grosvenor, and now its Shaftesbury Plc.
“When I moved in here there was nothing and I have replaced everything. I put in bathrooms and the windows. This is why they can’t get me out. The 1969 Rent Control Act makes officials look at the condition of the flat from when the time the tenant moved in. It means no one can get me out.
“I’m too embarrassed to say how much rent I pay. Put it this way – I know people who spend more in Starbucks than I do on rent.
He added: “Born jammy, me.”
Mr Dennis was convicted by an Old Bailey jury in 1971 after a controversial edition of his satirical magazine was targeted by the Obscene Publications Squad.
Beatles legend John Lennon led a 10,000 strong march down Oxford Street in protest at the conviction.
Full interview click here |
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