Sat, 12 Jul 2025

Sat, 12 Jul 2025 Al Fayed family battle over luxury penthouse with 'leaky roofs and noisy lifts'

An exclusive Park Lane address owned by the Fayed family is at the centre of an eight-year dispute.

* Alan and Rosaleen Hodson, owners of a multi-million pound penthouse on Park Lane in central London, have been involved in an 8-year legal battle with companies owned by the late Mohamed Al Fayed.
* The dispute began over a lift installation agreement in 2003 but escalated into allegations of leaky roofs, botched refurbishments and claims that a noisy lift was "maliciously" run at night to disturb the Hodsons' sleep.
* Lawyers for both parties declined to comment on the matter.
* Mohamed Al Fayed's empire was known for his combative approach, frequently resorting to legal action to resolve disagreements.
* The luxury penthouse is located in 55 Park Lane, also known as "Hyde Park Residence", which has been owned by the Al Fayed family since the 1980s through Prestige Properties (PP).
* PP still controls the building, and its director Heini Wathen-Fayed is the widow of Mohamed Al Fayed.
* The dispute involves a leasehold arrangement between PP and the Grosvenor Estate, which owns the freehold of the building.
* Mr Hodson claimed that he made improvements to his apartment without permission, but PP argued that it didn't grant him permission because he should have known that he would need to pay millions of pounds.
* The dispute has dragged on for 8 years, with both parties making claims and counterclaims in court filings.
* Mohamed Al Fayed's wealth at the time of his death was estimated at £1.7 billion, but the sums involved in this dispute are relatively trivial compared to that amount.
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