The owners of Veeraswamy, the UK’s oldest Indian restaurant, are suing the Crown Estate, King Charles’s property business, over its plan to turn the building’s upper floors into ‘high-class’ offices, saying it would force them out of their Regent Street home.
Veeraswamy, founded in 1926 by Edward Palmer, has operated from Victory House on Regent Street for a century. Winston Churchill, Marlon Brando and Charlie Chaplin have dined at the Michelin-starred restaurant, and its chefs have twice catered for Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace. Its lease ran out in 2025, and the case reached court on Thursday after owners MW Eat Ltd asked Judge Alan Johns KC to rule that the Crown Estate is precluded from opposing the grant of a new tenancy under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954.
For MW Eat, Guy Fetherstonhaugh KC said the Crown Estate’s planned works would require the permanent removal of the restaurant but not of the nightclub or the retail unit on the ground and basement floors. “The tenant, which has just celebrated its century of operation from the building, is unwilling to leave,” he said. The owners argue that “the landlord simply does not wish its hoped-for smart new offices to have an Indian restaurant in their midst, no matter how prestigious that restaurant may be,” and that the premises are “very much not old and worn or ripe for redevelopment.”
The Crown Estate, whose property belongs to the reigning monarch “in right of the crown” rather than as personal property, generates income for the Treasury, with some money issued to the King via the Sovereign Grant. Mark Sefton KC, for the estate, said it was “entirely legitimate” for a landlord to remove an existing tenant to redevelop premises and re-let them to a different type of tenant at a higher rent. Victory House currently comprises outdated and unlettable office accommodation apart from the restaurant and two other units, he said, and the estate intends to strip the building back to its basic structure and refit it as modern, sustainable and energy-efficient, high-quality fitted offices, with planning permission granted. “If the claimant left the premises voluntarily tomorrow, the Crown Estate would carry out precisely the same scheme of works,” he said. The Crown Estate believes the premises will be “worth far more if they are redeveloped as high-quality fitted offices than if they remain as restaurant premises”. “Nothing about any of that is remotely improper,” he said.
The redevelopment is part of a £1bn improvement programme over the Crown Estate’s Regent Street Portfolio, Sefton said. MW Eat has said it would accept a new tenancy over a reduced part of the building. Its director, Ranjit Mathrani, has previously said that if the restaurant is required to vacate and move elsewhere, it could cost as much as £5 million; in February he urged King Charles to overturn the decision, and a petition supporting the restaurant has passed 20,000 signatures.
The hearing is expected to run into next week, with Judge Johns likely to reserve his judgment until a later date.
Analysis
Why This Matters
- Veeraswamy’s future at its Regent Street home of a century is at stake, along with a piece of London’s culinary history.
- The case tests how far landlords can go in opposing lease renewals for redevelopment under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, with implications for other business tenants.
- The dispute sits at the centre of the Crown Estate’s £1bn Regent Street regeneration, which funds the Treasury and, through the Sovereign Grant, the King.
Background
Veeraswamy, founded in 1926, is widely regarded as Britain’s oldest Indian restaurant. The Crown Estate is a property portfolio held by the reigning monarch “in right of the crown” rather than privately, with income flowing to the Treasury. The Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 gives business tenants a general right to renew leases, but landlords may oppose renewal where they intend to demolish or reconstruct the premises.
Key Perspectives
MW Eat Ltd: says the Crown Estate’s only conceivable reason for removing the restaurant is that it does not want an Indian restaurant in the midst of its hoped-for smart new offices, and that the premises are smart and well kept, not ripe for redevelopment.
The Crown Estate: says its plans are “entirely legitimate”, arguing Victory House has outdated, unlettable offices and will be worth far more redeveloped as high-quality fitted offices; “nothing about any of that is remotely improper.”
What to Watch
- Judge Johns’s decision on whether the Crown Estate is precluded from opposing a new tenancy, with judgment likely reserved until after the hearing.
- Whether MW Eat’s proposal for a new tenancy over a reduced part of the building gains any traction.
- The next stage of the Crown Estate’s Regent Street redevelopment programme if it prevails.
Checked
12 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 12 supported.
Show each claim
- SupportedThe Crown Estate is in a court battle to evict the UK’s oldest Indian restaurant from Regent Street.The Independent UK: “The UK's oldest Indian restaurant is suing King Charles’s property business, claiming it is being forced out of its 100-year-old Regent Street home”
- SupportedVeeraswamy’s owners say the Crown Estate wants its smart new offices to have no Indian restaurant in their midst.The Independent UK: “the landlord simply does not wish its hoped-for smart new offices to have an Indian restaurant in their midst”
- SupportedThe Crown Estate says it is entirely legitimate to remove a tenant to redevelop premises and re-let them to a different type of tenant at a higher rent.The Independent UK: “it is "entirely legitimate" for a landlord to want to remove an existing tenant so as to redevelop premises and re-let to a different type of tenant at a higher rent.”
- SupportedVeeraswamy’s owners are suing the Crown Estate over plans to turn the building’s upper floors into high-class offices, which they say would force them out.The Independent UK: “The Estate ... wants to kick out the restaurant so the upper floors of the building can be turned into “high-class” offices”
- SupportedVeeraswamy was founded in 1926 by Edward Palmer and has operated from Victory House for a century.The Independent UK: “Veeraswamy was founded in 1926 by Edward Palmer”
- SupportedThe restaurant’s lease ran out in 2025, and the case reached court on Thursday after its owners asked a judge to rule on the Crown Estate’s opposition to a new tenancy.The Independent UK: “the property, which ran out in 2025 . The case reached court on Thursday after the restaurant owners asked a judge to rule that the Estate is “precluded from objecting to the grant of a new tenancy””
- SupportedFor the restaurant owners, Guy Fetherstonhaugh KC said the planned works would require the restaurant’s permanent removal, but not the nightclub or retail-unit tenants.The Independent UK: “The landlord plans to carry out works to the building which it says will require the permanent removal of the tenant, but not the tenants of the nightclub or the retail unit on the ground and basement floors.”
- SupportedThe Crown Estate says Victory House has outdated, unlettable office accommodation apart from the restaurant and two other units, and that it intends to strip and refit the building as modern offices.The Independent UK: “Apart from the restaurant premises that the claimant occupies, and apart from a retail unit on the ground floor and a further unit in the basement, Victory House currently comprises outdated and unlettable office accommodation.”
- SupportedThe Crown Estate says its redevelopment work has planning permission.The Independent UK: “He said the work, for which planning permission has been granted, involves the "demolition and then the reconstruction of virtually all the physical features that are comprised in the tenancy."”
- SupportedThe redevelopment is part of a £1bn improvement programme for the Crown Estate’s Regent Street Portfolio.The Independent UK: “For over 20 years, the Crown Estate has been undertaking a £1 billion improvement programme in relation to its Regent Street Portfolio.”
- SupportedRanjit Mathrani has said moving the restaurant could cost as much as £5 million.The Independent UK: “MW Eat director Ranjit Mathrani has previously said that if it is required to vacate the premises and move elsewhere, it could cost as much as £5 million.”
- SupportedThe hearing is expected to run into next week, and Judge Johns is likely to reserve his judgment until a later date.The Independent UK: “The hearing is expected to run into next week, with Judge Johns likely to reserve his judgment on the issue until a later date.”