Homeless Man Occupies Luxury London Mansion Linked to Evergrande Founder's Ex-Wife for 3 Years

A sprawling luxury mansion in London, once the most expensive single residential property in Britain, has become the unconventional home of a homeless man for the past three years. The property, valued at over 200 million pounds (approximately 8.46 billion New Taiwan dollars), was purchased in 2020 by Chinese Evergrande Group founder Xu Jiayin and his associate Zhang Songqiao.

The mansion, located in the prime Knightsbridge area, features seven floors, 45 rooms, four elevators, 116 bulletproof windows, and an indoor swimming pool. Records show the property was acquired through an offshore company registered in the British Virgin Islands, with Xu Jiayin's ex-wife, Ding Yumei, listed as the ultimate beneficiary. However, following Evergrande's bankruptcy and subsequent debt and fraud allegations against Xu Jiayin, the mansion has been legally frozen, preventing any sale, rental, or renovation.

This legal freeze has created a unique situation where a Swedish former tech journalist, Andres Fernstedt, has been living on the mansion's exterior porch with his dog since 2023. Fernstedt has ingeniously avoided trespassing by only occupying the outdoor space, thus circumventing laws against illegal occupation of interiors. He has transformed the porch into a makeshift "home and garden," decorating it with books, toys, and plants, and receiving occasional support from neighbors. Despite his circumstances, Fernstedt maintains he is in good health and has a history in journalism and horticulture, having fallen on hard times after a series of misfortunes.