£210 Million London Mansion Linked to Evergrande Founder Sits Empty as Homeless Man Lives on Porch

Recent photos circulating online have drawn renewed attention to 2–8A Rutland Gate, a sprawling London mansion linked to Evergrande founder Xu Jiayin, also known as Hui Ka Yan.

The 45-room property, which sold for £210 million in 2020, has stood empty for years. Yet just outside its front doors, Swedish rough sleeper Anders Fernstedt has made the covered porch his home.

The unusual scene comes as the mansion remains caught in the legal fallout from Evergrande’s collapse and efforts by liquidators to recover assets connected to Xu and his former wife, Ding Yumei.

£210 million mansion caught in legal limbo

Located in Knightsbridge opposite Hyde Park, 2–8A Rutland Gate was Britain’s most expensive home when it sold for £210 million in 2020. The Guardian reported that the property has 45 rooms, four elevators, an indoor swimming pool and 116 windows.

The mansion was purchased through Vision Perfect Global Limited, a company registered in the British Virgin Islands. Although the sale was initially associated with Hong Kong billionaire Cheung Chung-kiu, subsequent reporting linked the purchase to Xu. Corporate transparency filings later identified Ding Yumei as the company’s ultimate beneficial owner, according to The Guardian. The mansion was placed back on the market for about £200 million in 2022 but failed to sell.

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The property’s status became more complicated after Evergrande’s collapse. The Times reported that the mansion had become caught in a legal dispute and that much of its interior furnishings and fittings had been removed. Because the property is held through Ding’s ownership structure, Evergrande’s liquidators have faced obstacles in attempting to recover it.

In November 2025, a Hong Kong court expanded an asset-freezing order against Ding to cover assets in Canada, Gibraltar, Jersey and Singapore worth at least $220 million, Bloomberg reported.

Homeless man makes the porch his home

While the mansion sits vacant, Fernstedt has lived on its porch for about three years. The Guardian reported in June that the 57-year-old Swedish man keeps books, bicycles, flowers and other belongings around the covered entrance and sleeps there rather than inside the house.

Fernstedt previously wrote about technology and briefly worked as a freelance fact-checker for The Economist. He also studied horticulture at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. According to The Guardian, a combination of unstable housing, eviction and an assault eventually left him sleeping rough.

He later came across the empty Rutland Gate property and began using its large portico for shelter. He has accumulated books, flowers and other possessions there, but has not taken over the mansion’s interior.

Fernstedt has also developed relationships with people in the neighborhood. The Guardian reported that a nearby church provides him with food and clothing and that some local residents have offered assistance.

Evergrande fallout reaches overseas assets

The mansion’s uncertain future is part of the broader collapse of Xu’s business empire.

On Aug. 20, 2026, Xu was sentenced to life imprisonment after being convicted of financial crimes including fundraising fraud, misuse of funds and bribery, Reuters reported. The court also ordered the confiscation of his personal assets. Evergrande was fined 8.82 billion yuan, while its main property unit was fined 7 billion yuan.

Evergrande defaulted after accumulating more than $300 billion in liabilities and was ordered into liquidation by a Hong Kong court in 2024. Since then, liquidators have sought to recover assets linked to Xu, Ding and former company executives, according to Reuters.

Ding’s overseas property holdings have also come under scrutiny. Bloomberg reported in 2024 that she held as much as $285 million in real estate around the world, including properties in London and Vancouver. One of those assets was a condominium on the 47th floor of One Wall Centre in downtown Vancouver.