Beckhams' Neighbors in High Court Battle Over Underground Cinema Plans

Neighbors on a West London street, known for its celebrity residents including David and Victoria Beckham, are embroiled in a High Court dispute over plans to construct a large cinema beneath a garden.

Piers Calvert, a photographer, and Lisa Erickson, a former banker and now choral singer, are fighting the proposal for a basement, which would include a gym and cinema room, under the garden of their shared Holland Park property. The plans were put forth by the owner of a neighboring flat, identified as an offshore entity named Montana International Properties Ltd.

David and Victoria Beckham purchased their London residence on the same street for £31.5 million in 2013. Other celebrities residing in the vicinity include Simon Cowell, Elton John, and Robbie Williams.

The legal battle centers on the interpretation of land ownership rights. Through their freehold and residents' company, 51 Holland Park Residents Ltd, Mr. Calvert and Mrs. Erickson are challenging the ground floor owner's right to excavate deep into the earth for the basement construction. They contend that the company's ownership of the garden does not extend to the subsoil beneath it beyond what is reasonably necessary for its use as a garden.

"The subsoil at 20ft or 100ft or 1,000ft below the surface cannot properly be said to be 'garden'," David Nicholls, representing the residents' company, told London's High Court. He argued that while a presumption exists that land ownership extends to the center of the earth, this does not automatically apply in leasehold contexts, and the lease's wording should be the determining factor.

Montana International Properties Ltd, which has owned the lease for the lower floors and garden since 2014, has planning permission for a single-story, 2.5-meter deep basement. The company's barrister, Daniel Dovar, stated that the issue is whether the garden's demise includes the subsoil and, if so, how far. Montana contends that the entire garden, including all subsoil, is included in its leasehold, which would allow for the development of the underground area.

Mr. Calvert, 48, owns the lease for the attic flat, while Mrs. Erickson, 69, owns the lease for the maisonette below. The dispute involves a five-storey Grade II listed Victorian house, where flats have recently sold for over £3 million.

After three days of hearings, Judge Master Francesca Kaye reserved her decision on the matter. Lawyers for both sides declined to comment on the ownership of the offshore entity or the identity of the current occupants of the lower apartment.