Aristocrats are suing their Airbnb landlord for £25,000 after they cut power to their luxury London pad

A furious aristocrat is suing a landlord for £135,000 for cutting the electricity to his Airbnb after a row over money.

Countess Christine Bolza, 48, says she and her Austrian husband Count Niki Bolza were left ‘to live in complete darkness’ without ‘lights, heating or fridge’ after falling out with the landlord from an Airbnb in London that the couple rented last year.

Count Niki Bolza, 51, is the son of publishing boss and architect Count Antonio Bolza, an aristocrat of Austro-Hungarian and Italian descent who has carved out a 2,000-acre estate around the historic castle from Castello di Reschio in Umbria, Italy, where his family lives today.

The chic couple needed a short-term home after uprooting themselves from their accommodation in Mayfair – after the Countess complained there were too many stairs – and moved into a luxury flat near Portobello Road in November last year.

But the couple clashed with landlord Talha Abbasi when they developed cash flow problems in the run-up to the collapse of their property development company Niboco Ltd, which was dissolved in July this year.

They claim that when they started falling behind on their rent in March, Mr Abbasi responded by cutting off their electricity for 20 days, leaving the aristocratic couple ‘homeless at home’, without light, heating and no cooking facilities, and unable to use telephones. , TV or computers.

When the couple told the landlord they were struggling, he remained unmoved and ‘repeatedly sued for payment of monies owed,’ Countess Christine told the mayor and London County Court.

She is now suing Mr Abbasi for £25,000 to compensate her for the ‘anxiety, inconvenience and mental stress’ caused by alleged attempts to force her family out of their temporary home by cutting off the power supply.

She and her family were further discouraged by the loss of internet access, the court heard, and Countess Christine said she was also harassed by Mr Abbasi “attempting to gain access to the apartment of intimidating and aggressive manner”.

Defending the case, which has already racked up around £110,000 in solicitors’ fees, Mr Abbasi accepts the couple’s power cut after they stopped recharging their meter, but says he only did so after his electrician refused to sign him as safe.

He also denies any suggestion of harassment, insisting he tried to get an electrician into his apartment solely for health and safety reasons. He also claims he owes her £40,000 in back rent.

Count Niki, a top-flight property developer as well as designer, played a key role in renovating his family’s Italian estate alongside his architect brother, Benedikt, and Castello di Reschio is now a world-renowned retreat. for the wealthy, offering seven luxury farm stays.

In 2019, the company of Countess Christine and Count Niki was behind plans to redevelopment a huge department store in Liverpool into a 157-room hotel, but in March 2022, as the company headed towards the collapse, the couple suffered from cash flow problems.

Explaining the Countess’ case, her solicitor Michael Marsh-Hyde told the court: ‘In early March 2022, she and her husband had financial difficulties and were unable to pay the full rent for the premises.

“They notified (Mr. Abbasi) and he repeatedly pursued the payment of the sums due.

“We are convinced that Mr. Abbasi threatened to cut off the electricity unless she left the premises the next day. On March 16, 2022, the electricity was cut off.

“She contacted Mr Abbasi via WhatsApp and email and he repeatedly emailed the applicant, advising her that she had to leave the premises on March 17, 2022 and that the electricity would not be available. recharged only once she had agreed to leave the premises.

“Electricity remained disconnected at the premises from March 16, 2022 to April 4, 2022. There was also no internet supply during this time.”

Countess Christine told the court that she and her husband moved out of their previous tenancy ‘because there were five flights of stairs and I couldn’t go up and down things anymore’.

After the electricity went out at Harland House, the block where the flat is located, she and her family were “struggling daily to try to get by”, she told the court.

“We lived in an apartment without electricity or hot water – without any amenities,” she said.

“There was no lighting, no heating, no fridge, we lived in total darkness.”

Countess Christine said she had reached a point where she could no longer trust what Mr Abbasi had told her and claimed turning the electricity off and on was merely a ‘bargaining stone’ for its owner .

She and her husband had paid £3,435 a month for their rental in the upscale London suburb of Maida Vale.

She told the judge that because they had been in the flat for a long time, they in fact had an “secured short-term rental”, giving her strong legal rights.

And she told the court: ‘We had a verbal agreement that we could stay on the property for as long as we needed.

His attorney added: “The parties expressly agreed that they would come to an agreement separate from Airbnb’s planned vacation rental scheme.”

But Mr Abbasi said the apartment was only ever rented to the couple as an Airbnb “vacation” rental, which conferred limited rights as a tenant.

Mr. Abbasi defends the complaint, vigorously contesting the allegations of breach of recognizance, attempted unlawful eviction, interference and harassment.

He insists the Countess and Earl, who are still in place, are now squatters who have not paid their rent in full since February this year.

In court, Mr Abbasi’s lawyer, Tom Carter, said Mr Abbasi had also repeatedly offered to find alternative accommodation for the Bolza family, but was refused.

Judge Stephen Hellman has reserved his decision in the case until a later date.