Airbnb landlord who left aristocrat in ‘total darkness’ could face £100,000 bill

An Airbnb landlord could face a £100,000 court bill after leaving a count and countess living in his property in "total darkness” and "utterly freezing” by cutting off their electricity.

Countess Christine Bolza, 48, told a judge she and her husband, Count Niki Bolza, were left with "no lighting or heating or fridge" after falling out with the owner of an Airbnb in London, which the couple rented in November 2021.

The countess, whose husband is an aristocrat of Austro-Hungarian and Italian descent, complained the ordeal was “particularly hard” for their young son, to whom she couldn't even read a bed-time story.

The couple had needed a short-term home having uprooted from their previous flat in Mayfair - after the countess complained it had too many flights of stairs - and moved into a deluxe apartment near Portobello Road in November 2021.

But they clashed with landlord Talha Abbasi after they developed cash flow problems in the lead-up to the collapse of their property development company Niboco Ltd, which was wound up in July 2022.

When they started falling behind on their rent in March last year, Mr Abbasi responded by cutting off their power for 19 days, leaving the aristocratic couple “homeless at home”, stripped of light, heat and cooking facilities, and unable to use telephones, TV or computers.

No legitimate grounds

After a trial at Mayor’s and City County Court, Judge Stephen Hellman has now backed Countess Bolza's claim for harassment and breach of lease against the landlord, ruling that he had no legitimate grounds for cutting off the power.

He ordered the landlord to pay £12,924 compensation for harassment and for breach of the couple's rights to the “quiet enjoyment” of their flat, plus around £90,000 to cover their legal costs.

Count Niki Bolza, 51, is the son of publishing boss and architect Count Antonio Bolza, an aristocrat of Austro-Hungarian and Italian descent with a 2,000–acre estate set around the historic castle of Castello di Reschio, in Umbria.

But the couple found themselves living in much less salubrious circumstances after falling out with Airbnb landlord Mr Abbasi, the judge was told during the trial in December.

When the couple told the landlord they were having financial problems, he was unmoved and “repeatedly chased for payment of the outstanding sums”, the countess told the court.

Mr Abbasi had also reported the countess to Westminster City Council’s environmental health department over claims that she and her family were living in a property that was “unfit for human occupation”.

Judge Hellman accepted "this was part of Mr Abbasi’s campaign to drive her and her family out of the flat”, adding that their landlord had also committed an “act of harassment” when he demanded access to their flat on March 19 to inspect the electricity supply.

On top of that, he said Mr Abbasi had arranged for the family’s internet supply to be suspended, which the judge accepted was part of a plan to uproot the countess and her family.

She sued Mr Abbasi for £25,000 to compensate her for the “anxiety, inconvenience and mental stress” caused by alleged attempts to force her family from their temporary home by axing the power supply, which left food to rot in the freezer and the couple to spend extra cash killing time in local cafes.

Safety concerns

Mr Abassi accepted the couple's electricity supply was stopped, but claimed it was down to concerns about safety after the meter was tampered with to bypass it.

Ruling in the couple's favour, Judge Hellman said he was satisfied that the meter was "probably" tampered with by an electrician on the instruction of Count Niki Bolza.

The landlord was "genuinely outraged" at that, but the judge said that was no excuse for him to deprive his tenants of electricity.

“The failure to supply electricity was not justified by non-payment of rent or by Mr Abbasi’s concerns - even if well grounded - that the claimant or her husband had caused the meter to be tampered with," he said.

“Withholding the electricity was not justified on safety grounds."

Count Niki, a high-flying property developer and designer, played a key part 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, boasting seven luxury farmhouse stays.

In 2019, the couple's company was behind plans to redevelop a massive apartment store in Liverpool into a 157-bedroom hotel, but by March 2022, as the company inched towards collapse, he and his wife were suffering cash flow problems.

Cash flow problems

She and her husband had paid £3,435 per month for their rental in Woodfield Place, Maida Vale.

Mr Abbasi denied all the allegations against him and claimed the flat was only rented out to the couple on the basis of an Airbnb “holiday” rental, which conferred limited rights as a tenant.

But Judge Hellman found the lease taken out by Countess Bolza had gone beyond a standard Airbnb holiday let and was effectively an “assured shorthold tenancy” with extensive protection for tenants’ rights.

As well as damages, the judge ordered Mr Abbasi to pay Countess Bolza’s lawyers’ bill for the trial, which is estimated at around £90,000. He was told to pay £70,000 up front towards that bill.