For more than a month, a rough sleeper had been building up a shelter in the doorway of the former Halifax Bank on Putney High Street. By yesterday’s deadline, set by the building’s owners through their letting agents, he had gone.
The site, next to Putney station at one of the busiest corners on the High Street, had grown over the weeks: a wooden pallet, bamboo screening, a sofa, bin bags. The council gave him a bin. Passers-by grew frustrated. The man, who gave his first name as Levi, was visible to anyone using the station or walking along the High Street.
Levi spoke to Putney.news last week. He said he was homeless and did not want to be. He was living there with his girlfriend in a small shared tent. He said he had asked Wandsworth Council for help and had been refused – a claim that was strongly denied by the area’s Community Safety Officer. Levi told us he was worried about safety; his things had been stolen; he did not like shelters because of the drugs.
“I just want help,” he said.
The eviction notice was dated 20 May and issued by CBRE Ltd, acting for Lloyds Banking Group, which owns the building, after requests from Positively Putney’s CEO Nicola Grant and the local police to take action. It stated that the premises are “private property and not authorised for occupation” and warned that belongings remaining after yesterday’s deadline “will be removed and disposed of without further notice.” At the bottom, it referred the occupant to his local council for support.
We have asked Wandsworth Council if it has a record of contact from someone named Levi regarding a homelessness duty request, and what its process is for someone presenting as homeless in Putney.
The building at 171-173 Putney High Street has been empty for more than two years. The Halifax branch there had already closed before Lloyds shut its own Putney branch in April 2024. CBRE markets the premises to let.
This is the sixth story we have published on the High Street’s vacancy problem. An April survey found eight sites with no movement. On Tuesday we reported that 67 Putney High Street, the former pet shop that became a sweetshop and was twice occupied by squatters, has now been cleared for redevelopment. That is a different address, a different landlord. The vacancy problem runs the length of the street.
Good reporting, thank you.