The Great Portland Street building Sofia House, renamed as the Sofia Solidarity Centre, has become the biggest emergency centre for rough sleepers and was opened seven days a week 24 hours a day, after the Beast from the East battered the UK last month. At its peak Sofia Solidarity Centre saw over 160 people seek shelter.
Last Wednesday in a hearing at the Central London County Court the owner, W1 Developments, was granted a possession order. The subsequent eviction order means the inhabitants are forced to go back out onto the streets by Monday afternoon. Volunteers and inhabitants have chosen to leave quietly and have begun the move. Despite the court threats there were no signs of bailiffs or police in the Monday afternoon and today morning.

The shelter was set up by grassroots group Streets Kitchen, after the Beast from the East battered the UK last month. Volunteers say it has been derelict for fifteen years, and in the last two weeks the building has been taken over to provide shelter and refuge to London’s most vulnerable people.
Volunteers Helen and Matt gave City news a tour of the building. The building is divided into separate areas with the top floor being a quiet zone for PTSD and trauma suffers. The second floor is allocated for Romani families that make up around 30% of the building inhabitants. The ground floor is the community space where a tv, kitchen, food, clothing and music can be found.
The shelter survives through donations – offering beds, sleeping, clothes, hot food and drinks, toiletries – a space for people to sleep well and recover from stress, sleep deprivation and in some cases hypothermia.
A campaign to remain inside the building has gathered over 4,500 signatures and has sparked much debate involving London Mayor Sadiq Khan about the treatment of homeless people.
On Monday morning, the Mayor, tweeted: “With the weather still freezing, our emergency shelters remain open 24/7 across London so that rough sleepers have somewhere warm to stay, which is in line with the new policy that requires shelters to open when temperatures fall below zero.”
He previously tweeted on March 14th addressing the Sofia Solidarity Centre: “I want to thank all Londoners who have contacted me in regards to the well-being of residents at 204 Great Portland Street. My team have spoken to Westminster Council & we have made a direct offer of my ‘No Second Night Out’ service for those rough sleepers who may be moved on.
I want to thank all Londoners who have contacted me in regards to the well-being of residents at 204 Great Portland Street. My team have spoken to Westminster Council & we have made a direct offer of my “No Second Night Out” service for those rough sleepers who may be moved on. pic.twitter.com/PRNUxiqTA5
— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) March 14, 2018
However, City News has learnt from a Streets kitchen volunteer that the Mayor’s office has made no contact with the makeshift shelter.
Rough sleeping has risen in England for seven consecutive years, according to government figures, with more than 1,000 homeless in London and more than 4,100 nationally.
Homelessness charities and campaigners often say the official number of rough sleepers is understated as it is based on counts by local authority staff of rough sleepers they spot in their districts on a single night each autumn.
The number of rough sleepers more than doubled since 2010, after rents rose in many cities at a pace that housing benefits have not kept up with.
A volunteer told City news that people leaving there would rather leave in a dignified manner than be forced out.
Chris, a volunteer for Streets Kitchen told City News that they have found a new squat that they will be moving into. “It is only around the corner, it is warmer and carpeted. It could house more people that this place” Chris tells us.
Streets Kitchen has been appealing to members of the public for funds to pay for sleeping bags on the assumption that people will end up back on the streets.