The dispute, which is due to be heard at Central London County Court in a five-day hearing beginning on June 29, will hear arguments from the Crown Estate and Veeraswamy’s owner, MW Eat, according to The Times.
Its £205,000-a-year lease at Victory House near Piccadilly Circus expired last summer after the Crown Estate decided not to renew it. However, ongoing legal proceedings have allowed the restaurant to continue trading while the dispute is considered by the courts.
The Crown Estate wants to regain possession of the building so it can carry out a ‘comprehensive refurbishment’ of the offices on the upper floors, which have been vacant since a basement flood at the end of 2023. The flood did not affect the restaurant because it operates on a separate power supply.
The landlord has argued that the refurbishment cannot be completed while the restaurant remains in place. However, in a witness statement filed with the court, MW Eat co-owner Ranjit Mathrani has disputed that claim, saying it would be possible for contractors to carry out the works while accommodating the restaurant’s continued operation.
The Crown Estate also plans to remove the wall separating the entrances to the restaurant and the office space as part of a 12-month renovation programme. It says the enlarged reception area would allow it to increase rents from future office tenants.
Veeraswamy has proposed sharing the larger entrance and has offered to match the rent that the Crown Estate expects to receive from office tenants, but those proposals have been rejected.
Speaking to Restaurant earlier this year, MW Eat co-owner Ranjit Mathrani accused The Crown Estate of refusing to engage in a “meaningful and constructive manner” and said the company would be willing to close for several months in order for refurbishment works to be carried out.
“We have also suggested that their experts meet with ours to explore a solution, but they now say they have done all the necessary research and that a meeting would be pointless,” said Mathrani.
“This is truly astonishing and unreasonable. They present themselves as responsible landlords, but that is simply untrue. They have not behaved responsibly towards us.”
MW Eat estimates that relocating the restaurant, fitting out a new site and the impact of a temporary closure would cost around £5m. The company says the compensation offered by the Crown Estate would cover only a fraction of those costs.
On 24 February 2026, a petition signed by more than 20,000 people was delivered to Buckingham Palace calling on the King to intervene and reverse the Crown Estate’s decision not to renew the lease.