‘We’re living in a zoo’, cry fed-up millionaires trapped by dancing TikTok influencers who glare into their homes
FED-up locals say living in an exclusive London neighbourhood inundated with TikTokers is like living in a “zoo”.
Residents of Hillgate Village in Notting Hill have become swamped by tourists looking to use their multi-million pound pastel coloured houses as a backdrop for their next social media post.
Locals open the curtains in the morning and see tourists staring back at them or even get told to leave by the posing holidaymakers when they try to walk up their own steps.
Some even look out their window to see the influencers changing clothes in the middle of the street as they prepare for their next shoot.
Lucy and Sophie Harrow live in a pastel blue home and told The Sun sometimes feeling like they lived in “Disneyland or the zoo”.
Sometimes they could find 60 people outside their home during the busy summer months.
Sophie said: “You get people looking through the window and you make awkward eye contact while you’re watching TV.
Lucy said: “We find it quite funny… As long as they don’t stare at you through the window.
Lucy said she once returned home with a suitcase to find a group of girls sitting on her front stairs.
When she asked the girls to move, they instead asked the resident: “‘could you find somewhere else to sit please?'”
She said usually those they confronted about getting off their property typically walked away looking embarrassed.
“We don’t get pissed off too much, we get it, we understand why [they’re doing it].”
Clips on TikTok show influencers walking in the middle of the road and dancing in front of people’s homes – all for a photo or video.
One video even shows a man running in front of the homes with a pink smoke grenade, before a woman dressed in pink releases a bunch of heart shaped balloons into the sky.
40-year resident David, who only wanted his first name used, wished the tourists would leave.
He said tourists had only been coming to his street since the pandemic.
“There were not many people four years ago, now we get hundreds a day, what’s it going to be like in five years time?
“I’d rather they went away… and I worry about what happens if the trend continues.”
David said that more tourists came during summer, but in the last year or so many people were arriving at 8am even during rainy winter days.
“There was a day two Saturdays ago when it was not so sunny, it felt like a crowded street and I counted 50 people.
“If you’re trying to work during the day and you open your window there’s a constant murmuring.
“They might be going up to Portobello Road or on their way to Holland Park, but why here particularly?”
But, David recognised that the popularity of the street could help his house price – with homes in the neighbourhood selling for millions of pounds.
Alex Bonningues, a resident of a purple home for 7 years, said she once had a tourist repeatedly close her front door, while she was trying to unload her car.
“He was trying to close the door to take picture sitting on the steps and I had to fight him to say ‘no I need to have the door open’.”
Alex said most tourists were respectful of her home, including of decorations her family put out the front of the home to celebrate holidays.
She said she can also see weddings photos during Spring: “They are funny, you can see the bride in her gown and they walk… but it’s kind of cute.
“I saw a neighbour once asking people to leave, but he was an older man who didn’t like people talking in front of his house and taking pictures.
“But there are more and more people because of social media, more and more people are taking pictures.”
Tourists spoken to by The Sun said they had found the pastel houses of Hillgate Village on TikTok or Instagram and there were a must-see while they were in the city.
Aleksandra and Lucas were visiting the village from Poland on Wednesday to get photos in front of the houses.
Alexsandra said it was at the top of her list of things to do in London: “I saw some time ago some pictures on Instagram, it looks nice so we came here.”
“I thought there would be less houses, but there’s a lot I like the colours because it’s not so bright.
“It’s strange, people live there and everyone goes to see and take pictures, I think for the owners it must be strange.”
Grandad Peter Lee who lives in a pink home, has had scantily clad X-rated photo shoots on his door step.
Despite the posers damaging his steps, he’s never had a problem but says it’s about time they ask permission.
The 78-year-old told The Sun: “It’s virtually everyday and all day, it’s worse than ever.”
Why are the homes in Hillgate Village pastel coloured?
The brick and stucco homes have only become pastel coloured after WW2 as the area has become increasingly affluent.
Kensington & Chelsea council has since designated Hillgate Village a ‘character area’.
There remains some homes in the village which have the original brickwork exposed.
The area was once described as a “slum” and the homes were lived in by brick makers, blacksmiths, and coach drivers.
Hillgate was nicknamed ‘The Racks’ and had a rough reputation for a century, until the area become popular in the post-war period.