Grosvenor Estate “looks after and upgrades the public realm,” said Camilla Dell, founder of Black Brick Property Solutions, which buys real estate on behalf of the wealthy. “Pedestrian streets are widened, and they’ve been very conscious the shops are quality and different from one another.”

But these improvements have helped push up prices so much that the areas are now synonymous with the international elite. One four-bedroom apartment in Grosvenor Square is on the market for 17 million pounds, and a nearby terraced house is offered at 65 million pounds.

Home prices in this region are the highest in London. The same areas also have the city’s starkest income inequality, according to anti-poverty group Trust for London.

The Grosvenor Estate’s philanthropic arm aims to tackle some of the harshest effects of inequality across its holdings by supporting charities that target homelessness. It also provides office space in London for non-profits, including the Childhood Trust, which focuses on poverty.

But tensions are building, especially where Grosvenor Group interacts with the less affluent.

A few blocks from Sloane Square, Belgravia, one of London’s exclusive areas, Grosvenor Group wants to demolish high-rise apartment blocks to build a residential complex with new shops, restaurants and double the existing affordable homes.

Tenants housed by the local council in one tower set for demolition are furious at the prospect of being uprooted when the building’s lease expires in 2023. Supported by local Labour politicians, the residents have campaigned against the plans and more than 200,000 people have signed a petition supporting their cause.

It was a similar story when Grosvenor Group last year proposed building about 1,300 units in Bermondsey, southeast London, aimed at workers without the means to buy a home and too much income to qualify for social housing. The area’s Labour-run council rejected the plans in February, criticizing Grosvenor Group for being “off the mark” in numbers of affordable homes.

The firm has filed a fresh application to London’s governing body, which has the power to overrule local authorities and is expected to hold a public hearing on the matter by the end of the year.

But even if these latest plans go through, the spotlight will remain on the Duke of Westminster and his empire.