Foxtons could be facing fresh difficulties – this time, over its plans to expand.

Squatters have moved into a pub in a bid to stop Foxtons turning it into a new branch.

The Elephant and Castle pub, in south London, is now home to around a dozen squatters, who are objecting to the “gentrification” of the area and the redevelopment and selling off of local social housing.

Foxtons had applied to Southwark Council for a change of use of the historic pub in April.

Because it is a commercial and not a residential building, police cannot immediately evict the squatters.

One squatter told the Evening Standard: “Foxtons are a symptom of a horrible process that’s destroying people’s lives.

“They are profiting from other people’s misery because they want to sell on really expensive properties. It’s the front line of driving up property prices.”

It is possible that the pub – which lost its licence after a stabbing – could be kept as an “asset of community value” and Southwark Council is currently considering an application.

This could mean the pub is reopened or becomes a community building.

A spokesperson for Foxtons said: “We’ve been operating in Elephant and Castle for years now from our nearby London Bridge office, so we’re really excited at the prospect of opening an office right in the heart of the area.

“In the last year alone we’ve dealt with hundreds of properties and people there, and having a new office on their doorstep will allow us to provide exceptional service and local expertise, whilst playing a more active role in the community.”

In April, protesters gathered at the Brixton branch of Foxtons, also demonstrating against “gentrification” of the area, and smashing a window. The branch has been repeatedly targeted by demonstrators.

The firm has also had to run the gauntlet of other negative headlines this year.

Broker Peel Hunt marked the firm’s shares as a “sell”, saying it was not a question of if commissions would fall, but when and by how much.

It said that Foxtons and others faced competition from online agents.

More recently, an online petition rapidly gained thousands of signatures, forcing Foxtons to remove anti-homeless spikes from outside its West End office; and a firm of lawyers announced a class action of landlords against Foxtons, alleging that the firm had “secretly” marked up repairs bills.

The firm added five new offices to its London network in the spring, giving it 56 branches across the capital, with plans to open between five and ten new branches a year in the four years to 2018.