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An independent antiques trader in Finsbury Park is taking on his multimillionaire landlord and agent after he was told to vacate his shop, part of which is being turned into a luxury flat.

Bennet & Brown have been restoring historic furniture for clients including Westminster Cathedral and the Treasury for almost a decade from a shop in Mountgrove Road, on the Hackney side of Blackstock Road.

But owner Dominic Bennet has been told to leave the premises after the landlord’s agent, Cluttons, decided to carve the property in two to add a one-bedroom flat at the back of the shop and basement. This means the remaining shop floor will be halved, with the loss of its storage space, meaning Mr Bennet will have to move.

“I couldn’t make it work,” the trader said.

“It would be way too small. But I’m in an odd position because my lease expired two years ago and I’ve become a sitting tenant and it would not be so easy to get me out.”

Mr Bennet has started a petition – available to sign in the shop and not online – calling for a halt to the plans. It has already been signed by more than 600 people. He plans to submit the petition to Hackney Council’s planning committee and defend his shop.

Mr Bennet is calling for people to lodge objections to the planning application and is considering resisting a possible eviction order in court in the hope of securing a new lease.

Mr Bennet added: “I think they’ve [retained retail space] to make the planning application more straightforward. But I don’t think they care about it too much, because all the money is in residential [property]. So many businesses are being turned into residential, it’s becoming harder and harder.”

The property is owned by Brownlow Developments Ltd, a company owned by the wealthy Walduck family, who been in the hotel business since 1827 and own Imperial London hotels, which has six properties around Bloomsbury. According to the Sunday Times Rich List the family are worth £240million.

Mr Bennet, who has 20 years’ experience in restoring furniture for prestigious clients including the Spanish Embassy and Dr Johnson’s House museum, pays £8,500 a year in rent. He questioned how more much the owners would actually net for a flat and a shop, considering the cost of renovating the property would likely amount to some £40,000.

John Martin, a partner at Cluttons, said: “The proposed works are of benefit to the local area as they will significantly improve the property and the appearance of the parade on Mountgrove Road. The proposed redevelopment will create a newly refurbished shop unit and provide an additional residential unit, which is much needed in the locality.

“Our client is conscious of retaining shops on the parade as an important amenity for local residents. Unlike many of the other retail units on Mountgrove Road which have been fully converted to residential by other landlords, our client’s proposed redevelopment will create an improved retail space.”