Actually, it’s not an apartment, it’s a townhouse in a private mews, and he’s not panhandling, he sells newspapers - partly out of the performer’s desperation to have an audience, and partly because he hasn’t been right on the head since his wife died two years ago.
You’re right. He lives in Sniffen Court. Sorry, I’ve known him (at a distance!) for almost 20 years and he’s always been nuts.