Blairs rocket up property ladder

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From ITV.com


Prime Minister Tony Blair's latest property venture will be among an oasis of luxury homes in one of the capital's most exclusive areas.

Four and five-bedroom properties on Connaught Square, just minutes from Hyde Park and Oxford Street, fetch millions of pounds.

A 4-bedroom, 3-reception house with its own self-contained flat on the square will set you back £3 million with estate agents Curtis Sloane.

http://www.itv.com/news/1330494.html

£3.5 million for THAT bit of tat? Maybe estate agents' hype as story is inconfirmed by No 10 Downing Street....

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1. £3.6m buys a very exclusive address: The Times

The Times
By Anne Spackman and Patrick Hoskins

The Blairs’ new London house is certainly no bargain

THE Blairs’ purchase of a £3.6 million house in London’s exclusive Connaught Square continues their poor timing in the property market.
Since Tony Blair came to power in 1997, he has managed to sell when the market is rising and to buy as the market falls.

The Blairs have told friends that they wanted to buy a large family home in preparation for the Prime Minister’s retirement after the next general election. They were also desperate to return to the London property market which has boomed since they sold their last home in the capital.

The sale is believed to have been handled by Chesterfield, a Central London estate agency, which has just completed the sale on the smartest house on the Bayswater square close to Hyde Park. The agency has let the 4,500 sq ft (418 sq m) property in the past for an estimated £150,000 a year.

Unusually the buyer remained anonymous throughout the negotiations, which ended in a sale close to its asking price — the highest ever achieved in the square.

More:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1289451,00.html

Wonder which convicted fraudster they used THIS time to help secure the purchase....

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2. £3.6m Blair home just round corner from Madonna

London Evening Standard snip:

The Blairs' new home is a fourstorey house with five bedrooms and a small garden at the back. The owner, believed to be a fine art expert, has kept all the original Georgian features, including a wooden staircase.

Mr Blair said the new house would be let while he served up to another five years in office.

Former residents of Connaught Square include disgraced ex-Conservative MP Jonathan Aitken, who lived there for two years. Sir Richard Branson started his first business venture, a magazine called Student, from a friend's basement there when he was 17.

Only time will tell if Mr Blair's latest foray into the property market will bring him more luck than he has enjoyed in the past.

More:
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/13530064?source=Evening%20Standard

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3. Heart surgery and £3.5m house purchase cast doubts over Blair's future as

The Independent
By Andrew Grice and Robert Verkaik
01 October 2004


Tony Blair went into hospital today for heart treatment after suffering a health scare while on holiday in August.

The fresh question mark over the Prime Minister's health comes as The Independent can reveal that he has bought a Georgian house for about £3.5m in an exclusive part of central London. It will become his family home when he leaves Downing Street.

Mr Blair signalled last night that he intends to serve at least another four years as Prime Minister, which would enable him to match Margaret Thatcher's 11 years in power. However, he announced that he would quit shortly before the following general election and would not seek a fourth term.

The Prime Minister, 51, who was admitted to hospital a year ago with an irregular heart beat, suffered a recurrence during his month-long summer break. Today he was having a "catheter ablation", under which a catheter will be fitted to give off pulses of energy to stop his heart "short-circuiting" again. Doctors advised Mr Blair to have the medical procedure, described by No 10 as standard, after his second flutter.

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=567667