For the Blairs, it is also a clear attempt to regain a foothold on the property ladder after a questionable history of dabbling in the market.

In 1993, the Blairs bought 1 Richmond Crescent, a six-bedroom, four-storey Victorian townhouse in Islington for £375,000. Cherie Blair demonstrated a shrewd eye for a deal by approaching the owners directly and organising a house swap, enabling them to save on stamp duty.

They swapped their Islington home in Stavordale Road, valued at £200,000, with the owners of the Richmond Crescent property while paying an extra £175,000 in cash.
The Blairs hosted numerous dinner parties in Richmond Crescent, and their kitchen was immortalised in a Labour Party election broadcast. On the downside, it was burgled five times in 16 months.
When Blair came to power in 1997, the family was advised not to use the house: security experts deemed it unacceptable.
 
The Prime Minister was cautioned against renting out the property to prevent the possibility of political embarrassment caused by leasing it to an unsuitable tenant. The warning was prompted by the case of the former Tory chancellor Norman Lamont who unknowingly let his Notting Hill flat to a callgirl by the name of Miss Whiplash.
 
As a result, the Blairs stepped off the property ladder after the election victory in 1997 by selling the property for £615,000. It sold within hours and made them a profit of £240,000. But it was a decision they would come to regret as they missed out almost entirely on the recent property boom.
In May this year, the house went back on the market with an asking price of £1.69m. Mrs Blair was reported to be furious at having missed out on a prime investment opportunity.

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Perhaps the Blairs' best property investment will prove to be the modest detached house they bought in the Prime Minister's Sedgefield constituency in Co Durham.
    
Myrobella, a detached Victorian house in the former mining village of Trimdon, was acquired for £30,000 when Mr Blair was first elected as an MP. There is little chance that the property will help the Blairs recoup the £1m they missed out on by selling Richmond Crescent.
But it has risen fivefold in value and it appears destined to remain the least controversial property in their portfolio.

The Blair's future family home on Connaught Square is the most expensive of houses in their property portfolio by a long shot. The Georgian edifice is a four-storey, five-bedroom house with a small garden at the back. In an indication of the extent of its family-friendly capacity, the property backs on to a mews and a private nursery school that would be suitable for Leo, the youngest of the Blairs' four children.


 

The Blairs are fortunate that the previous owner of the house has been very careful to retain all the original Georgian features, which include an excellent wooden staircase.
 
The Blairs should feel comfortable among their new neighbours. Connaught Square attracts an eclectic and cosmopolitan crowd of residents ranging from politicians and writers to business entrepreneurs.
 
GEORGIAN SPLENDOUR IN A MULTICULTURAL AREA
Connaught Square, with its four-storey brick houses, is a fine example of London's grand Georgian architecture. Planned in the early part of the 19th century, the first of the square's terraced houses was built in 1828 as part of the imposing Hyde Park estate.


 

Lying to the west of the Edgware Road, the square has 45 large houses, built in the classically flat-fronted Georgian style and owned by a mix of wealthy artists and business people attracted by its central location.

The area is deeply multi-cultural and particularly popular with London's Arab community centred on the Edgware Road with its many Middle Eastern restaurants.
Neighbours say the square is very "incestuous" with everybody knowing each other's business.

By Danielle Demetriou