Tenants move in to Blair's home

The Blairs' tenants at their £3.65m property in London's sought-after Connaught Square have finally moved in, six months after the Prime Minister first put the house up for rent.

The Blairs' tenants at their £3.65m property in London's sought-after Connaught Square have finally moved in, six months after the Prime Minister first put the house up for rent.

A French male housekeeper and an Australian nanny were answering inquiries yesterday about thetenants, a foreign businessman, his wife and their young daughter. But they declined to reveal the identity of their employers, whose belongings arrived in a three-ton furniture van, nor would they confirm the estimated weekly rental of £2,000 - well below the £3,900 the Blairs had originally demanded.

There was no hiding the activity in the Bayswater square where net curtains were twitching. A neighbour, who had just returned from her Easter holiday, said: "There have been a lot of comings and goings all day. I think this really is it, this time they have finally found a tenant. It must be a huge relief for them.''

The Blairs are understood to have spent tens of thousands of pounds refurbishing their five-storey, five-bedroom house but it has taken almost six months to secure a tenant. They bought the house in September last year from the art historian Roger Bevan. They have faced monthly mortgage repayments estimated at £12,000. Experts say the house could already have lost £365,000 in value since the Blairs bought it.