Prime Minister moves in – to No 11

Everybody remembers the day they moved into a new house, and how they had to make do on the first night, because the bed linen had not been unpacked and the previous occupants had taken all the curtains. But it was probably not quite like that for David and Samantha Cameron and their two young children yesterday.

It had been two weeks since the old tenants moved out of the flat above 11 Downing Street taking all their belongings, including a large Wendy House. Workmen have since been in, making sure it is fit for a Prime Minister and his family.

Like his two predecessors, Mr Cameron is taking the No 11 flat, because it is bigger and more child-friendly than the one over No 10. However it is thought that he will initially move into the No 10 flat until the rooms at No 11 are ready.

The Camerons now face a dilemma about what to do with their vacated £2.5m home in Notting Hill. They could sell – but the Blairs did that in 1997, and lost out on a decade of rising property prices. Or they could rent, but Norman Lamont did that when he was Chancellor, only to learn from a newspaper that his basement was occupied by someone who advertised her services as "Miss Whiplash".

Asked what he would do yesterday, Mr Cameron simply told the BBC: "I certainly won't be renting to Miss Whiplash."