Scottish film director moves in to Blairs' home

Tony and Cherie Blair have let their £3.65m home in London's fashionable Connaught Square to a Scottish film director and his film producer partner.

Michael Caton-Jones and Laura Viederman moved into the five-bedroom Georgian terrace house this week, six months after the Blairs put the property on the market.

But property sources said the rent paid for the Bayswater address falls far short of what the Prime Minister and his barrister wife had hoped for. The repayments on the house in Connaught Square are estimated to be about £12,000 a month but the rent is thought to be no more than £8,000.

Mr Caton-Jones, 46, is a Scottish-born film director whose credits include Memphis Belle, Rob Roy and City by the Sea, which starred Robert De Niro. Originally from Broxburn, West Lothian, he is in talks with MGM about the sequel to Basic Instinct.

Ms Viederman was the co-producer on City by the Sea and has a long-standing working relationship with Mr Caton-Jones. They have also worked together on The Jackal, in which Ms Viederman had a cameo role.

The Blairs' long and embarrassing wait for the "right tenant" was brought to an end by the arrival of a three-ton removal lorry carrying the furniture and personal effects of the couple and their young daughter.

The Blairs are understood to have spent tens of thousands of pounds refurbishing their five-storey, five-bedroom house after initial interest in the property failed to deliver a tenant.