Blair 2

johnwest · 09-01-2005, 11:52 AM

A Prime minister earns roughly £175,000 a year. How then can Blair afford to buy a house for £3.5 million for his retirment?

mkpdavies · 09-01-2005, 12:11 PM

He has a very rich wife!

Bluemerle · 09-01-2005, 02:11 PM

According to The Telegraph the Blair's have made a big mistake buying their £3.5 million house.

(My heart bleeds for them, the greedy b******s). Pehaps this is the reason he is hanging on to No 10 and won't let Gordon have the key.

Teleg
Have Tony and Cherie made a £3.6m property blunder?
By Catriona Davies
(Filed: 08/01/2005)

When Tony Blair and his wife Cherie bought a £3.6 million house last year they were hoping to secure their financial future and catch up what they had missed in their years away from the London property ladder.

Nearly five months later, however, the Georgian townhouse stands shuttered and empty, haemorrhaging cash on mortgage repayments while earning nothing.

The idea was to rent the house out until Mr Blair leaves office and can
live there. But now it is starting to look as if the Blairs may have landed
themselves something of a white elephant.

Despite dropping the rent by more than £1,000 a week, they have failed to attract tenants for the property in Connaught Square, a stone's throw from Hyde Park.

Estate agents say the house – now on the market for £2,750 a week after
being reduced from £3,900 – is overpriced and needs work to make it more attractive.

The Blairs have said they are willing to do the work but there is
speculation that they may not be able to afford it immediately.

Mark Tunstall, of Chesterfield, one of the agents marketing the property,
said: "The clients are willing to do work, but not until they have found a
tenant.

"It's something that we advised against. Especially when the market is
slow, we would advise clients to do work rather than wait, but landlords
will always hold off spending money if they can."

Mary Ryan, of Property Vision, who represents tenants and has viewed 29
Connaught Square, said: "It's a very dark house and the way it's presented is very heavy; it's all wood panelling, velvet embossed wallpaper and heavy curtains. It may have looked very grand when it was lived-in, but rental properties generally need to be neutral."

She added: "The Blairs made the classic mistake of mixing an investment
property with one that would suit them. The two are not necessarily
compatible. I would be hard pushed to recommend it to any of my clients."

Mary Hennigan-Lawson, a partner at Cluttons estate agency, off Connaught Square, said: "It's way overpriced. Similar properties in the area are getting £2,000 to £2,200.

"Having the property empty is a disastrous investment, they are losing
money. Once a property has been unoccupied for a certain length of time
people start to get suspicious."

Assuming the Blairs found a deposit of close to £1 million – or 25 per cent
– their mortgage is still eight times their combined income.

They are believed to have secured a mortgage with Cheltenham & Gloucester on the basis of Mr Blair's huge possible earnings from a book deal and the lecture circuit.

But their mortgage interest payments are likely to take up all of Mr
Blair's £178,000 salary and, with Mrs Blair no longer working full-time as
a lawyer, insiders estimate that she now earns in the region of £125,000 a
year.

Their situation could have been helped by Mrs Blair's book, The Goldfish
Bowl: Married to the Prime Minister, which was co-written with the social
historian Cate Haste about spouses in No 10.

Mrs Blair and Miss Haste shared a £50,000 advance, but sales are below what would earn them any royalties.

To promote the book and boost her income, Mrs Blair undertook a lecture
tour in America in October. But the three US dates, estimated to have
earned her around £30,000, were by no means high profile events.

In February, Mrs Blair will be the celebrity speaker at a gala dinner in
Auckland, New Zealand, followed by five nights in Australia.

All the dates are charity events, where guests will pay between £80 and
£120 a head for dinner and an audience with Mrs Blair, whose fee has not
been disclosed. Publicity for the Australian tour, for which 3,500 tickets
are on sale, said: "Not only is she the British Prime Minister's wife, she
is a writer, lawyer, human rights advocate, Queen's Counsel and mother of not 2.2 but four children. Be inspired when you join Cherie Blair."

Guests at the Auckland event are being offered the chance to pay £3,800 for a VIP table of 10, including "exclusive drinks with Mrs Blair".

Downing Street refused to comment on the Blairs' finances.

mkpdavies · 09-01-2005, 02:19 PM

The Blairs won't loose out. They are well and truly on the gravy train for life now. Pensions and EU riches await them I am sure.

It wouldn't surprise me if Blair isn't actually happy that the British are so Eurosceptic. He is probably selling it to his chums in the EU, that the job of conning the Brits INTO phpbb_saying yes to a total handover to the EU is so hard, that he will need the assuarance of being it's first real preseident to help sway us.

He is not doing this for the EU's sake, only his own super-sized ego. He will play the EU as much as he has done Britain, but I just hope we don't let him use the sell-out of Britain as the trump card for his mission of total word domination.

He is a power-monger pure and simple, he would sell the EU in a flash if he though it meant more power for himself!

09-01-2005, 11:52 AM	#1 (permalink)
johnwest Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Suffolk Posts: 827 Party: UKIP	Blair 2 A Prime minister earns roughly £175,000 a year. How then can Blair afford to buy a house for £3.5 million for his retirment?

09-01-2005, 12:11 PM	#2 (permalink)
mkpdavies Uber Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Woking Posts: 30,832 Party: Libertarian Party	He has a very rich wife! __________________ http://brits4ronpaul.blogspot.com/ http://wokinglibertarians.blogspot.com/ http://lpuk.org My ignore list Labour, Blue Labour, Lib Dems

09-01-2005, 02:19 PM	#4 (permalink)
mkpdavies Uber Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Woking Posts: 30,832 Party: Libertarian Party	The Blairs won't loose out. They are well and truly on the gravy train for life now. Pensions and EU riches await them I am sure. It wouldn't surprise me if Blair isn't actually happy that the British are so Eurosceptic. He is probably selling it to his chums in the EU, that the job of conning the Brits INTO phpbb_saying yes to a total handover to the EU is so hard, that he will need the assuarance of being it's first real preseident to help sway us. He is not doing this for the EU's sake, only his own super-sized ego. He will play the EU as much as he has done Britain, but I just hope we don't let him use the sell-out of Britain as the trump card for his mission of total word domination. He is a power-monger pure and simple, he would sell the EU in a flash if he though it meant more power for himself! __________________ http://brits4ronpaul.blogspot.com/ http://wokinglibertarians.blogspot.com/ http://lpuk.org My ignore list Labour, Blue Labour, Lib Dems

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09-01-2005, 02:11 PM	#3 (permalink)
Bluemerle Uber Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Dorset. Posts: 3,252	According to The Telegraph the Blair's have made a big mistake buying their £3.5 million house. (My heart bleeds for them, the greedy b******s). Pehaps this is the reason he is hanging on to No 10 and won't let Gordon have the key. Teleg Have Tony and Cherie made a £3.6m property blunder? By Catriona Davies (Filed: 08/01/2005) When Tony Blair and his wife Cherie bought a £3.6 million house last year they were hoping to secure their financial future and catch up what they had missed in their years away from the London property ladder. Nearly five months later, however, the Georgian townhouse stands shuttered and empty, haemorrhaging cash on mortgage repayments while earning nothing. The idea was to rent the house out until Mr Blair leaves office and can live there. But now it is starting to look as if the Blairs may have landed themselves something of a white elephant. Despite dropping the rent by more than £1,000 a week, they have failed to attract tenants for the property in Connaught Square, a stone's throw from Hyde Park. Estate agents say the house – now on the market for £2,750 a week after being reduced from £3,900 – is overpriced and needs work to make it more attractive. The Blairs have said they are willing to do the work but there is speculation that they may not be able to afford it immediately. Mark Tunstall, of Chesterfield, one of the agents marketing the property, said: "The clients are willing to do work, but not until they have found a tenant. "It's something that we advised against. Especially when the market is slow, we would advise clients to do work rather than wait, but landlords will always hold off spending money if they can." Mary Ryan, of Property Vision, who represents tenants and has viewed 29 Connaught Square, said: "It's a very dark house and the way it's presented is very heavy; it's all wood panelling, velvet embossed wallpaper and heavy curtains. It may have looked very grand when it was lived-in, but rental properties generally need to be neutral." She added: "The Blairs made the classic mistake of mixing an investment property with one that would suit them. The two are not necessarily compatible. I would be hard pushed to recommend it to any of my clients." Mary Hennigan-Lawson, a partner at Cluttons estate agency, off Connaught Square, said: "It's way overpriced. Similar properties in the area are getting £2,000 to £2,200. "Having the property empty is a disastrous investment, they are losing money. Once a property has been unoccupied for a certain length of time people start to get suspicious." Assuming the Blairs found a deposit of close to £1 million – or 25 per cent – their mortgage is still eight times their combined income. They are believed to have secured a mortgage with Cheltenham & Gloucester on the basis of Mr Blair's huge possible earnings from a book deal and the lecture circuit. But their mortgage interest payments are likely to take up all of Mr Blair's £178,000 salary and, with Mrs Blair no longer working full-time as a lawyer, insiders estimate that she now earns in the region of £125,000 a year. Their situation could have been helped by Mrs Blair's book, The Goldfish Bowl: Married to the Prime Minister, which was co-written with the social historian Cate Haste about spouses in No 10. Mrs Blair and Miss Haste shared a £50,000 advance, but sales are below what would earn them any royalties. To promote the book and boost her income, Mrs Blair undertook a lecture tour in America in October. But the three US dates, estimated to have earned her around £30,000, were by no means high profile events. In February, Mrs Blair will be the celebrity speaker at a gala dinner in Auckland, New Zealand, followed by five nights in Australia. All the dates are charity events, where guests will pay between £80 and £120 a head for dinner and an audience with Mrs Blair, whose fee has not been disclosed. Publicity for the Australian tour, for which 3,500 tickets are on sale, said: "Not only is she the British Prime Minister's wife, she is a writer, lawyer, human rights advocate, Queen's Counsel and mother of not 2.2 but four children. Be inspired when you join Cherie Blair." Guests at the Auckland event are being offered the chance to pay £3,800 for a VIP table of 10, including "exclusive drinks with Mrs Blair". Downing Street refused to comment on the Blairs' finances.