David Cameron rents out his Notting Hill home for up to £72k a year

Family home: David and Samanta Cameron relaxing at heir £2.7million Notting Hill property in 2007, which they renovated heavily

David and Samantha Cameron are pocketing up to £6,000 a month by renting out their London home while they live in No 10.

In 10 Downing Street and the official country retreat of Chequers, the Prime Minister has the use of two grace-and favour properties.

But the couple have now decided to cash in on the luxury London property market by letting their £2.7million house in Notting Hill.






Plush: Prime Minister David Cameron is renting out his London home for £6000 a month

The family also has the use of their £1million constituency home in the Cotswolds, which has benefited from years of taxpayer funding through the Westminster second homes allowance.

Mr Cameron sought to convince the public of his frugality when he became Prime Minister by announcing that he and his ministers would take a 5 per cent pay cut and a pay freeze for the next five years.

That means he is earning £142,500 a year, £7,500 a year less than his predecessor, Gordon Brown.

But the lucrative rental arrangement – which could earn them up to £72,000 a year – means that Mr Cameron will more than make up the shortfall as a result of his move to Downing Street.

At current market rates it would take him only five weeks to make up the difference.

It is thought that Mr Cameron is the first Prime Minister in recent memory to rent his London home on the open market. Tony Blair sold his, while Gordon Brown, John Major and Margaret Thatcher continued to use theirs.

After the general election Mr Cameron eventually persuaded his wife, who is expecting another child in September, to swap Notting Hill for Downing Street.

When one of the Camerons' neighbours once commented to Samantha that the removals trucks could soon be pulling up to take them to No 10, she is reported to have replied : 'I ****ing hope not.'

Security advisers had expressed alarm over the apparent stalemate, pointing out that millions of pounds would have to be spent on protecting Mr Cameron's London home if he, or his family, remained in Notting Hill.
Earlier this week a new family moved into the four-bedroom Edwardian terraced house in West London that has been empty since the Camerons relocated to Downing Street.

The house was bustling with life as the new tenants, including a blonde woman in her 40s and two daughters, oversaw the arrival of their belongings in a removal van, and new mattresses delivered from John Lewis.

Speaking at the house the woman, who did not wish to give her name, said: 'I don't know the Camerons personally but we are very happy with the house and the move is going fine.

'I am renting it through an agent. Of course I know who lived here before but it doesn't bother me. It's no big deal. We have been so busy moving in.'

The disclosure that the Camerons have rented the property will only burnish the Prime Minister's self-described status as a member of the 'sharp-elbowed middle classes'.

The family, with their children Nancy, six, and Arthur, four, moved out of their Notting Hill home in May and have been staying at No 10 Downing Street on a temporary basis while they wait for the larger four-bedroom flat at No 11 to be refurbished.
The family home holds precious memories of Ivan, the couple's eldest son, who died suddenly aged six in February last year.

After purchasing the house for £1.1million in 2005, the Camerons spent £600,000 transforming it in an eco-friendly makeover.

The entire rear extension was demolished and in its place a new kitchen and spacious basement were constructed, with a lift specifically to help cope with Ivan's cerebral palsy and epilepsy.

Estate agents in the highly sought-after area of London say similar, high-quality properties easily fetch between £4,000 and £6,000 a month in rental income.

They say the Cameron home is a perfect property – with the added cachet of belonging to the Prime Minister.

If the Camerons have used a rental agent they can expect to pay them around 15 per cent of each month's rent – £900 on a £6,000 monthly rental.

The monthly income will also be subject to income tax. But that £900, plus general maintenance costs and insurance, can be offset against Mr Cameron's tax liabilities.

Downing Street last night confirmed that Mr Cameron stopped claiming the second homes allowance for his Chipping Norton constituency home in March and would not make any other claims while he is Prime Minister. His final claim featured mortgage interest and a gas bill.

U.S. 'witch hunt' as Senate summons Straw over Lockerbie bomber... will Blair be next?

Summoned: Jack Straw, left, has been 'invited' to testify at the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the release of the Lockerbie bomber. Last night former PM Tony Blair was forced to deny that he had also been requested to appear

A diplomatic row was brewing between the UK and the U.S. this morning after Tony Blair was forced to deny he had been summoned by the Senate to explain his role in the release of the Lockerbie bomber.







Pressure: The controversy over the Lockerbie bomber's release flared up during David Cameron's visit to Washington for talks with Barack Obama

Controversial: Abdelbaset al-Megrahi landing in Libya after he was released from jail last year

Yesterday Jack Straw, the former Justice Secretary, received an 'invitation' to testify at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing over the release of Abdel Basset al Megrahi.

Mr Straw is the most senior politician to be dragged into the row. The body's request has no legal clout - but thanks him in advance for his cooperation.

Last night former Prime Minister Tony Blair was forced to deny that he has also been called to testify.
Reports claimed that Mr Blair was also being summoned before the Senate Committee after what was described as an 'unauthorised draft letter' was leaked to the media.

But Mr Blair's spokesman said the former PM had received no requests to give evidence.

And Frank Lowenstein, Staff Director of of the Senate Foreign Relations Committe said: 'Let me state unequivocally that Prime Minister Blair will not be asked to testify before the Foreign Relations Committee at the upcoming hearing on the Megrahi affair, and the Committee has no intention of ever asking him to testify on this issue.'

'Tony Blair has not been invited to testify. Any such indication was made in error,' Senate Foreign Relations Committee spokesman Fred Jones told AFP.

It remains unclear how the report first originated.

Frederick Jones, communications director for the Senate foreign relations committee, said: 'I deeply regret any confusion this may have caused. We still have to get to the bottom of this.'
The Scottish government has already snubbed a similar plea to explain why it allowed the release of the Lockerbie bomber.

First Minister Alex Salmond and his justice secretary Kenny MacAskill both rejected formal requests to allow senators to question them at a hearing into the terrorist atrocity next week.

Westminster MPs were angered by the Senate Committee request, with one politician accusing Capitol Hill of a ‘witch-hunt’.

And Mr Straw described the request for him to testify as ‘highly unusual’.

Last night he said he would agree to nothing until he has discussed it with Gordon Brown and the Foreign Office.

The politician finds himself at the heart of the affair because of the role he played in securing a prisoner transfer agreement with Libyan dictator Colonel Gaddafi in 2008.

There are suggestions that this paved the way for the terrorist’s release.

In a letter to Mr Straw, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said it wanted his ‘help in understanding the events that led to the release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet Al Megrahi’.

Mr Straw is in a ‘unique position to help us understand several questions still lingering from this decision’, it added.
Mr Straw’s allies say Al Megrahi was not released under the pressure growing for Labour grandees to explain themselves, Mr Straw said last night that it was ‘highly unusual for the legislature of one country to inquire into the decisions made by a devolved administration of another’.

‘In principle I would have no difficulty in talking to anyone about the negotiations over the Prison Transfer Agreement.’

But he wanted to ‘know the circumstances' before agreeing with the request.

A source close to Mr Straw said: ‘If he goes, Jack will tell them that Al Megrahi was not released under the prisoner transfer agreement. It was a decision for the Scottish executive.’

MPs were incredulous that the U.S. had the temerity to demand such a senior figure to appear before them.

Former Labour defence minister Kevan Jones said: ‘This is now getting out of hand.

‘The Senate inquiry seems to be turning into a hysterical witch-hunt against BP.

'It is unthinkable for a House of Commons select committee to demand that a senior American politician be summoned across the Atlantic in this way.'

I'd veto EU power grab says Cameron: PM's threat appeases his party's Eurosceptics

'Positive engagement': German Chancellor Angela Merkel chats with Prime Minister David Cameron during a welcome ceremony in Berlin yesterday

Smile and smile and... :French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime minister David Cameron give a press conference after their dinner at the Elysee Palace on Thursday night

David Cameron yesterday signalled he was ready to veto any EU treaty to prop up the ailing euro - as he sought to calm pressure within his own party for a referendum on Europe.

Speaking in Berlin alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Mr Cameron became the first British Prime Minister to threaten a veto since John Major.


Mrs Merkel greeted Mr Cameron with a lavish ceremony before the Reichstag today amid political tensions over the euro

Mon ami: Mr Sarkozy pulls a Clegg and gives Mr Cameron a pat on the back last night

His uncompromising language was designed to calm Eurosceptics among his own MPs, who are unhappy pledges to repatriate powers from Brussels have been scrapped as part of the coalition deal with the Euro-friendly Lib Dems.
Mr Cameron insisted Britain would not be 'drawn further' into supporting the single currency and said: 'There is no question of agreeing to a treaty that transfers power from Westminster to Brussels.

'Britain obviously is not in the euro and Britain is not going to be in the euro, and so Britain would not be agreeing to any agreement or treaty that drew us further into supporting the euro area.'

He went on: 'It goes without saying that any treaty, even one that just applied to the euro area, needs unanimous agreement of all 27 EU states including the UK, which of course has a veto. I think these are very important points But critics suggested he could be forced to concede a referendum if the EU pushes ahead with plans to impose 'European economic government'.

Britain has already been bounced into backing a £650billion euro bailout, which could end up costing UK taxthepayers more than £8billion.

Yesterday the Germans used a separate summit of EU finance ministers in Brussels to push forward a package of measures designed to prevent a repeat of the Greek crisis which is threatening to bring euro to its knees.

The package is reported to include a proposal that all EU countries, including Britain, could be forced to have their budgets signed off by the European Central Bank.

Chancellor George Osborne insisted Britain would not sign up to any deal that handed fresh powers to Europe.

He said: 'Tax and spending decisions are issues where we are accountable to Parliament.'
But Mats Persson, director of the Open Europe think tank, said momentum within the EU suggested that treaty changes lay ahead.

He said: 'If this ends up involving any transfer of powers to Brussels then the coalition has to call a referendum. The crisis has already sucked us into the bailout package and there is a clear drive to put new controls in place, some of which will include the UK.'

Yesterday's mini- summit between Mr Cameron and Chancellor Merkel came as the German parliament narrowly approved its share of the Greek bailout.

Uncertainty over whether the deal would be passed had seen sharp falls on stock markets around the world.

London's FTSE 100 index dropped below 5,000 for the first time in seven months, while fears of a eurozone crisis, have wiped £200billion of the value of London's blue chip shares since April.

But the U.S. Dow Jones index steadied nerves, rising 100 points to 10169. This helped the FTSE claw back its earlier losses to close down just 10 points at 5063.

The sense of urgency heightened after it emerged that U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is flying into Europe next week to hold emergency talks with Mr Osborne and other European leaders.

Nick Clegg questioned by Lib Dems over Tory deal

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