Celebs on the move

For an impatient BritArtist like Tracey Emin (right) the slowness of her Cypriot builders must be frustrating. Last summer they began work on her five-bedroom "dream villa" overlooking the sea near Kyrenia.

"So far, only the foundations have been laid and the swimming pool built," explains her assistant. Margate-born Tracey, best known for her controversial work My Bed, has so far invested her estimated £6 million fortune in a 17th century Huguenot house in Spitalfields and a warehouse studio nearby.

Following the Queen's example and buy a wooden beach hut at Holkham, Norfolk. Two smaller versions are available through Pinewoods Holiday Park at £11,000 and £8,000 respectively.

"We don't permit overnight stays but do encourage stargazing," say Pinewoods. The Queen's hut (right) came with a small kitchen, French windows and a flushing lavatory, and was only 15 miles from Sandringham.

Sadly, the hut was burnt down by vandals last summer.

Alexander Jay (right), leading lady in the West End hit musical Mamma Mia, has chosen one of London's new hotspots for her first home. She has bought a three-bedroom terrace house in Lower Sydenham near Crystal Palace, where similar houses sell for about £275,000.

The Devon-raised actress became an overnight stage star three years ago, aged 18, when she replaced former EastEnders actress Martine McCutcheon as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, playing opposite Jonathan Pryce and Dennis Waterman.

The bossy hospital matron image of the late Carry On star Hattie Jacques (right) might still linger in a second-floor, two-bedroom flat in Earl's Court.

The Kent-born actress lived in the Victorian terrace building for 35 years until her death in 1980. Her old pad, adorned with a Comic Heritage blue plaque, is now for sale at £425,000 through Faron Sutaria.

But be warned, bedlam ensues whenever stars perform at the adjoining exhibition centre.

Singing legend Tommy Steele's polo-playing daughter, Emma, has deserted the raffish charms of Chelsea to return to her roots in Richmond.

She has sold her Cheyne Row garden flat for an estimated £400,000 and bought a house close to the former family home, Montrose House, which Steele (right) recently sold for £6.5 million through FPDSavills.