Top chef puts lid on renting

Award-winning chef Heston Blumenthal has at last decided to put his foot on the property ladder, having lived in rented accommodation for the past seven years. He has paid £440,000, through Andrew Milsom, for a threebedroom Sixties house near the Thames in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, where he will live with his wife, Susanna, and three young children, Jack, Jessica and Joy. "It's perfect as it's close to the children's schools and there's a village green in front where they can play,î says Blumenthal, who owns the Michelin-starred Fat Duck restaurant in nearby Bray. "It will also be a great relief to stop paying £2,200 a month rent.î

Sixties supermodel Annegret Tree is to rent her twobedroom, second-floor flat in Belsize Park for £500 a week through Foxtons. "I've just refurbished it, putting in a new kitchen and bathroom,î she says. "It's a very light and airy flat with a large drawing room overlooking Belsize Square.î Annegret, who modelled alongside Jean Shrimpton, Pauline Stone and Charlotte Rampling, also owns a studio flat on the beach in Antigua.

Party-going heiress Julia Stephenson has hired restaurant designer Annie Foster-Firth to redecorate her two-bedroom, topfloor maisonette in Sloane Square. "Annie has painted it bright red in accordance with feng shui principles,î reveals Julia, a pulp novelist and former Green Party parliamentary candidate.

Aficionados of 19th century history will relish the chance to buy a three-bedroom, first-floor flat in St James's Square. Lord Castlereagh occupied the imposing white stucco mansion while he was foreign secretary during the Napoleonic wars. It was also the home of Louis Napoleon, who returned to France in 1848 and later became the Emperor Napoleon III. Knight Frank wants £3.5 million for the long lease.

Arsenal's new goalkeeper Rami Shaaban has just exchanged contracts on a three-bedroom penthouse in West Hampstead. The newly refurbished property is in a modern purpose-built block and has a balcony overlooking greenery. The flat, on the market at £500,000 through estate agent home, is convenient for the Gunners' training ground.