It is every parent’s desire to give their children the best start in life, but few would ever aspire¹ to buying them a £1million house as a leaving home present. Unless, that is, you happen to be as wealthy as Tony and Cherie Blair.

每位父母都想给子女的人生一个最好的开端，但很少有人想过送他们一套百万英镑豪宅作为离家之礼，除非你恰好像托尼和切丽·布莱尔夫妇一样富有。

The former prime minister and his wife have paid £975,000 in cash for a maisonette（公寓） in west London for their 22-year-old daughter Kathryn, bringing the family property portfolio²（公文包，文件夹） to nine homes.

Land Registry documents show that the three-bedroom property, which has two bathrooms, a garage and its own lift, was bought on July 23 in the names of Cherie Blair and Kathryn Blair.

It means the Blairs’ only daughter, who is studying law, will never have to worry about mortgage payments as long as she lives in the apartment, which is within walking distance（步行距离） of her parents’ home in Connaught Square.

Since leaving office, Mr Blair is reputed（认为） to have earned upwards³ of £20 million from public speaking engagements and as an adviser⁴ to foreign governments.

Euan Blair, 26, who works for the investment bank Morgan Stanley, recently sold his £500,000 flat in London to buy a £1.3million house, also with his mother.

Kathryn Blair, a student at King’s College London, spent the past year in Strasbourg on an Erasmus exchange scheme, where she lived in a £250,000 flat bought by her parents.

She is expected to move into her new home in London within weeks following refurbishment（整修，翻新） and redecoration work.