For sale: House of the rising son

The two-bedroom, semi-detached 1930s bungalow in which the Prime Minister lived until he was nearly two will be sold later this week.

The property, in the Willowbrae suburb of Edinburgh, was home to Leo and Hazel Blair when their son Tony was born in May 1953.

Described as "in need of love and attention", nothing about 5 Paisley Terrace suggests it is the first home of Britain’s longest-serving Labour leader and one of the most prominent figures in the western world. With a concrete driveway, a well-kept front garden and double-glazed windows, it looks much the same as any other house in the street.

The Blairs sold the bungalow in late 1954, when the family - including Tony’s older brother, Bill - moved to Australia where Leo had been offered a lecturing job in Adelaide. The future Prime Minister was 19 months old.

The buyers, William Hartley and his wife, Elizabeth, were unaware of the significance of their purchase until the Labour leader John Smith died in 1994.

The couple’s son, Doug, an estate manager in Moray, said: "I was watching Newsnight on the day John Smith died. They were speculating about who might take over and there was a profile of somebody called Tony Blair who I’d never really heard of. Then they talked about the place where he was born and there was footage of my mother and father’s house. I couldn’t believe it.

"I phoned my sister, who I knew watched Newsnight, and she had just seen it, too. Over the years I know some people have been to the house - mostly journalists, in fact - but it hasn’t attracted that much interest."

Mr Hartley joked: "I did wonder if I could claim to have shared a bedroom with Tony Blair. I’m not sure if the house is worth more because of the Tony Blair connection. Perhaps in 1997 it would have been good, but these days you might just get a brick through the window."

The house will be sold on Friday, the closing date for bids, and in Edinburgh’s booming property market, it could fetch more than 200,000.

Rachel Macmillan, of Stuart & Stuart, property solicitors, said: "The house is definitely in need of love and attention but it could make a great family home. It has fantastic views across to Fife and East Lothian."

Mr Hartley’s family is selling the home after the death of his mother last month - his father died last year. He said: "We didn’t see the point of keeping it, but it does hold a lot of childhood memories for me. I lived there until I was 23. The view was spectacular."

Anthony Charles Lynton Blair was born at 6:10am on 6 May, 1953 at the now-defunct Queen Mary Maternity Home, next to the more famous Simpson’s, in Lauriston Place, Edinburgh. His father was a junior tax inspector who spent his evenings and weekends studying for a law degree at Edinburgh University.

The family returned from Australia in 1958 to live in Durham, although Tony Blair was back in Edinburgh for his school years at Fettes College.

The Blair family has a history of bad luck with property. Leo and Hazel sold the bungalow in Paisley Terrace for 1,900 - 610 less than they paid for it three years previously.

The Prime Minister and his wife sold their Islington home for 615,000 when they moved into Downing Street - only to see its value rocket to just under 1.5 million in 2001.

Since Labour came to power in 1997, stamp duty has been raised four times and they will have to pay 144,000 on their new 3.6 million home in London’s Connaught Square.