Tales of a Landlady: Paranormal behaviour

Must you tell tenants about a property’s grisly past, asks Rosie Millard
Twas a dark and stormy night, and the tenants of a fabulously high-end loft apartment in Clerkenwell, central London, rather wanted to move out. And to do so before the date of the break clause, which they knew would cost them dear. At which point — maybe before, maybe after — the couple claim to have heard something chilling from downstairs: the sound of children wailing, to be precise, at an hour when children ought to be tucked up in bed.

Now you may or may not believe in ghosts, but the fact is that their beautiful, giant, 2,400sq ft triplex, complete with spiral staircase and reception room large enough to entertain “100 guests for canapés”, is part of a development carved out of a former Victorian school, which was itself constructed on top of the Clerkenwell House of Detention.