Britain's smallest council house gets a new tenant...lucky she's only 5ft tall

Fay Laflin has taken on the country's most unusual council home - a tiny Dutch Cottage built in 1621, measuring just 20ft across.

As well as making her home in a living museum, Miss Laflin is expected to be a tour guide and show visitors round every Wednesday.

Compact and bijou: Fay Laflin outside the tiny Dutch cottage in Rayleigh, Essex

But the upside of living in the dollhouse-like cottage in Rayleigh, Essex, is the rent is just £75.

Miss Laflin, 33, said: 'It's compact and bijou but it's just such a beautiful place to live, it's really quirky.

'If you were 6ft and over you would be really hard-pushed to live here. I'm only 5ft and can touch the ceilings.'

The Dutch Cottage is thought to have been built in 1621 by settlers who helped to drain land and only a handful of the tiny quaint buildings are left.

Octagonal in shape, the home measures just 20ft across but has all mod cons including a fully fitted kitchen and shower room.

But Miss Laflin is getting a bed specially made for the teeny bedroom.

She was one of 40 people who applied to be the new tenant at the bizarre bolthole.

The freelance stage manager said: 'I applied for it and hoped to get it. You had to write a letter to say why you wanted to live here.

'I wrote in and said I was only 5ft so I would be well-suited to a small house.

'I don't think that was the clincher but I'm sure it helped.

'I was interviewed by three people at the council. The decision was unanimous.'

Historic: Miss Laflin says living in the tiny house is like living in a museum

She was previously living in a much more modern 1950s two-bedroom bungalow but has always admired the cottage from afar.

Miss Laflin, who was born and bred in Rayleigh, said: 'I'm really pinching myself that I am fortunate to be able to live here.

'It is part of local history and part of the community. It is basically like living in a museum.'

And Miss Laflin is perfect for the role of tour guide - her ancestors are Flemish and may even have known the cottage themselves.

She said: 'My surname is Flemish and my dad traced it and we are related to 16th or 17th century settlers who came over to the east of England because they were persecuted by the Huguenots.

'The Dutch settlers built sea defences on the coast. Who knows they may have been here?'

Speaking about opening her new home up to strangers, she said she loves the idea and had been thinking of moving to a career working in heritage.

Her first visitors are a group of six Japanese tourists who are arriving this afternoon.

She said: 'It's only on Wednesday morning. I'm happy to open the house for people to come in and see it and share it with them.'

Welcoming: Miss Laflin is happy to open the house to visitors

'I think it's fabulous.' Tamara Burton, a spokesman for Rochford Council who own the house, said.

'It's surprisingly spacious. We did have a couple who lived in it at one time.

'The living space is around a central construction of the chimney and it's fairly open plan living space around that.

'At the back there is a kitchen and shower-room. The bedroom is in the roof of the cottage which you get to by quite a steep staircase.

'There is room for a double bed but it's a bit of a squeeze.

'The weekly rent is £75 because the tenant will be bound by a tenancy agreement to conduct tours.

'Tours take place by prior arrangement so the new tenant will not have people just turning up on the doorstep.'

The 17th century cottage is the only house still owned by Rochford Council after it transferred its stock to a housing association and the new tenant does not have to be on the waiting list already.

The picturesque listed home is thought to one of only a handful of Dutch Cottages left in the UK - and the only one used as a council house.

Landmark: The cottage is believed to be the oldest and most unusual council house in Britain

Mrs Burton said: 'The cottage is one of the most famous landmarks in the district but we believe it's the oldest and most unusual council house in Britain.'

Ann and Derek Jolly lived in the Dutch cottage for 20 years before they moved out in 2005.

Mrs Jolly, 71, said: 'We loved it because we felt very close to Rayleigh's history.

'We were talking about it all the time and we were conscious it was a privilege to be looking after one of Rayleigh's monuments and having something beautiful to look after.'