TfL to make £2.7m selling Bob Kiley's Belgravia home

Bob Kiley, the Mayor's former transport commissioner and one of the architects of the congestion charge, was hired in 2001 on an initial four-year contract worth £2million.

As an inducement for him and his wife to move to London from the US, Mr Livingstone's Transport for London authority bought Mr Kiley a "grace- and-favour" property in Ebury Street, one of the most sought-after locations in central London.

TfL paid £2.2million for the property in December 2000 and it is now being offered for £4.95million, an increase of 125 per cent.

A TfL spokesman said today: "We can confirm that the property is on the market."

The sale should recoup at least some of the money Mr Livingstone spent on Mr Kiley, whose tenure was subsequently extended by four years - at a cost of a further £2.4million - in November 2004. However Mr Kiley failed to complete the contract and was instead re-employed as a £3,200-a-day consultant.

That deal collapsed earlier this year after he was treated for alcoholism - an addiction which had been long suspected and which he finally confirmed in an interview with the Evening Standard, when he also admitted he did "not much" for his money.

To the fury of critics, the 71-year-old received a "golden farewell" worth almost £1.2 million and he remained in the Ebury Street house until July. The property is a part-stucco fronted, mid-terrace early Georgian home on the Belgravia/Pimlico border. It is freehold and Grade II-listed.

The house is laid out on five storeys, with three bedrooms, all with en-suite bathrooms. It has room for entertaining, with a reception room, drawing room, sitting room and kitchen/breakfast room.

There are also ground floor vaults, used as a wine cellar, garages, a balcony and front and rear gardens. The announcement that Mr Kiley was to be given the use of such a grand house was met with disbelief by the Mayor's critics.

Geoff Pope, Liberal Democrat transport spokesman on the London Assembly, said at the time: "The decision to sweeten Bob Kiley's deal with a £2 million house is a smack in the face for the thousands of Londoners who are struggling to get on the property ladder."

Mr Kiley also advised Mr Livingstone on schemes including Crossrail and transport for the 2012 Olympic Games.

His consultancy deal is currently being investigated by Transport for London's auditors KPMG on behalf of the official watchdog, the Audit Commission.

But the Mayor has not ruled out Mr Kiley's return if his alcoholism is under control. "Bob is not well enough to provide advice," he said last month. "If he recovers we would love to have his advice. Let's just wish him God's speed to recovery."