The extravagance of a billionaire is out of reach for most people, but a small slice of the high life is available in Little Venice for �1,100 a week.

Sir Richard Branson, the multi-billionaire boss of Virgin Atlantic airlines, has instructed estate agents Knight Frank to rent out his houseboat which is moored in Blomfield Road on the Regent’s Canal.

Sir Richard, who ranked 18th in the Sunday Times Richlist for 2011 with a wealth estimated at �3 billion, lived on the boat – called Duende - in the 1980s.

It was the base of operations as Sir Richard set about scaling the heights of the business world and held countless meetings with many different captains of industries.

Previously the boat has courted controversy as locals branded it an ‘eyesore’ but it has since undergone major renovation and was handed down to his children.

The houseboat, which comes complete with its own garden plot, has up to the three bedrooms, a roof terrace, kitchen, shower room and reception.