Jay-Z and Beyonce rent holiday home for a staggering $400,000

Jay-Z and Beyonce Knowles have splashed out $400,000 to rent a holiday home for the whole of August.

The couple are to take their seven-month-old daughter Blue Ivy to the Hamptons - an exclusive group of villages in Long Island, New York - for the first time by letting the 11-acre property on Halsey Lane in Bridgehampton, known as the Sandcastle, which is currently on the market for $43.5 million.

Jay and Beyonce will be able to relax in the property's 60-foot heated pool, which comes complete with underwater stereo system, and if they are feeling sporty then the two-lane bowling alley, virtual golf facilities, skateboard half-pipe or tennis court might be useful.

The Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It) hitmaker can also take the opportunity to teach her daughter some of the tricks of the showbiz trade in the home's "children's performing area", and the property also features squash, racquetball and basketball courts with moving walls and a retractable hoop, according to the listing on Corcoran.com. It's not the first time the house - which the Jonas Brothers were once thought to be interested in purchasing - has been rented out for a staggering fee.

In 2010, single mother Cheryl Mercuris paid $500,000 to let the abode for just two weeks in an attempt to find a billionaire husband - but she is said to have failed in her mission.