Witney Office have been delighted to sponsor two local horsetrials recently, The Elmwood Equestrian Horsetrials in Bampton and The Ascott-under-Wychwood Horse Trials at Crown Farm. Our new banners and boards were on display, and any concerns that the bright new colours of our logo would upset the horses were unfounded!

Thanks to our corporate membership of the Oxford Preservation Trust I was invited to a private tour of the former Radcliffe Hospital development which is one of the most significant building projects the University of Oxford has undertaken for more than a century. 

This 10-acre site in central Oxford between the Woodstock Road, Walton Street and Green Templeton College, is the last remaining large plot of land available for development in the historic heart of the city.

The complete refurbishment of the Radcliffe Infirmary building, including the courtyard and the fountain, is due to be completed later this year. The building will be occupied by the Humanities Divisional Office, the Faculty of Philosophy and the Philosophy and Theology Libraries. It was fascinating to re-visit this huge building which I last entered when visiting a staff member some 4 years ago who was one of the last patients to be treated there. I also recall going to the A&E department there as a young lad requiring treatment for an infection following a deep cut on some rusty metal.

It was amazing to see inside the restored hospital and to see the historic panels with the names of the original benefactors still preserved for all to see and to look at one of the largest excavations I have ever seen – a vast crater -  which will be the underground car park and footings of the forthcoming buildings for the maths departments due to be completed in 2013.

The Jericho Health Centre will open later this year and will accommodate three GP surgeries. The first buildings to open on the site were new accommodation blocks at Somerville College which opened in September 2011. The Oxford University Press will take up additional space on the Walton Street side of the scheme later this summer.

The masterplan for the site was agreed following consultation within the collegiate University and the local community, as well as with interest groups and statutory bodies such as English Heritage.

7 days into the competition and we’ve had over 600 entries 

This has more than exceeded our expectations. So far it is true to say that a certain female celebrity chef and author is proving very popular, as is the Prime Minister from World War 2 and a flamboyant playwright.

The competition runs until 18th May at 2pm. Get voting now!

We’ve had a bit of feedback on two issues:

First, people are unnerved that there is no cost to enter – well, there isn’t so don’t worry, there are no strings.

Second, some people are worried that we’ll take their email address and spam them forever. This is not quite the Finders Keepers way and unless you opt-in to communication, you won’t receive anything from us.

The best of luck.

PS Apart from the big prizes of £2000 and an iPad, 5 people will win 6 bottles of Chablis for the best ‘reasons for voting’. We’ve had some crackers so far.

Bob Diamond presenting the Premiership trophy to John Terry in years gone by

Had an interesting day yesterday. Started with breakfast at 7.30 am with Bob Diamond Chief Executive of Barclays Bank at Blenheim Palace.  Not just me of course, but a select number of invited commercial customers ranging from college bursars to local architects to farmers and accountants.   

He spent 20 minutes on each table. Enough to hear his thoughts on the economy (outlook good in the long run but says the public need to feel positive and that is really difficult at the moment). He agreed it was inexcusable that tax payers had to bail out the banks (not Barclays though) and explained that great customer service was in part why his bank is showing such bumper results (first-quarter profits are forecast to jump 20% to about £2 billion!).

Neither he nor we ventured to discuss his bonus (reportedly 5.7 million) but the conversation did touch on the forthcoming change at the Bank of England and who the new Governor might be (he says the Chancellor of the Exchequer does listen to the various banking ‘Heads’ – but we’ll have to wait and see) and then moved swiftly on to his passion for sport generally but especially football (Chelsea) – well you would I guess if you sponsor the world’s most watched Premier Football League.

Staff at the MINI plant during a previous visit by Peter Mandleson

If that was not enough, the day ended with the Annual Members Meeting of The Oxfordshire Institute of Directors, which I have recently joined, which was held at the amazing BMW Mini Plant here in Oxford. Ian Wenman handed over the Chairmanship to Michael Collett of Wila for his 3 year stint,  who re-enforced what those of us who work in Oxfordshire know, but often take too much for granted, namely that Oxfordshire is an outstanding place to live, work and grow your business.

We then had a tour of the Mini plant, which I have been lucky enough to see once before, but it still amazes me to see such incredible technology working in harmony with human beings to produce the mini car. Another Oxfordshire success story and long may it continue.

1^st session – Why do people hate estate agents?

Andrew Neil = host

Christopher Hamer, The Property Ombudsman

Mark Hayward, NFoPP

David Dalby, RICS

Liya Fateh, MeetMyAgent.co.uk

[First half of this session not recorded for chronological reasons – I was late]

AN: do we need regulation?

- The public think we are regulated. In fact we’re the only part of the house sale transaction which isn’t (vs. lawyers, banks, surveyors)

AN: is there one gold standard qualification or licence which marks an agent out as top drawer

- We have the Ombudsman Scheme which is rigorous and protects customers….
- …but this scheme is too reactive to people complaining, it’s not proactive enough
- The public don’t care; they want the agent with the most boards, they’re less interested in what qualifications people have
- The industry has done a very poor job of articulating what ‘professional’ service is…and how much value should be attached to it…
- …most people just want the agent who promises the highest price and the lowest fee, that’s the unfortunate position we find ourselves in

AN: we don’t have consensus on what to do next…what do we do next?

- We want people to aspire to estate / letting agency as a good career – compare it to Majestic wine where all the staff have degrees, I doubt we could all say this about our staff in our estate agency offices

2^nd session – Do we have enough regulation or too much?

Ian Fletcher, Director of Policy, British Property Federation

- Effective regulation = Policymaking >> Communication >> Enforcement
- The Communication bit is the most neglected and the Govt / public service broadcasters  should be spending a lot more informing the public and property legislation
- EG: The Govt. spent £144K on communications about property legislation in a busy year, which is 3p per household. Yet it spent £200million on Digital Switchover, which is £8 per household?!
- Best idea I’ve seen in last 10 years for regulating landlords: Julie Rugg’s: give one ‘landlord’ number to each landlord which they need to access courts, tax reliefs or social housing
- Self-regulation, lots of bodies currently:  NLA, RLA, SPF, ARLA, NALS, NAEA, RICS, Local Authority Accreditation, SafeAgent, Property Ombudsman & several others
- Do landlords know what protection they have from these voluntary schemes? On the whole, no
- Regulation = our industry’s Achilles heel
- Self-regulation in the rental sector is complex and face challenges

AN: What regulation would you most like to get rid of?

- IanF: landlord licensing is being used too disparately by local authorities – we need consistency

AN: What is the mood of Govt. towards the industry?

-  IanF: its focused on increasing supply. That’s the main problem. Need to get more funds into residential property

3^rd Session – Social Media – Tracey Falcke – StreetSmartSocial

- 22% of UK’s time on the internet is in social media
- If you’re not getting 20% of your web traffic from social media, you’re doing it wrong
- 3 parts to success, which overlap:

1. CONTENT
2. SEO
3. SOCIAL MEDIA

- Why should you care about Google+
- If /when you’re signed in, all your search results will be unique to YOU
- If someone +1’s you, forever they’ll have your firm on their listings
- Tracy’s manifesto: you need a crisis management strategy for social media, it can go very wrong
- You should sit down and think about the worst things which could happen and have a plan for that
- Social media….you need a strategy, you have to take it seriously, you need a plan
- You should only need to spend 15 minutes twice a day to check on your profiles

4^th session – Letting Panel: Profits and Pitfalls

Andrew Neil

Tim Hyatt, Knight Frank

Steve Harriott, TDS

Ian Wilson, Martin & co

AN, how is letting different from selling?

- Much more administration, more legislation, bigger risks relative to mandatory legal obligations
- Longer relationships in letting
- We’ve found that 60% of landlords use the selling agent to let their property

AN: what about social housing?

- We’re not involved in it but may well be going forward. The Govt. policies are moving more people into social housing. It looks like more people will be forced out of London.

AN: How big is the rental sector?

- At 2000 there were 4.5 million in Private Rental Sector. We expect that to go up to over 6 million
- We expect the rental sector to stay strong and long tenancies to be part of this
- The institutional landlord is on its way. The Olympic Village retrofit will start in September - the 2 owners will own 1500 units in 3 boroughs, and 1439 units into the private rental sector
- This is the first mass investment in the rental sectors, REIT-style
- There has been a structural change – buy to let is a natural thing for many more people now
- We see ‘Investment Clubs’ as being very active, particularly around £100K in north of UK
- Last boom was debt-funded – now its more cash buyers, lower gearing, buying for return on cash not huge price increases

AN: Home ownership in the USA is down, what about the UK?

- Last year, 15.3million homes in owner occupation, 3.8million in private rental sector [Ed: yes, this contradicts the stats given above]
- Financing is a worry – buy to let financers are down 2/3 from 5 years ago
- The size of the bill for local housing allowance is a problem – there will be a political gain from capping housing allowances and the govt. might want landlords to subsidise the renting experience

Q: What about larger scale investment into the rental sector?

- We see it coming, we know of 4 players strongly considering it, a bit like the American model
- It will only work if the developer can supply a large amount of affordable housing
- It will need very good property management which offers added value – they don’t want churn, they want 3-5 year tenancies

Misc
- A good buy to let landlord shouldn’t be gearing more than 75% at a 5% yield
- Factoring in inflation, rents have actually been static for the last few years
- In letting we fear economic slowdown – tenants pay for everything in the industry – and if this gets worse then we have a profound problem

5^th Session: Award Winning Strategies, Michael Day, Integra Property Services

- Only 3 things can be unique to an agency, the rest can be replicated:

1. Brand
2. People / culture
3. Database / property mgmt.

- 4 things create value for agencies:

1. Leadership

- “A man going nowhere usually gets there”
- Would your team follow you into a burning building? Or push you?

2.   Planning

- 80% of agencies don’t have a business plan = bad news
- A good plan = a route map, needs monitoring
- Only 4 growth strategies (FK: this is good old Ansoff matrix)
- Sell same product to same market
- Sell same product to new market
- Sell new product to same market
- Sell new product to new market
- 80% of what we do as agents is all the same – what is your 20%

3.   People

- “No ‘I’ in team” (FK:  the basketball player Michael Jordan, when accused of not passing the ball, would counter and say “There is in WIN”)
- High expectations define successful business people

4.    Promotion

- There are sheep-like herds of agents doing the same thing all over the country, don’t be one of them
- Always costs more to win a new customer than retain an existing one

6^th session: the role of the brand

Andrew Neil

Peter Rollings, Marsh & Parsons

Julia Wild, Iconic Brand Agency Ltd

Dan Channer, Finders Keepers

AN: How can Foxtons be successful if they’re not giving people a good experience

- As they have the stock, people have to go to them due to the volume of properties on their books
- It’s a bit like Ryanair – a brand almost with a negative definition but which makes money and people choose to use despite itself

AN: Do many agents have strong brands?

- I think not, that’s a problem for both the agents and the consumers who don’t know who to choose and why – it’s almost becoming commoditised
- If we’re a commodity, we’ve failed

AN: are people actually the brand?

- Of course, they’re the ones bringing it to life. It’s the same for any service: business, lawyers, accountants
- That’s why recruitment it so important – getting the right people, it’s that simple and that complicated. It’s cheesy to talk about values but any business needs to find people who align with at least some of its values

AN: do agents need to do more to differentiate themselves and make themselves stronger?

- The agents who have strong brands will hope not – that way they will stand out more
- Inevitably with consolidation and a market which is becoming more competitive, having an easily understood ‘brand’ is only going to be more important

7^th session: Technology in the modern day industry

Andrew Neil

Tracey Falke, Streetsmart Social

Ian Laverty, Intelligent Mobile

David Murray-Hundley, Webdadi

James Wyatt, Barton Wyatt

AN: what is the most important piece of technology in an agent today?

- The mobile phone – a mobile computer, in touch
- Most people don’t walk into agents more, they search online, find the property and then contact the agent
- There is the chance to understand the consumer and know a lot about them without them realising it – you’ll know people’s decision before they do

AN: how will technology make us money?

- Content and the user experience is the goal, not the technology, so the question is how to use technology to offer people something novel and interesting
- Content must be appropriate to the device they’re using – mobile vs tablet  vs standard website
- 50% of facebook is mobile activity

AN: will we see agents being disintermediated?

- That’s a risk if agents stop providing a useful service
- You should be asking ‘how is this an opportunity?’, ‘how can we use this to generate income?’
- All technology is disruptive, eg classified ads in the Sunday Times has gone from 64 pages in the 80s to 6 pages now
- Social proof = 3^rd parties other than you talking about your business

Now the madness of May Day morning in Oxford is over, we take a look at what is happening the rest of this month…

• Winston Churchill is well-known for his political career, but The Oxfordshire museum has an exhibition showing Churchill’s less well-known military life. It examines why he joined the Queen’s Own Oxfordshire Hussars and his lifelong interest in the regiment. Admission is free and the exhibition is on all year, but why not make plans to pop along this month?
• Running until 7^th May, Banbury Museum has an exhibition of fantastical creatures by artist Michaela Bayley, who has worked in TV and film including the Bond film ‘Die Another Day’. Definitely one for kids and teenagers too! Admission is free so head along this weekend before the exhibition ends.
• On 19^th May, the Cogges Church Hall in Witney is hosting a workshop on ‘Making a Mosaic’. Tickets are £71 and the workshop will allow you to produce a 20 x 20cm mosaic and take home something unique and hand made. During the course, you’ll also learn a history of the art of mosaic, some design skills and tile cutting techniques as well as the grouting process. Even better, the ticket price includes refreshments and home made cake!
• On that same weekend, Fringford will have at least 10 gardens on show offering a range of styles and sizes. St Michaels & All Angels Church will feature floral displays and local historian Martin Greenwood will be on hand to answer any questions about the history of the church and the village. Admission is £5 (and under 16s go free)
• Finally, the Sunningwell Festival of Music and Arts starts on 26^th May and takes place at various venues across Sunningwell. This is a biennial event which takes place in a rather unique location – on a floating stage on the village pond! Organised and supported by the local community, it brings together an eclectic programme of music over ten days. Both professional performers and local talent take part, offering something for all the family and every music taste imaginable.

We hope you have an enjoyable May!

The recent heavy rain and high winds meant the Banbury staff were very busy on call right across the weekend. On the Hanwell Fields development on the North side of Banbury various houses were affected by rain water getting under the roof tiles and pouring through the bathroom extractor fans. The five call outs on Sunday alone were dealt with smoothly and efficiently to minimise the damage to the property and ensure the occupant’s disruption was minimised.

Our dedicated property management staff are on call 24 hours a day 7 days a week to help resolve issues and minimise damage to the property. The Emergency Line is available to all tenants of our managed properties and it is our staff who attend to the issues – not a call centre miled away. Our experienced Property Managers are armed with a list of dedicated local sub-contractors who give us priority to ensure that emergencies are attended to without delay.

We are very excited to be hosting an open viewing this Thursday 26th April at the Osney Mill development between 4 – 7 pm

The historic Osney Mill was destroyed by a fire in the mid-40s, and over the last 15 months the four-storey development has transformed the former flour mill into 10 riverside apartments and two houses. All of these amazing living spaces are available to rent through Finders Keepers, Central Oxford.

Our first tenants picked up their keys and moved into one of the stunning penthouses this weekend to begin their three year tenancy. Rents start at £950 per month on two 2 double bedroom, unfurnished apartments for key workers. The other properties (some unfurnished, and some furnished) are available from £1,275 per month and are available from mid-May. Each apartment also has at least one parking space.

The peaceful canal sits next to the building, and the lovely 500m island - which will be communal space for the new residents of Osney Mill - is perfect for picnics.

Our furnishing division, Decorum Interiors, has done a fabulous job furnishing two show apartments for us, and we really look forward to showing these incredible apartments off on Thursday evening.

Osney Mill is only a 5 minute walk from Oxford rail station. It is situated at the end of Mill Street, Oxford OX2 0AN.

We hope to see you there this week. Click here for more details on the property photographed above

The headline statistics mask a quarter of two halves
In Quarter 1 (January to March), page views on finders.co.uk rose 19% (a), new lets agreed rose 16% (b), and property enquiries rose 34% (c)  compared to Q1 last year. These numbers indicate that the Oxfordshire letting market is in good health and that 2012 looks to be shaping up better than 2011. However, the detail is more complex. January and February were busy, with web traffic up 30% in February year-on-year, but then demand dropped noticeably in March. This is odd: normally February is the ‘soft’ month and March is quite productive. Perhaps it was the early summer heat, creating applicant deserts everywhere apart from Bicester where our team had its record month. Like all mavericks, sometimes Bicester plays by its own rules.

More oomph at the top end
Increased corporate relocations and executive education placements are a factor. One of Abingdon’s most glamorous apartments let swiftly at £2095 (d)  (Figure 1); our ‘James Bond’ Oxford penthouse re-let with a 6% increase in rent (Figure 2); a Cotswold farmhouse found great new tenants out of season at £3600 (Figure 3); gothic splendour in the beating heart of North Oxford academia let well, marketed at £5500 (Figure 4).

The new car smell
Car companies are canny. They create the ‘new car smell’ to help new cars sell, and more and more we see and advise a similar phenomenon in letting. Applicants across all budgets and geographies want to inhale and feel that the home was (re-)made for them and they will pay accordingly. For example: a clever development in the Banbury countryside let immediately while other village property was shunned (Figure 5); well-designed 1-bedroom apartments close to Magdalen Bridge let at £950 and £1150; a 1930s Headington 3-bedroom home increased 6% in rent after redecoration. 

The new life plan: risk-free renting
This is a minor trend but interesting nonetheless. Some recent applicants have 3-5 year life plans in which renting is a key part. For some this is to save to buy a home, but others value renting for its financial predictability: as tenants they know that they will never receive a shock £3000 bill for a new boiler or be forced to repair their roof. They can predict their rent and council tax and budget their lives accordingly. While nothing is 100% safe – you need ongoing income to pay the rent – it is revealing to see the private rental sector desired for its ‘risk-free’ nature relative to buying and homeowning.

Perennially popular: professional bread & butter
‘Bread & butter’ meaning solid 1-, 2- and 3- bedroom homes for those young professionals you keep reading about who are saving for mortgage deposits. Outside Oxford the demand has been for urban not rural homes, for example a Banbury 3-bedroom unfurnished home in good condition let immediately at £895. We have seen migration from the Banbury villages into town to save money on transport. In Bicester rents have drifted up over the past year for 2-bedroom houses from £775 to £825. In Oxford our corporate team has let 27 units in one block over Q1 – practical, central, well-built 1- and 2-bedroom apartments ranging from £1000 to £1700 which reflects OX1’s enduring strength.

Re-letting rents up but with caution on renewals
The increases in web traffic, lets agreed and enquiries have translated to rent increases but not in proportion. Our average increase in re-letting rents (a new tenant coming into a previously let property) was 2.7% at the end of Q1 against 2.2% last year. Part of the increase in web traffic and enquiries could be explained by some March applicants conducting ‘thorough’ searches: one North Oxford gentleman saw 18 properties in one day with various agents – an extreme illustration of the market. Even memory guru Ramon Capayo (e)  would struggle to remember the pros and cons of 18 homes.

Renewals (where tenants extend their tenancies) have skewed the market in the past two years. Large numbers of people staying put has removed supply and helped bolster rents against public sector job losses and financial anxiety. In Q1 the volume of renewals fell 1% against last year, which surprises us as it still feels like many people are putting off major life changes and not moving. Average rent increases on renewal were 1.8% in Q1, identical to 2011. This year a segment of landlords are feeling cautious and asking for 0% rent increases to keep the existing tenants happy. How prevalent is this caution? Figure 6 shows the European Commission’s Consumer Confidence Index for the UK (f). The change since 2007 is striking. Hopefully Oxfordshire, with some strong technology clusters, irrepressible universities and a proposed new train line, feels more confident than minus 31 – we do, do you?

The new HMO restrictions started in February
Predictably, the campaigning last year was in vain. Now any property in Oxford with three sharers needs an HMO additional licence, and no new licences will be issued in East Oxford. Landlords split into two camps. The first is – with our help – biting the bullet and becoming HMOs to keep sharers as tenants. The second camp resents the hassle and cost and refuses. One East Oxford landlord opts to keep his beloved original wooden doors rather than fit fire doors, accepting that the £1200 rent with three sharers will drop at least £100 a month with a small family or a couple. Anger and confusion still arise when sharers enquire about 3 bedrooms homes which do not have licences. Don’t shoot the messenger.

Q2 tips
We are seeing the most enquiries for family homes in Headington and East Oxford, 2-bedroom apartments in Witney, 2-bedroom houses with gardens in Bicester and the aforementioned well-presented 3-bedroom houses in Banbury.

(a) The total number of pages viewed across the site
(b) Internal figures
(c) Internal figures
(d) All rents are marketing rents and per calendar month
(e) In 2003 he successfully remembered 48 random binary numbers after seeing them for only three seconds, c/o The Guinness Book of World Records
(f) Carried out by GfK on behalf of the European Commission, sample = 1998 adults

With warmer weather hopefully fast approaching the letting market is building apace to its summer crescendo. In North Oxford, many of the public schools are having open mornings in the coming weeks and, with this, families are beginning their searches for rental properties.

The exciting summer months with the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations and the Olympics, amongst other events, have seen an early rush of potential tenants trying to find a property ahead of the game. Indeed, last week we agreed the rental of a £7000pcm rental in Park Town for September before the property had even been marketed.

There can be a shortage of family homes in the desirable areas of North Oxford, so in order not to miss out it is important to begin your search well in advance.

Why not come into the office to speak with one of our NFoPP qualified Letting Managers or call the North Oxford office on 01865 311011 so that we can help you spring into Summer.