Summer 2010 NewsletterKeeping in Touch

How will the new government affect your letting income?

Keeping in Touch Summer 2010 Newsletter

We like to innovate, and our Red Tape Report is a market first. While possibly less addictive than your summer beach reading (still on Stieg Larsson?), it is a necessary evil. The new government has abandoned some policies without replacing them, and there is enough ambiguity to make our clients’ questions fairly frequent. So pages 8-11 contain our explanations and updates on a range of issues linked to selling and letting property.

The question I have encountered most in the past two years is “So when sales struggle, don’t rents boom?” My answer is that such a conclusion would be dangerous: each sector has its own forces of supply and demand which do not necessarily correlate.

In winter 2008 a lot of ‘failed sales’ hit the letting market and the supply of rental stock increased. So it is true to say the volume of private rental stock increased, but rents did not increase (too much supply) and in some cases decreased (the older, colder, larger properties in the winter months). More supply without an equal increase in applicants meant that applicants had a lot of choice (too much applicant choice makes letting a hard task).

Now the market has turned slightly with less stock, slightly more demand and so the letting environment is productive as our Quarter 2 Report explains on pages 6 & 7. In one week in June our North Oxford office negotiated 30 new lets: a record. Now, letting is only half the battle – the success of a tenancy can only be measured once a tenant has departed – but the figure is an indication of demand.

Our outlook towards Christmas is more cautious. The government’s emergency budget measures will start affecting people’s appetite for spending. There is also some logic that the increased volume of houses to sell might trickle through to a few more ‘failed sales’, which is no bad thing.

Elsewhere in the Summer Newsletter we have some housekeeping notices on pages 3, 4 & 5; an interview with a local Oxford entrepreneur on pages 12 & 13; an insight into a fantastic tenant and his (very sensible) argument for renting not buying on pages 14 & 15; and our unusual requests from across the years on page 18.

We hope you continue to have a great summer, and we will be delighted should our humble newsletter become your beach reading.

Mary Channer Chairman

This paper is PEFC accredited material from sustainable forests

Welcome

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Two great reasons to say thank you Last year we were stunned at the Sunday Times Estate Agency Awards. We won the Best UK Letting Agent and spent the next month in a state of shock: we thought we were quite good at what we do, but to win the whole thing was beyond us.

We tried our hand again this year at the new Sunday Times Letting Awards, and we are over the moon to receive two Silver Awards for ‘Best Property Management’ and ‘Best Medium Agency’. To repeat last year’s heroics was

always going to be a tough challenge, but to come second in the whole land is no mean feat.

So a big thank you to all involved: our team, clients and contractors. We are particularly pleased that our intense emphasis on property management was recognised. We’ve always been as much a property management agency as a letting agency, and adhering to strict standards of property cleanliness, maintenance and management defines our DNA.

The Judges’ reports included:

Offering a vast range of services, Finders Keepers truly is a “one stop shop” for lettings services, all of which are of an exceptional standard. A fantastic all-round agency who work to their strengths.

The detail on the check-out notes was impressive and clients are allocated a designated property manager, enabling all involved to build a strong relationship and enjoy exemplary communication.

Finders Keepers demonstrate an attention to detail which enables them to work with high quality tenants and landlords….Clients are assured they can reach a representative of Finders Keepers at all times (including midnight on New Year’s Eve) for any maintenance issues and it was apparent that the entire staff are passionate about the company and strive to provide the best possible service for their clients.

www.finders.co.ukKeeping in Touch Summer 2010 Newsletter

Letting Only SeminarAll our letting only clients are invited to a free mini-seminar on 6th October 2010 at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. The aims are:

To update attendees on the latest compliance issues and policy changes

To explain more on the TDS requirements and examine recent case studies

To share advice on current best standards for letting property in 2010 and how to maximise your letting income.

Spaces are limited and so it will be first come, first served. If you are interested please email vlyall@finders.co.uk with your name and contact details. We look forward to seeing you.

On March 11th 2010, Finders Keepers and Critchleys jointly hosted a private event which offered clients and friends a chance to ‘ask the experts’ about property, tax, financial planning and other related matters in the stunning venue of Rhodes House.

The evening seems to have been a success, judging by the atmosphere, the feedback forms and the several acquisitions of tenanted investment property which we made for new clients in the three weeks after the event.

Property Intelligence 2011We will repeat the event in 2011. The ideas in the feedback forms suggested:

More time for networking

Special ‘hats’ for the experts so it is easier to know who is who

The ability to go deeper into one of the subject areas if need be

We want to create an event which our clients want, so please send any views about format, subject areas or speakers to danc@finders.co.uk. We will let you know the venue and date as soon as it is confirmed.

Property Intelligence 2010 & 2011

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We are investing heavily in keeping www.finders.co.uk the best agent website in Oxfordshire. It already attracts 23,000 different visitors a month.

First, make www.finders.co.uk/news your new home for market information. It is our new ‘blog’ or online diary where we can easily update clients on trends and news in four sections:

The Letting Market and our Quarterly Reports

Life inside FK

Policy and Legislation

We love Oxfordshire

Second, the blog is part of a major overhaul of the site. We are razing it to the ground and rebuilding it with an elegant new design; improved search facility; more property details; our new ‘Navigator’ guides for tenants; and lots more.

In the landlord private log-in area we will have:

Improved financial statements

Statistics to indicate the popularity of your ‘to let’ properties

Bespoke content as part of our Successful Letting guide

A forum to ask us questions and for us to post responses

More information on this as the site launches this Autumn.

The spine of the business is going to be even stronger Property software is the spine of our business. It captures every applicant, rent payment, job sheet, landlord, etc. We built our own software (Property Logic) in 2007 and it has done a good job.

However, as the industry gathers more red tape and digital channels become a bigger priority to attract applicants, we ran a recent project to ask: will Property Logic be market-competitive over a 5 year horizon? We reviewed 10 ‘off-the-peg’ products. Our specification ran to 250 items and some of the software demonstrations took 5-6 hours.

The results were surprising: Property Logic is more ‘useable’ than most established products and fares far better against the mainstream products than we had hoped. It has more common sense and has not been overcomplicated. In short, it feels like it has been designed by letting and property management experts (which it has: us!) not software developers. We found no compelling reason to go ‘off-the-peg’.

So we have launched a 12 month software development project to add 90 new features to Property Logic. This takes time, energy and money. However it will evolve the service and information which we deliver to our customers and place Finders Keepers in an excellent position to out-perform rivals for the best quality applicants and the most efficient property management.

finders.co.uk/news and our new website

www.finders.co.ukKeeping in Touch Summer 2010 Newsletter

Applicant volition conquers coalition uncertainty

The copious noise (General Election, new Prime Minister, new Housing Minister, new Housing policies, Emergency Budget and Bloemfontein heartbreak) has not deterred applicant demand. However, our 6-12 month outlook is tempered by the communal budgetary pain which the country is expected to shoulder.

As ever, the truth is in the detail as each town has its own micro-climate: be wary of lazy generalisations. Enough preamble: here is some detail across 8 letting and management offices in Oxfordshire for April, May and June 2010:

Supply has decreased due to five factors…The supply of private rental sector property has decreased in Quarter 2 versus 2009 for three predictable reasons: low levels of new-build property coming on-stream; fewer investor acquisitions compared to 2002-7; and dramatically fewer “failed sales” sitting unloved on the market.

Two less predictable factors are influencing proceedings. First, “renewals” (people extending

their tenancies and staying put) increased a striking 18% year-on-year for March to May1. 18% is a big, unexpected number which immediately removes stock from the market2. Second, more landlords are selling after a couple of years waiting for calm amid the financial storms. Indeed, in 2009 only 2.64% of letting properties were sold3, about half the usual amount. To illustrate, one of our offices has 9 properties for sale – this time last year it was 3. Selling motives go beyond pre-Budget Capital Gains Tax fears: buying a retirement home; children’s education; inheritance tax planning; relocation; paying the main mortgage off, etc.

..with a particular shortage in Banbury.The Banbury letting market tends to play by its own rules, and Quarter 2 is no exception: as of 25/6, there were only 85 properties available to let within 3 miles of Banbury Cross4; two weeks earlier there were 95. These are very low figures for a town of 40,000+ people and are partly due to the large numbers of properties for sale.

The Oxfordshire letting market is busy and landlords should be making hay while the sun shines.

Photo 1

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So with solid demand the market is busy and rents are rising accordingly…Only a fool would tell you that rents rose in 2008 and 2009. Our 0% increase on renewals in 2009 was hardfought. Now, the tide has turned slightly for properties in good condition. A range of examples: smart Jericho 1-bedroom apartments which let at £9755 last year have recently gone for £1050; two lovely Deddington cottages let for £650 and £675 in 2009 but have recently let for £700 (Photo 3); the rent for a 4-bedroom home on the fringes of Summertown increased by 7% in 12 months; central Banbury 2-bedroom apartments which were £575-600 last year are now £625-650.

Demand creates decisiveness. In Central Oxford foreign students are taking properties 3 months in advance and then disappearing home for the summer: pre-holiday life organisation. The result: 10 lets in one week for our office opposite Oxford station and continued demand for 1-bedroom Oxford Castle apartments at £1050 with no parking. In East Oxford our favourite Cowley cottage did not linger long on the market (Photo 2).

In Abingdon, homes from £500 to £3000 are letting well. A refurbished mews house by the Thames was under offer at £1000 with another agent: our applicant offered £1150. A 4-bedroom house in East Hanney took several months to let in 2009 – this year it went instantly.

No part of Oxfordshire has a surplus of large family houses. Our family tenants are renewing rather than leaving and each office has more demand than supply. New tenancies in Quarter 2 included homes in Boars Hill, North Oxford (Photos 1 and 4) and Headington.

…Although three caveats are required with rent increases.Caveats kill the party spirit but three points are important. First, our perennial favourite: the best-looking homes achieve the best rents. If your property looks tired, then the current supply:demand ratio will probably not be strong enough to increase your rent.

Second, many properties in developments of similar units have a natural rent ceiling linked to numerical psychology. A good example is a 2-bedroom house in Langford Village, Bicester where £750 is a good rent, the market maximum and a round number which has become an unspoken limit for the majority of applicants. We do not expect rents to exceed it in the medium term.

Third, pockets of ‘ample’ supply remain. While Oxford, Banbury and Bicester lack 2-bedroom homes, Witney and Abingdon do not so applicants have more choice. To repeat: each town has its own letting micro-climate. Take expert advice if you do not know the current temperature.

1 Finders Keepers tenancies only2 The hypothesis is that our renewal rates are seen across the market3 Finders Keepers properties only4 Whole of the market data based on Rightmove and Primelocation searches5 All rents pcm

Photo 2 Photo 3 Photo 4

Keeping in Touch Summer 2010 NewsletterKeeping in Touch Summer 2010 Newsletter

Houses in Multiple Occupation Two new policies have been passed regarding Planning Regulations and Licensing. In our view they are misguided and draconian. For context an HMO is defined as “a property with 3 or more people from 2 or more families”.

Additional LicensingOn 22/7/10 Oxford City Council announced that all HMOs in Oxford will require an HMO ‘additional licence’ from 25/10/10 or else face a fine up to £20,000.

This is big news. Currently:

Only properties with 3+ storeys and 5+ inhabitants need a licence

The mandatory licence involves 4-8 hours of form-filling and paperwork, property enhancements in terms of fire prevention and associated safety items, and a cost of £1,200 for a five year licence

We have just spoken with the City Council and they have said:

“The cost and requirements will be announced by mid-August”

“All licences will be 1 year not 5 year. We are aiming for ‘light-touch’ renewal but we do not know of what form”

“It makes sense that a 2 bedroom, 2 storey HMO faces less compliance than a 5 bedroom, 3 storey HMO but this detail is to be filled in”

So we have to wait until the details are announced.

While the aim of improving the quality of properties is admirable, such a blanket policy on all HMOs is, in our view, dramatically over the top and now

thousands of landlords face a lot of hassle, extra costs and potentially huge penalties.

The only good news is that via our student letting business we have built a good working relationship with Oxford City Council and we are adept at compiling all the forms and safety certificates. We are here to help our landlords – please contact your property manager or office manager for more details.

**Track the latest developments at finders.co.uk/news**

Planning RegulationsAs of 6th April 2010, all HMOs will be classed as ‘C4’. HMOs already let on 6th April 2010 assume C4 status and do not need retrospective permission.

So if a property has been let to a family, but is now let to a couple and their friend (who believe it or not are an HMO), the property will by definition move from C3 (family) to C4 (HMO) and the owner must gain planning permission. There is a cost and it can take 6-8 weeks.

However, if a property has C4 status and is now let to a family, it loses C4 status and may not gain it back.

You may not gain planning permission: Oxford City Council is not granting any new C4 licences in East Oxford where they feel the student population is too dense. They also will not give C4 permission if 25% of the street is already C4 status.

Our view: this legislation is unnecessary and ill-planned and will affect house prices if the house cannot gain C4 status. You should take serious advice (from us we hope…) before investing in property, particularly in East Oxford. The Housing Minister, Grant Shapps, has indicated he might repeal the law, but we are waiting for some guidance.

2010 Red Tape Report

Welcome to our inaugural Red Tape Report, another market first from a business which likes doing new things. In some ways it is a shame such a report is even necessary, but anyone familiar with the letting industry will have noted an escalating amount of red tape in the last 15 years. The Report gives the context of various issues and the latest status quo. For some issues there is clarity (eg. scrap HIPs) but for other issues there is ambiguity and a little suspense. We’ll keep you in touch, and our online diary at www.finders.co.uk/news has the latest news. Happy reading.

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2010 Red Tape Report

Capital Gains Tax (CGT)What a roller coaster this has been. Previously at a very low level of 18%, this was set to rise as part of the price of the Liberal / Conservative coalition pact. Figures of 40 to 50% were heavily trailed in the run-up to the coalition’s emergency budget and there was an almost audible sigh of relief when a rate of 28% was announced, notwithstanding that this is still one of the highest rates in Europe.

Worries over a higher rate, combined with a buoyant selling market, had led to a small explosion of landlords trying to sell property to beat the increase. This is now largely fizzling out, and many of these landlords have now abandoned their attempts to sell and are settling back into letting again.

The rise in CGT has been described as a “banker bashing” exercise aimed at those who take large bonuses as shares, selling them immediately, paying CGT, rather than the 40% and 50% top income tax rates.

But if that is so, then why has taper relief not been re-introduced? This allowed for a reduction in CGT each year as one held an asset long term, therefore encouraging prudent long-term asset holding – which is exactly what most landlords aim to do.

Also missing is indexation, which is an inflation-linked allowance against CGT, without which CGT becomes, effectively, a “tax on inflation” over time.

Rollover relief appears to be another casualty of the emergency budget. This allowed a capital gain on one property to be applied to another when a landlord sells a let property to fund another one. This seems likely to penalise landlords who wish to remain in the private rented sector, but who wish to modify their property portfolios.

These last three points are very relevant to investor landlords, who are entitled to hope that if and when the political posturing reduces later in the Parliament, the government will re-introduce these allowances for the prudent long-term investor landlords, who provide so much of this country’s rented housing stock.

But the news on CGT is not all bad. Still in place is the annual exemption, currently set at £10,100. Still in place is the three-year exemption for those who are letting a property that was their principal residence.

This last relief is counter-intuitive to the long-term ethos, but important for landlords who are letting for only a year or two due to an overseas posting, or similar, and find that they have a capital gain due to a rising property market while they are away.

Because of the structure and political make-up of the current government, one can only feel that the whole matter of CGT remains a “work in progress” – we hope for further announcements, possibly beneficial, over time.

One final point on CGT seemingly completely obvious, but surprisingly often overlooked, is this: What was the property worth when it was first let, and what is it worth now? Some recent investors have contacted us, worried about CGT, when there is no significant gain in value on their property – no gain, no tax!

Keeping in Touch Summer 2010 Newsletter

2010 Red Tape Report

Home Information Packs (HIPs)HIPs were introduced amid much controversy by John Prescott’s Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, in an attempt to speed up the sales of property and reduce gazumping and other undesirable practices by sellers and buyers between acceptance of an offer and exchange of contracts.

They were heavily opposed, and therefore watered down on the way through Parliament. Partly as a result of this watering down, they were unsuccessful in their primary purpose and became almost universally unpopular in the property world as a pointless and expensive piece of government interference.

The incoming Conservative / Liberal coalition administration immediately scrapped HIPs and their main legacy appears to have been a few million pounds wasted by house sellers who were forced to buy one.

However, it is hard not to feel a little sympathy for all those thousands of people who each spent several thousand pounds becoming trained and qualified to produce the HIPs. Their income presumably stopped dead within a few hours of the election.

Although now defunct, in one respect HIPs acted as a Trojan Horse. Concealed within HIPs, and surviving their passing, is the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC).

EPCs are an outcome from the European Union Directive 2002/91/EC, inspired by the Kyoto Protocol, which aimed to cut back on energy consumption and ecological deterioration due to CO2 emissions.

These were the only element of HIPs to be inflicted on the letting market. Despite many calls for EPCs to be scrapped too, they are the only part of the HIPs to survive, both in the selling and letting markets.

An EPC shows the current efficiency level of a house, heating systems, insulation, etc. It also shows possible improvements that could be made to the property to increase its efficiency, together with likely cost savings for the occupant (the tenant) were these improvements carried out (by the landlord).

An EPC is mandatory when marketing any property to let or for sale. They normally last for 10 years, so it is not a hugely onerous cost to landlords (and may also be offset against rental income as a running cost).

The main worry about EPCs among agents and landlords was that they would encourage tenants to demand that their landlords spend huge sums upgrading insulation etc in order to save the tenants a portion of their heating bills.

This seems hardly to have been the case at all – nobody appears to be very interested in studying the EPCs, which currently seem to be destined to become just another minor inconvenience on the way to a letting.

Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs)

The HCA distributes government funding for affordable housing nationwide. It has had about £230 million cut from its budget for 2010 / 2011, which has hit some newspaper headlines. However, this equates to a cut of only around 5% on last year’s funding of just under £5 billion. The HCA reports that it is splitting the cuts over the following four areas of its operation, dealing with social housing:

A fund to restart stalled housing projects.

A housing renewal project for the Midlands and the North.

A fund for the improvement of gypsy and traveller sites.

A fund for national social housing.

In our view, this is a relatively small cut in budget. Also, both geographically and demographically, it lies outside Finders Keepers’ sphere of operations, and is therefore unlikely to have any immediate effect on Finders Keepers or our landlords.

However, if there is any knock-on effect, it would seem likely to be a tiny rise in the number of tenants looking for private rented housing.

Homes and Communities Agency (HCA)

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Planning Policy

Letting Agent LicensingFor years there have been calls for Letting Agents to be licensed, and the Property Ombudsman (membership of which is currently voluntary) would seem to be a suitable vehicle for this. The previous government had plans along these lines after the ‘Rugg Review’ recommended that licensing was a fundamental requirement if standards in the private rental sector were to improve. Sadly, any licensing plans have been shelved by the incoming coalition administration.

We say ‘sadly’ as the sector desperately needs professionalising. It is strange that anyone can simply set themselves up as a letting agent, with no formal qualifications or experience whatsoever.

Letting is a highly complex business involving the safety of people and property. There is a plethora of law to cover all of this. A competent letting agent will have excellent working knowledge

and experience of the use of that law, but an inexperienced or unqualified person may well have a dangerously incomplete knowledge, or almost none at all.

This may apply particularly to some estate agents who have set up “letting departments” over the last year or two to try to mitigate income loss due to a faltering sales market. How much training did they give to their staff in the huge differences between the two operations?

Looking forward, ARLA (the professional body for letting agents) is considering introducing voluntary licensing, and is also lobbying the government to re-consider its licensing apathy. A voluntary scheme is fine in principle but would preach to the converted. A licensing scheme needs to be compulsory with significant penalties for any breaches.

The recent ‘South East Plan’ was the cornerstone of Oxfordshire planning policy. Published in May 2009 after six years of deliberations and writing, it outlined the core planning policy for the South East up to 2026, including the target number of houses to be built and a view that Oxford’s green belt should not be sacrosanct.

However, the ‘South East Plan’ is no more.

In fact the agency which oversaw the writing of the South East Plan – the South East of England Development Agency (SEEDA) – is also vanishing.

The Plan’s replacement has not yet been defined, and the Housing Minster Grant Shapps MP has a very busy to-do list with many issues outstanding.

At the end of July Shapps launched the first of his policies to help decentralise the planning process, which is his umbrella ‘vision’ statement.

The new ‘Community Building Forum’ will be part of a new Localism Bill in the autumn and will enable people in villages to build on Green Belt if enough people support it through a vote, subject to a limit of a 10% increase in size over 10 years.

Generally developers and landowners are concerned that excessive localism may hinder large projects as no single organisation can take a strategic view across regions and the UK. We will keep an eye on this area for our clients as policies regarding housebuilding targets, priority planning areas and Green Belt development are important supply factors influencing the long-term outlook of the county.

2010 Red Tape Report

See finders.co.uk/news for the latest developments

Keeping in Touch Summer 2010 NewsletterKeeping in Touch Summer 2010 Newsletter

The people who make Oxfordshire happen

Have computer games been a lifelong passion?

As a teenager I was bought a ZX Spectrum for Christmas and I learned to write programs and played games. I spent a lot of time in the Amusement Arcades in my home town of Blackpool and through the early 80’s I played a lot of games.

So, how did you come to set up Exient?

I was working in publishing video games. My background was really in software development rather than publishing games and in 2000 I hit a crossroads in my career and I decided that I wanted to move back into development, and so Exient was born.

Did you need any capital to set up your company? If so, was it start-up funds from the University, or Venture Capital or your own?

We are an entirely self funded start-up with Charlie (my business partner) and myself contributing equally. We were able to do so as I took consultancy work during the early stages of the company and Charlie had established a company during his time at Oxford University and when we joined we had both pretty much established ourselves, albeit in a much smaller capacity to what Exient is now.

Was your first computer game the result of a commission, and if so, did you have to compete with other similar companies to win the business?

For Exient, it’s first commission was the result of a relationship that Charlie had already established in his former venture. So it was a commission, but to successfully land this contract we had to demonstrate that our football game engine (what became Steven Gerrard’s Total Soccer 2001) worked on the then new gaming platform Gameboy Advanced.

How many of your games have been commissioned? Do you come up with the game subjects or are you given a brief?

In our nearly ten years of operation we have had commissioned over 60 titles. For most of them the brief is clear, i.e. a football game, or a golf game. Other times we have to design a game to a much looser brief. For example, Need For Speed is a racing game genre, though sometimes that may be more sports oriented as in the NFS Pro Street and other times it may feature illicit street racing, as in NFS Undercover.

We start our new Oxfordshire Entrepreneurs series by talking to David Hawkins, who runs Exient, a computer software development firm based in Cambridge Terrace, OX1.

The market is bigger than Films, bigger even than Television… and it will go on growing.

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Does your location in Oxford give you an advantage in being close to pools of talent from the Universities and other associated organisations? Are you constantly taking on new staff?

Oxford is an excellent location for a video games developer. The quality of staff that can be attracted to Oxford is remarkable. The city itself has a young and vibrant community, supported in part by the student community and the many tourists. We have everything that we need, a ready supply of talented individuals, a great place to live and work, a central location for easy access to airports, London and the rest of the country and Oxford is surrounded by many specialist video games supply companies. Everything from Animation, in the Oxford based Natural Motion and Osney Meads Audiomotion, to Banbury based High Score Productions supplying voice-over, sound effects and audio suppliers. When our customers and suppliers visit, we are spoilt for choice to entertain our guests with many restaurants, cafes, pubs, nightclubs and local tourist attractions.

How long does it take from concept to production of a computer game? That depends on the device and nature of the product that you are making. Sports games on all platforms tend to be released annually and therefore the development needs to be planned for on 12 month cycles and are more evolutionary in their development, that is to say that small incremental improvements are made annually. An NDS sports title will take between 6 to 12 months to realise. Some titles, such as the Sims, will take much longer to produce, with the PC product taking roughly 3 years and our NDS title 18 months.

How long, on average, will a particular game remain in production?

Again it depends on the shelf life of the product. Nintendo games made for their own platforms often last the life of the platform and sell multiple millions of units. Sports games tend to operate on 12 month cycles.

What are the secrets of your success?

1. As my Gran would say, “if you do something that you love you’ll never do a day’s work in your life”. So my first secret, whatever you do, do it for the love of it, though of course this is an idealistic mantra but we can all aim to do this to some degree or other.

2. Always employ people that are better than you at whatever you want them to do and then for God’s sake let them do it.

3. The best managers put themselves out of a job. That is fine because there is always more work to do on the company.

4. Never recruit core talent to complete a project. Make sure the talent is in place first, it is fine to recruit the muscle to get the job finished but talent is hard to find and invariably you will fail to find it when you need it.

5. Focus on your strengths, not your weaknesses. Anyone who buys into your company will likely know your weaknesses and accept them. Your strengths are what differentiate you: know them, work on them and build them. Obviously, do not get hung up on your weaknesses and do what you can to amend, improve, manage and adjust but every organisation has weaknesses.

In a few words, how do you see the future of the market?

3D without glasses is a huge step forward. 3DS has 2 screens overlaid, one for each eye. It is incredibly realistic. Real immersion in control as a result of a camera which records all your movements. Technologies such as Facebook have enabled likeminded people to enjoy games in a social environment and I think we will see much more of this.

To read the full interview, visit finders.co.uk/news

Keeping in Touch Summer 2010 Newsletter

Dressed to ImpressWhen Bicester’s Letting Department Manager, Clare Poil, took a call from Steven Wheeler, a previous tenant with a career in designer fashion, who had relocated to London to take a promotion, the timing was perfect.

Steven explained, “I told Clare I was taking up a new post as manager of one of the high-end fashion outlets at Bicester Village – I’d loved

the apartment I rented through FK before and wanted her to find me something similar. I wasn’t interested in trawling through websites and I just knew Clare would sort me out. She had just re-listed a larger ground floor, three-bedroom apartment at the same location, a Victorian country house converted into apartments, on the outskirts of Bicester – I couldn’t believe my luck and immediately reserved it.”

Renting has worked well for Steven in an industry where you have to be flexible and get used to being relocated if you want to progress. “Being able to move around is critical in my line of work,” he said. “I’ve actually been specifically asked at interviews whether I rented or was a homeowner. As I rented, my relocation could be arranged quickly and I’ve been able to take advantage of promotion opportunities as a result. This lifestyle really suits me. Whilst friends are struggling to

afford to buy a small flat in a run-down area of London, I’m in a gorgeous apartment with horses next door and five acres of parkland to enjoy without the hassle of the maintenance.”

Cotmore House, which dates from 1866, flourished in the pre-war years as a fine country house. It was sub-divided into eight elegant apartments after the Second World War. They were recently upgraded with up-to-date kitchens and bathrooms and are let on an unfurnished basis, which works well in this setting. With high ceilings, large sash windows and period features,

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the house is approached from a secluded driveway.

Steven first discovered his flair for design and presentation in his teens on a work experience placement as a window dresser in a department store. He has injected his personality and confident flair to transform the blank canvas of this apartment with his furnishings and accessories into an immaculately presented home with more than a touch of fashionista glamour complementing its handsome Victorian origins.

“I just love coming home to Cotmore. Looking out over the grounds and fields is instantly calming. Getting on the property ladder isn’t my priority right now and I’ve signed up until 2012. If my job moves back to London, I’d prefer to commute by train rather than move from this idyllic setting,” said Steven, a living contradiction to the popular misnomer that people renting are less conscious of their surroundings than homeowners.

Keeping in Touch Summer 2010 Newsletter

Eco-Friendly City Escape

The Victorians, with their love of ‘new’ inventions would have been proud of this conversion of a former 19th century workshop into a funky detached one-bedroom stone cottage, bristling with 21st century sustainable energy solutions. Hidden away in Oxford’s fashionable Jericho, it’s a cocktail shake away from Walton Street’s coolest bars.

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Rare in a city centre period conversion designed for letting, it’s full of ‘green’ technology initiatives: hot water and under floor heating by air source heat pump; photovoltaic tile panels on the roof linked to a solar inverter generating electricity feeding back surplus power into the grid; double glazing and maximum insulation; A-rated appliances; low energy lighting with bulbs guaranteed for 10 years. Great for tenants and no worries about heating costs as unlimited heating and hot water are included in the rent of £1,100 pcm.

Frank Webster said, “This upgrade represents a real commitment and considerable investment to utilise sustainable energy sources in a project undertaken with long-term vision, unusual and refreshing in the private rental sector.”

It’s a really interesting project which we’ve been following as work progressed. The end result is superb,” said Property Department Manager Carly Jarvis. “We’ve had a detailed technical handover from the architect, Peter Lee of Oxford-based partnership Lee and Ross. The ‘check-in’ induction meeting at the property will need more explanation, but in fact it is all perfectly simple to operate.”

The cottage has a naturally light interior complemented in the choice of décor, wood floors, open plan kitchen and underfloor heating. Upstairs the bedroom has a calm ambience and the shower room has sleek, clean lines. It also has its own private patio area for summer, making it an ideal ‘cottage in the city’ retreat that would be difficult to leave, even for a shaken but not stirred cocktail…..

Keeping in Touch Summer 2010 Newsletter

Budget Fluctuation“Please can we have a reduction in rent – we’re going away on holiday for a few weeks?”

“Would you mind awfully if I paid everything in advance for the whole year – I hope it’s not too much trouble?”

“These properties aren’t in our budget. Our parents want us to spend more.”

“I’m bringing in my application forms for the flat. Please would you call my mum to pay you £20 on her card and give me cash for petrol – I’ve forgotten my wallet?”

Pet Topics“When a landlord’s plans for their gentle English Setter dog went awry, just as they were moving abroad, we adopted him. Our regular inspection letters reported on ‘William Hulbert’ as much as the property. He stayed happily with us for the rest of his days,” explained Mary Channer.

Clauses for Conservation “The tenant agrees to close the curtains at night during the glow worm mating season in the wildlife meadow.”

“The tenant agrees not to cut the grass in the frog breeding season.”

Blessings in Disguise“Can we paint ‘God Bless This House’ on the kitchen wall if we redecorate when we move out and have a clause in the agreement?” …… (Next Tenant) “When we take over this house – can we keep the ‘God Bless This House’ mural and then we’ll redecorate when we move out?”

Eau de Vie “Can we install a hot tub in the garden?”

“Can we install a birthing pool for our home birth? We want it on the 1st floor of our Victorian cottage.”

4th Emergency Service“I’ve run out of my prescription. Can you go to my doctor to collect and post it to me urgently abroad?”

“I’m at the airport. I’ve forgotten my passport, can you go to the flat and get it couriered to me?”

“I’ve just been mugged and they’ve stolen my bag. Please can you take me home and help me call the police?”

“I’m worried about my car; would you start it once a week whilst I’m away in January?”

And then…..The Final Curtain!“Do you know I just love those drapes – can I make them into a pretty dress?

Letting can be fascinating. The diverse cross-section of people, properties and situations we encounter occasionally raises unusual requests, sometimes challenging, and at times emotional, quirky or just plain bizarre. We can usually find a way to help or perhaps give a tactful response.

How can we help you?

Curtains so lovely you might want to wear them

19

I have worked here for four years, and I love Blenheim Palace. It is so beautiful and it really gets under your skin. I feel incredibly lucky every time I come into work and see the gorgeous surroundings. Marketing such a wonderful product makes my job easy – there is always something new and interesting to talk about and promote. I also enjoy working with the diverse team at Blenheim Palace. We all share a passion for this place; it’s hard not to!

Blenheim Palace attracts a mix of overseas, domestic, group, family and local visitors. Our ‘Free Annual Pass’ targeted local visitors and the campaign attracted an extra 200,000 visitors to the Palace last year. We also see many organised groups and overseas visitors. We have had a huge surge of group visitors this year – over 29 coaches booked for one day in early July! We have also seen a significant rise in visitors from the Far East this year.

My busiest time of year is January/February, when we are planning and producing all of our marketing material ahead of the season. In the summer months the front of house staff work the hardest, looking after all our visitors in the peak season. Communication is the key. We have an excellent team of operational staff who will prepare for any large bookings, and they will radio one another to ensure the smooth running of ticketing, entry and parking.

We employ additional seasonal staff to ensure we are providing the best customer service possible over the peak periods. We are lucky that the Palace is set within the magnificent 2,000-acre Park, so there is plenty of room for visitors to get around!

The Formal Gardens are popular with all our visitors. Those with an interest in the inspirational history tend to take the guided tours of the State Rooms, while families enjoy the Pleasure Gardens (mainly for the miniature train ride!) with the butterfly house, maze and playground. We have recently introduced a fully interactive visitor experience, “Blenheim Palace: The Untold Story”, which reveals lesser-known stories about the Marlboroughs told by the servants.

We have a great summer of events coming up, including: a Jousting Tournament featuring “The Knights of Royal England”, the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club Championship Dog Show, the Classic Car Show, the Fidelity Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials, VW & Mini show and Breast Cancer Care’s “Bike Blenheim Palace”. For the future, we are working hard to find new improvements for our visitors such as activities and facilities in the Pleasure Gardens. We will also work on finding some new and exciting special events in the Park to attract repeat business.

Hannah Payne, Marketing Manager at Blenheim Palace

Blenheim Palace recently won the Business of the Year and the Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Award at this year’s Oxfordshire Business Awards. To find out more about their events and the Free Annual Pass visit www.blenheimpalace.com

NORTH OXFORD: 01865 311011EAST OXFORD: 01865 200012CENTRAL OXFORD: 01865 297999AbiNgDON: 01235 535454

bANbuRy: 01295 276766biCESTER: 01869 329530WiTNEy: 01993 700150FK STuDENT LETTiNg: 01865 260111

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Summer figures to shout about

• 99.81% occupancy on managed properties*

• 27,033 unique visitors to finders.co.uk*

• 198 new lets negotiated*

• 3 times winner Best UK Letting Agent

• 1 call from you and we’ll start finding your next tenant

*Data for June 2010