Fair to say this is one of the coolest payments we have ever recived…sorry for the terrible pun!.

So far the results have been mixed and the first half of the season saw some disappointing defeats for the team. Since the end of November the team have stepped up a gear with convincing victories against Esher RFC and most importantly the Varsity fixture against Cambridge.
The season has only three home fixtures left and College and County are principle sponsors of the Oxford Blues Vs Crawshays match on Wednesday 20th February Kick off 19:15. The Crawshays for those of you that do not know are a Welsh international touring team, who are renowned for playing fast entertaining rugby.

We would love to get a group together for a few pre-match drinks and to join us in the clubhouse to cheer on this squad for one of the last fixtures of the season.

Please give the office a call or drop me an email david@collegeandcounty.co.uk if you would like to join us on the 20th February.

If you’ve ever wondered what we all get up to on a working day in the College and County office then click on this link. Mark decided that it would be too mundane to just film everyone working at their desks. So this is the alternative.
See if you can find 7 members of staff………

The College and County employees chose their favourite 6 entries and then the voting was left to the students, this received a huge response and some proactive marketing by those chosen as finalists… the winning photo receiving over 300 votes.

The winners are a group of girls who have just moved into a 6 bedroom property on the Cowley Road in Oxford “Can’t believe we won, we are all very excited, it’s the perfect prize for students”.

These awards are widely recognised as the most sought-after and difficult to win. Peter Knight, Chairman of the event organisers commented. “Landlords and tenants can be confident that the agents displaying this awards medal represent the very best of the best. Whilst there has been much talk of the need to establish minimum standards for lettings agents, I am delighted that these awards can shine a light on those firms that are exceeding standards at every level within an increasingly competitive industry.”

The judging process included a written submission, telephone interview and secret shoppers the judges commented on how impressed they are with College and County performance…

GOLD – Best Single Office Central Lettings Agency
“seeking to exceed clients’ expectations, particularly when it comes to being ethical, which is clearly a recipe for success given that it has not lost a client in 11 years.”

GOLD – Best Student Lettings Agency UK
“a highly impressive, student-centric agency most deserving of this award win.”

GOLD – Best Innovation UK
“College & County was the clear winner of this award category, with innovation at the core of every inch of this lettings business”

The awards were presented by Olympian Sir Matthew Pinsent, who has a fair few gold awards himself.

Every day we strive to exceed expectations and this is the result, the staff team are all very proud. We are all looking forward to another successful year building on this fantastic result.

Rental demand in Oxford remains strong; and we have noticed rental increases in all parts of town. Some hotspots have had increase over 10% but on the whole student properties have risen 4% partly mindful of the predicted downturn in demand the year after next, and professional and family properties have gone up in line with the South East norms.

The next year or two will be interesting; local authority interference in the property market both through additional licensing and through restrictions on the movement from C3 usage to C4 together with changes in the Housing benefit rules could create a perfect storm in the HMO market. Any drop off in student demand for HMOs is likely to be more than compensated for by increase in demand through social housing sector, and next year when high numbers of both will be straining the sector, we must assume that there will be little or no planning permission granted, and we could see rents reach unprecedented levels. From April this year, single people under the age of 35 who apply for housing benefit, will not be able to live in independent accommodation. Housing benefit will only be payable if the applicant ins in shared accommodation.

This picture is not dis-similar to that reported by David Whittaker managing director of Mortgages for business, who has commented on in the country as a whole.
He said: “The seasonal lull in demand impacted average rents towards the end of 2011, but demand will be robust over the first few months of 2012 which will help strengthen prices. However, the problem we may face later this year is rental affordability.

“Overall, rents have been on the rise for the last two years, and there will come a point when average rents are simply too high for many people to afford. We then face the danger of rising rental arrears and a surge in demand for affordable rental property – demand that current stock levels cannot satisfy.

“This is why it is vital that lenders and the Government support property investors and landlords and make it easier for them to invest in multi-unit freehold blocks and Houses of Multiple Occupation. These are the property types that will help ease the rental sector’s burden and avoid a situation where people are unable to buy but also cannot afford to rent – the consequences of which would be very dire indeed.”

The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) is advising landlords to be aware of planning changes affecting certain types of rental properties.

Many local authorities have indicated they wish to enforce Article 4 directions, which will allow them to require planning permission if a property is being changed from a dwelling house (Class C3) to a House in Multiple Occupation (a ‘small HMO’ – Class C4).

Not only does this mean having to apply for planning permission (which may well not be granted) if your tenants change from being one family to, say, a group of three nurses sharing, but landlords could also have to apply for licences.

We remind clients that Oxford City’s Article 4 directive expires in February, and from that time, permission will be required to move from C3 usage to C4
If you are considering purchasing a property you will need to ensure that established usage can be documented on or before the 24th Feb 2012.

If you need any further advice, you may want to talk to a planning consultant……… JPPC at Bagly Lodge seem to be quite good, although they have not taken up our offer to do a guest blog on the subject!

Your local authority are responsible for collecting your rubbish.

If you have lived in your property for some time now, you will probably be aware of the day on which your rubbish is collected. The Oxford City Council website has useful information relating to the rubbish collection:

The day on which your rubbish is collected – http://www.oxford.gov.uk/PageRender/decER/Refuse_collection_days_occw.htm

What rubbish you should put into which bin -http://www.oxford.gov.uk/PageRender/decER/Whatgoesintoeachcontainer.htm

What to do if your rubbish collection is missed – http://selfservice.oxford.gov.uk/selfservice/form.aspx?form=Report_Missed_Bin

Mixing the rubbish – by putting the incorrect item in the incorrect bin – is known as contamination by the local authority and the refuse collectors will not collect any receptacle which contains the incorrect item, even if it is just one item placed in the wrong container.

You should also be aware that the refuse collectors will not take items which have not been placed inside the bin, with the lid shut.

For properties in the Oxford area which are governed by Oxford City Council, the authority are stepping up patrols in the area and are being much more stringent on occupants where rubbish has not been correctly left out for collection.  Where the officers find rubbish at the property, which is excessive, not properly bagged, or has been left in an untidy condition, they will take action against the occupants, which could include a financial prosecution.

Further information relating to the manner in which the rubbish should be left out for collection can be found using this link – http://www.oxford.gov.uk/PageRender/decER/Excess_Rubbish_occw.htm