-
Home
- Blog
Latest news and information
- Details
- Hits: 2
Ask most people who have ever lived in Oxford about Headington, and you’ll likely get similar accounts: they'll probably mention the hospitals; students or ex-students might mention the Oxford Brookes University Campus; real locals – or certainly football fans – might recall fond memories of Peter Rhodes-Brown tearing down the (not exactly level) left wing, at the old Manor Ground. Some might cry a little bit inside at memories of walking or cycling home from town up that hill…
Ask an estate agent, of course, and you’ll certainly get a glowing account. A mix of 1930s and early twentieth century properties, with a scattering of more historic homes around Old Headington and Quarry, a few well-designed 1950s and 60s council estates and several pockets of more modern developments added into the mix. Excellent transport links. Good state school catchment areas, plus a highly regarded private girls' school.
The above, from locals, ex-Oxonians, students, former students, healthcare workers and estate agents alike, would all be perfectly appropriate answers.
But Headington is so much more than the above, too. So much more than just ‘an area of Oxford’.
It is a story that stretches back three thousand years – a story of many, many stories; stories of Mercian kings, notorious madams, sharks in rooftops, and the man who gave Narnia to the world…
Here is a little bit about Headington. But what stories can you share? Be sure to let us know.
- Details
- Hits: 111
It's the end of another week. And like most weeks, there have been a series of different property market headlines… some of which entirely contradict each other.
Sometimes those contradictions might even appear on the same page. Or at least in the same stack of headlines to choose from, from your various digital subscriptions.
Here is a selection of genuine headlines just from the past few days:
“Asking prices up 1.2% in May.”
“UK housing market faces strain as bond yields rise.”
“Property professionals feel upbeat about the market.”
“Buyer choice at an 11-year high as asking prices edge up.”
“Buy-to-let landlord purchasing activity rises.”
“Buy-to-let retreat continues as 250,000 former rented homes come to market.”
“Lloyds launches £5,000 deposit mortgage for first-time buyers.”
All of these are accurate. None of them, on their own, gives you the full picture. Understanding why requires knowing something about how financial news works — and how it differs from what is actually happening on the ground in your local market.
- Details
- Hits: 194
Is there really anywhere in the country that does pubs better than Oxfordshire does pubs?
It’s a bold question to venture! And we know that the price of a pint or a glass of wine here in Oxfordshire is enough to make the eyes water, in some establishments.
But nevertheless, we are blessed with hundreds of pubs in this county, and some of them absolute crackers – from the modern and trendy, to the bright and fresh, to the cosy and historic. Pubs on the high street, pubs on the village green, pubs tucked away down back alleys, pubs perched on the riverbank or hillside, and boasting a gorgeous view…
Pubs weave themselves into the landscape and townscape, and into the stories and the very history that make Oxfordshire the county that it is.
Our history is deep and tangled – from Iron Age hill forts to ruined castles, a world-changing university, king-making, and indeed, queen-making, acts during the Anarchy; king-failing acts during the Civil War.
And all of it a history that seeps into the walls of our oldest inns.
- Details
- Hits: 129
There is a gap opening up between what you might read in the feed or see on the nightly newsreel and what is actually happening at ground level in the property market here in Oxford.
It’s something we have written about before, and whilst not to labour the point, it is important in the context of this market update because the background noise you’re probably used to simply isn’t showing up in the numbers.
As much of the ongoing narrative would have it, the economic outlook is cloudy. In practice, the Oxford property market is showing a resilience that flies in the face of that sentiment.
- Details
- Hits: 119
If you’ve been following the headlines recently, you’d be forgiven for thinking the private rented sector is on the brink of chaos. Especially so if you have been reading those headlines today, which at the time of writing is Friday, May 1, 2026 - or 'D Day For Landlords' as some of the more hyperbolic of the narrative would have us believe.
And that is because it is the day that Phase One of the implementation of the Renters' Rights Act 2026 comes into force.
Exaggerated as the narrative is, there is some reason to raise an eyebrow today. A recent piece in Property Industry Eye, a property industry news-media outlet, which drew on research from Goodlord, suggests that while 89% of agents say they feel prepared for the incoming Renters’ Rights Act, the reality may be a little different.
Confidence amongst letting agents, it seems, drops when it comes to the detail – particularly around evictions, where only 61% say they feel ready.
Add to that the fact that 82% of landlords say they’re concerned, and talk of thousands of properties potentially leaving the market – up to 200,000 in fact, according to said article…
Well, it’s easy to see why people are feeling unsettled.
But the important message we want to bring to our Cherry Picked Residential clients here in Oxford, is that from where we’re sitting, today is not coming a shock to the system.
