John D Wood & Co

Press Coverage

Through our dedicated Press Office based in Kensington we are in daily contact with national newspapers and magazines with the aim of achieving editorial coverage for our clients and their properties. This is effectively free exposure which reinforces our extensive marketing and often attracts wider interest for individual properties. Our press office is well respected by the property journalists to whom we offer an efficient service providing quotes, photographs and related information. Whilst editorial coverage is never guaranteed we achieve excellent results with our media reach often being over 10 million readers per week.

Recent Comment

The Times
Unmodernised value
“House prices continue to defy economic gravity.” This is the opinion of HSBC, which predicts that the annual rate of house price inflation will climb above 10 per cent in coming months. Such assessments are causing other commentators to talk of irrational exuberance, but the case of a three-bedroom house on Haldane Road, Fulham, which came onto the market last Wednesday with a guide price of £550,000, suggests that buyers are actually acting in a considered way.
John D Wood & Co., the estate agency handling the sale, says that two offers were made on the first day of viewings and the sale is now going to sealed bids. But the company adds that the enthusiasm was inspired as much by the state of the house - unmodernised - as its desirable southwest London location.
Buyers want to add value, seeing this as a way to protect their equity in case the market’s mood changes. In Fulham, however, there seems little chance of this for the moment. John D Wood & Co. has 350 applicants looking for this kind of home.
February 2010

The Times
Oxford is a real city, polarised between poor areas, such as Blackbird Leys, the scene of riots in 1991, and impossibly expensive districts, with only a handful of good houses.
“Anyone spending more than £600,000 wants to live in central north Oxford,” William Kirkland, of John D Wood & Co. estate agents, says, “but it’s a small area. Londoners find it hard to understand this; they think a £2 million budget will buy them anything they want.”
Classic central north Oxford properties for sale include a four-bedroom, 1,725 sq ft family house on Leckford Road, across the road from where Bill Clinton lived as a student in 1969. Available through John D Wood & Co. (01865 311522), it’s very Oxford — William Morris wallpaper, rows of books and shabby decor. Bedrooms are smallish, but, crucially, it’s in the catchment area for the excellent SS Philip and James primary school.
January 2010

The Evening Standard
An analysis of sales of 4,000 houses and 5,500 flats across the “bonus belt” favoured by City and international buyers shows how values have recovered dramatically in the past year.
By December many houses were selling for record prices, having shot up by 51 per cent from their lowest point in February last year, the survey by agents John D Wood & Co. has found.
On average they are now three per cent above the highs seen in Mayfair, Knightsbridge, Belgravia, Pimlico, Chelsea, Kensington, Holland Park, Notting Hill and Regent's Park.
However, the phenomenon is not limited to the “prime” central London market but has also been seen in areas such as Hammersmith and Battersea. Peter Young, managing director of John D Wood & Co, said: “Following one of the worst financial crises in recent memory the central London house market has rebounded strongly and surpassed the previous high.
“The weakness of sterling has meant we have had an influx of foreigners which has galvanised the domestic market and forced buyers to compete over the limited number of houses available.”
John D Wood & Co.’s Chelsea director, Andy Buchanan, said: “With the limited supply of houses we can foresee prices continuing to increase over the next few months.
In Chelsea the best flats are now achieving prices equal to, or in excess of, levels at the peak of the market.” He said that in December he sold a house in need of modernisation in Radnor Walk for £2.2 million, equivalent to £1,489 per sq ft. A similar house had sold in April 2008 for £1.9 million or £1,169 per sq ft.
January 2010

The Sunday Times
It is not just the owners of properties already on the market who are trying their luck. The same tactic is being followed by so-called boomerang sellers, who, having failed to find a buyer, withdrew their homes from sale but are now trying again.
Anthony and Angela Evans put their three bedroom mews house in South Kensington, west London, on the market for £1.295m, but after a lacklustre response, they took it off. Two weeks ago however, the couple decided to have another go – at a more ambitious £1.35m (020 7835 0000 www.johndwood.co.uk)
“We’ve had a lot of interest,” says Angela, “and a few people have come back a couple of times.” The pair, who are both in their fifties, want to downsize to a flat in the same area, and are hoping to sell soon – for at least £1.3m. Spencer Cushing, associate Director at John D Wood & Co.’s South Kensington office, who is selling the property, is equally positive: “I don’t think we’ll have any trouble getting this under offer before Christmas.”
December 2009

The Sunday Telegraph
We're looking for...A dramatic fireplace.
Epsom, Surrey, Four-bedroom, Grade II listed house, £1.195m
LOOKS: This carefully restored Georgian home is the picture of Georgian elegance with high ceilings, sash windows, galleried landings and ornate fireplaces. The beautiful Regency surround, in the drawing room, provides a perfect frame for a roaring fire on a cold afternoon.
CHARM: Guests will be blown away by the entrance hall, with its antique marble fireplace and a magnificent two-flight galleried staircase.
VITAL STATISTICS: The property is a very short distance from Epsom’s mainline rail station and shopping facilities, and the famous Derby racecourse.
John D Wood & Co. 01932 864252; www.johndwood.co.uk
November 2009

The Independent
Now's the time to weather-proof your home.
John Keeble, of estate agent John D Wood & Co., says that you can also add value to your home by taking a few small steps to insulate your house. "Double glazing and insulation will both add value because we are now far more aware of how expensive energy supplies are" he says. "We have found that buyers show little interest in HIPs but the simple way the energy-efficiency graphs are displayed is making them look more closely. Also, most people suspect that as the Government runs out of tax revenue from smokers and other sources, that it might start to find the difference between your actual energy-efficiency and your potential energy-efficiency a soft target to tax in the future."
October 2009

Country Life
Property of the week - St John's Wood, £6,950,000
Hamilton Terrace, NW8, 4 bedrooms, parking, staff flat
"This is a very good house on a super tree-lined road", says agent Edward Prickett. "And it's unusual in that it comes with the mews house, which could easily work as a nanny flat or teenage pad." Houses on this street range in price from £4 million to £20 million.
John D Wood & Co. (020-7586 9060)
October 2009

The Sunday Times
RETURN OF THE BONUS BOYS TO THE HOME MARKET
Spencer Cushing, Associate Director of John D Wood & Co. estate agency in South Kensington, comments “Since last summer we are all aware that the word ‘bonus’ has become almost dirty, but over the past month I’ve begun to hear the ‘b’ word subtly mentioned by cash purchasers”. His agency has recently agreed a £3m sale with a buyer who is funding 60% of the asking price with his summer bonus. The vendor is also bonus-rich, and is looking to trade up to a larger property in the same area.
Nor is the effect confined to London. Bankers with families traditionally look for a better life in the private estates of commuter towns such as Esher, Weybridge and Cobham in Surrey. Then, as the money filters beyond the suburbs of London, the second-home country market receives a slice of the cake.
September 2009

The Times
HOUSES AT THE END OF THE UNDERGROUND: Richmond, District Line
“Young families or couples on the verge of starting a family, wanting to take advantage of the semi-rural location on the banks of the river.” That is how Mark Andrews, of John D Wood & Co., describes typical clients in this popular west London outpost. “The demand is for quality period family houses,” he adds. “Seventy per cent of our applicants are families with two to three kids, looking for four to five bedroom houses with gardens, close to good schools.” With price falls of about 10 per cent, the area has coped relatively well, aided by lack of supply. “For a well-proportioned house on the right road there will still be demand,” says Andrews.
August 2009

The Mail on Sunday
ADD A TOUCH OF GLASS (AND EXTRA VALUE) WITH A STATE OF THE ART CONSERVATORY
“The more a client can make their conservatory look like an orangery, the better,” says Kevin Allen from John D Wood & Co. And just how much value do these glass structures add?
Allen says in the short term you can expect to cover the costs of building a conservatory and, provided it’s the ‘right’ sort of size, add 5 per cent to the home’s value.
The Sewters bought their house eight years ago for around £200,000 and claim to have spent £42,000 on their glass structure, excluding extras such as flooring.
The couple recently had their house valued at around £895,000 and estimate that the conservatory alone, which was created with the extension just over a year ago, added roughly £200,000 to that figure.
”To get a return like this, you need a top-notch supplier,” says Allen. “But conservatories need to be carefully sited and of sufficient size, not just a glass passage. If the conservatory is less than 4m by 3m, it’s not worth having. It’s got to be big, bold and used as a room all year round.”
August 2009