Regional Info

Geography
The counties of south-central England covered by Stacks’ Banbury office have distinct, individual characteristics and you can travel a few miles in any direction and be in very different landscape, from the undulating Cotswold hills in the west, designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, to the more densely populated but still predominantly agricultural countryside of South Warwickshire, the ironstone villages of the Cherwell valley and the rolling farmland of rural South Northamptonshire. You are about as far from the sea as it is possible to be in the UK, but numerous rivers and canals criss-cross the region and you are well served for road and rail communications.

Cities and Towns
Although predominantly still agricultural, the areas of the North Cotswolds, North Oxfordshire, South Warwickshire and South Northamptonshire have several large centres which offer a wide range of business, cultural and leisure opportunities.

The cities of Oxford, Birmingham and Coventry are a major focus for people moving to live and work in the area. The market towns of Banbury, Bicester, Witney, Towcester, Daventry and Rugby have seen much growth over recent years and greatly improved communications. The historic towns of Stratford-on-Avon, Warwick, Leamington Spa and Cheltenham continue to attract holiday-makers and permanent residents alike, as do the many smaller market towns and villages of the North Cotswolds, such as Chipping Campden, Broadway, Moreton-in Marsh, Stow-on-the Wold, Bourton-on-the Water, Shipston-on Stour, Chipping Norton and Burford.

Communications
Air travel – International airports at Birmingham and Coventry, with Oxford airport offering business and private flights. London Heathrow, Stanstead and Luton are also easily accessed from the east of the region, and Bristol is a short drive from the North Cotswolds.
Train services – Mainline train services (with approximate times to London in brackets) from Birmingham to London (1½ hr), Scotland and the South Coast; Coventry (1 hr); Rugby (1 hr); Northampton (1hr) Milton Keynes (40 mins); Warwick Parkway (1½ hr); Leamington Spa; Banbury (1hr 10 mins); Bicester (1 hour); Oxford (1 hr); Moreton-in-Marsh (1½ hr); Charlbury (I hr 10 mins); Kingham (1hr 20 mins);.
Road travel – The M40 is the main artery to access the east and north of the region, with the following approximate distances from London: Oxford 56 miles; Bicester 65 miles; Banbury 80 miles; Warwick 100 miles. To access the west of the region from London, take either the the M40 /A40 (via Oxford) or the M4; from the North or South, take the M5 to Cheltenham.

Properties
The North Cotswolds are what many people think of as quintissential England, where development has been carefully controlled and little appears to have changed for centuries. This area, with its many villages of mellow stone, has the highest concentration of Listed Buildings in the country. For long the target of the London second home market and the centre of a thriving all-year-round tourist trade, the North Cotswold villages have always attracted premium prices and, with improvements in communications and home-working facilities, more and more people now choose to make the area their permanent home. From weekend cottage to historic manor house, demand regularly outstrips supply and good properties often change hands, without being advertised, for well over the guide price.

Those who find they can no longer afford the heart of the Cotswolds are looking a little further afield, and properties in North Oxfordshire and South Warwickshire have seen increased demand. As you move into North Oxfordshire the honey-coloured buildings of the Cotswolds give way to the darker golden stone of the Hornton and other local quarries, whereas in South Warwickshire the architecture in predominantly red brick or the distinctive black-and-white half-timbered style. There are a number of excellent schools and facilities in the nearby centres of Stratford, Warwick, Leamington, Solihull, Banbury, Bicester and Oxford – as well as good communications to Birmingham and London – which make these areas increasing popular in their own right.

Demand in the city of Oxford has for a long time outstripped supply and kept prices high. The large, elegant Georgian and Victorian properties of Central North Oxford are ever popular and those looking for family homes within the school catchment areas are finding they are having to move further out towards – and even beyond – the ring road to find property they can afford.

The message is therefore much the same across this diverse region – good properties are hard to find and even more difficult to secure. This is why more and more people looking to move into or within this area are turning to the services of a buying agent.

Economy
This is an area of strong economic growth in recent years. Its proximity to London and the South-East and good road and rail infrastructure have ensured that there are consistently high levels of employment, though the nature of this employment has, in many cases, changed over the years.

With the decline in farming, and the need for farmers to find ways of diversifying, there are increasing opportunities for purchasers to acquire run-down farms, farm buildings and land which they can develop in a number of income-producing ways, such as holiday lets, small business units or businesses concerned with country pursuits.

Tourism has for long been the leading industry in the North Cotswolds and this continues to thrive. There are often opportunities to purchase B&Bs, holiday cottages for rental or hotels, and purchasers can be assured of more or less year-round trade.

The extension of the M40 from Oxford to Birmingham in the early 1990s opened up the towns in its path to dramatic expansion, and the economies of North Oxfordshire and South Warwickshire have thrived as a result. Although manufacturing has been in decline, there has been significant growth in other areas such as hi-tech, bio-technology and motorsport, as well as in the service sector and distribution trade.

Schools
State education – There is a great diversity in the style of state school available, from small village primary schools to large, highly acclaimed secondary schools.
www.oxfordshire.gov.uk
www.northamptonshire.gov.uk
www.gloucestershire.gov.uk
www.warwickshire.gov.uk

Independent schools – One of the principal reasons families move into this area is for the excellent choice of independent day and boarding schools. For a complete list of those available, see:
www.iscis-sw.co.uk (Tel: 01747 830761);

For School league tables see:
www.dfes.gov.uk/performancetables/schools

Leisure
Being a largely rural area, there is the usual range of country pursuits available, including hunting, shooting and fishing; golf; cycling; sailing and other watersports on lakes and inland reservoirs; narrow boating and motorboating on the numerous rivers and canals in the region; horse-riding and walking on the network of footpaths and bridlepaths that criss-cross the region.

For the culturally minded, the area is steeped in history, with numerous country houses, castles and other historic buildings open to the public, as well as pretty villages and churches to explore. And for retail therapy there is a wide range of shopping available, from the commercial centres of Oxford, Cheltenham, Leamington Spa and Solihull, to the factory outlet shops of Bicester Village and the antique and craft shops of the Cotswolds.

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