TWENTY-FIVE thousand pounds isn’t far off the average yearly wage in Oxford, but for one resident it will just about cover a single month’s rent.

Whoever moves into number 17 Bradmore Road in Summertown will be taking on what is believed to be the most expensive rental property in Oxford, adding up to a cool £300,000 a year.

It is understood to be one of the most expensive rental properties to go on the market in Oxford.

But any tenant will be expected to bring their own furniture, as the detached, Victorian seven-bedroom house is unfurnished.

Although, it could be the ideal spot for a former political party leader, as it has two kitchens.

The tenant will also have the run of a swimming pool, gym, games room and home office.

There are also seven bedrooms, seven bathrooms, a drawing room, library and dining room.

The four-storey property, which is being let through Savills office in Summertown, also comes with a back garden, double garage and summerhouse.

Designed by architect Frederick Codd and once home to social reformer and novelist, Mary Arnold Ward, it weighs in at 12 times more expensive than an average rental house in Oxford which costs £2,000 a month, according to online property website home.co.uk.

And it is another example of the city’s spiralling rents, which have risen by 20 per cent in recent years, while wages have failed to keep pace, making Oxford one of the least affordable places to live in the country.

Lizanne Simmons of agents Penny & Sinclair, which deals in the top end of the market, is marketing a house in Charlbury Road at £8,000 a month.

But she said much more expensive properties are let without ever going on the open market, adding: “There is a lot of money coming into the area and that is continuing to drive-up rents. Better transport links to London means those needing to work in the capital are looking at Oxford because it is a beautiful city to live in, but less than an hour away by train.”

 

 

Explore your way around a house that will set you back £300,000 in rent a year

Posted by Oxford Mail Interactive Graphics on Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Fran Ryan, of community group Oxford Co-housing, said: “North central Oxford is now the preserve of hedge fund managers and people on ludicrously high salaries, who can afford £25,000 a month. Yet again, we see that key workers such as nurses, teachers and other ordinary people are being squeezed out as they find themselves unable to afford to live in the city.”

She added: “The private rental sector is too expensive.

We need a private rental sector which is controlled by the local community because it’s about having housing that is permanently affordable to rent or buy.”

Property expert Oxford University professor Danny Dorling said £25,000 a month marked a new, more expensive era of local prices becoming on a par with those in London.

He said: “These really expensive houses drag everything else up behind them.

It makes rents that are unaffordable appear reasonable, so there is a knock-on effect.”