Point2Point June '09

Point2Point Issue 9 - June 2009

Conference 2009
Motivating Change

Our National relocation Conference 2009 will take place in Oxford on September 24th.  This year we will be focussing on the changing market conditions we all face in the fallout from the global economic crisis and looking at where we go from here.  In a series of thought provoking sessions led by industry experts, we will be addressing some complex topics and looking at innovative solutions.
For full details click here.

ARP News Update
Council Changes

The ARP’s latest council meeting took place in London during May and it there was much to discuss. As we all know, the UK is still in the grip of recession and of course this has had an impact on our members. But there are the beginnings of a glimmer of light, and the ARP is working to ensure that it maintains its position as the champion of its member’s best interests. To this end one of the first topics of discussion was the recent Private Acquisitions Forum. Held on May 1st, this was a chance to bring together our members working predominantly with private clients to find out how best we can respond to the downturn in the housing market.
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Feature: Housing Cultures
Dominic Tidey

We choose our homes based on many many factors, but if we are moved to a new location, perhaps temporarily, how will our choices change?  In our own country we will choose our home based on size, price, location and our lifestyle.  City or suburb?  Urban or rural?  New, old, modern, classic, loft living, apartment life, grand mansion. All of these choices we perceive as uniquely ours.  But within all of these options, are there underlying factors which somehow bind us together?  Are there cultural dimensions that shape how we live and therefore how we choose a home?
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Property Report
Camilla Stephens

The Relocation Company is this month showing you the housing survey, which is based upon 6,087 responses from 1,776 agents and surveyors across all 2,300 postcodes in England and Wales. House prices remained unchanged in May - the first time in 20 months that the survey has not registered a month on month decline in prices. Stronger sales volumes, continued buyer interest and a dwindling supply of property for sale has provided a short term boost to market confidence.But the housing market outlook remains fragile…Given the weak outlook for the economy, house prices are expected to remain under downward pressure for the foreseeable future. In short, house prices may have remained unchanged but the outlook for the housing market remains fragile.
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Feature:
Grey Thatch

Everyone’s heard the Rumfeldian nugget about known unknowns and unknown unknowns. But how, exactly, do secret (but fully enforceable) laws fit into the weird world of Donald R? Because, as it turns out, there actually is a very secret list of things you can’t take onto an EU plane - but only the police know what’s actually on the list! So presumably that makes it a known unknown for us too?  Applying impeccable Greythatch logic to this situation it would appear that the only way to find out what you can and can’t take on your next flight is through a process of elimination. You could, for example, start by compiling a list of everything you could take onto the plane.
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News Digest June
Annie Panton

I couldn’t resist the temptation of mentioning MP’s Expenses, could I? I was moved to write to one of the political parties last week to remind them there is a superbly equipped industry that could handle everything connected with relocation – and that the Civil Service had spent a lot of time and effort putting policy together for their own moves – why not take advantage of their and our expertise, I said! And of course these days we are also including Serviced Accommodation –
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ASAP Member Focus
Your Space Cambridge Apartments

Cambridge’s two leading serviced apartment providers – Your Space Apartments and Cambridge Apartments – have merged. Newly formed Your Space Cambridge Apartments now boasts a 75% market share in the historic university city, and over 17 years’ collective industry experience.  Neil Robinson and Stephen Chard (founding directors of Cambridge Apartments), were first in bringing the concept of serviced apartments to the city over a decade ago. Your Space Apartments was created in 2002 by the new company’s fellow directors Suzanne Emerson, Steve West and Paul Perkins.
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The Road to Regulation
Tad Zurlinden

ARP Members have for a number of years been aware of their responsibilities in relation to the Property Misdescriptions Act and on a recent visit to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) it was stressed that ARP Members should use all due diligence when dealing with property particulars as you are just as liable as any Estate Agent in terms of the Act. In practice this means that you should check that all sales particulars sent to clients are correct. 
However, over the last couple of years things have been changing in the property world and for the majority of the ARP’s members offering relocation services this mean more and more bureaucracy and the need to comply with government regulations.
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What's Your Story?
Fiona Murchie, Re:Locate Magazine

I was enjoying the evening sunshine in the garden when my husband arrived home and dropped the bombshell. ‘How do you fancy living in Aberdeen?’ he said. I burst out laughing and responded, ‘You’ve got to be joking!’ But moving to Aberdeen changed our lives and set me on a 20-year career path in relocation.
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Feature:
An Encounter with the Deposit Protection Scheme

After thirty years in the world of property professionals you develop a certain intuition when things might be going wrong before it actually occurs.  That was eighteen months on this occasion, before it happened .It was checkout time with the private landlord who had appointed a well respected firm of property management agents to assist with the checkout. 
In my humble opinion the property had been left in good order throughout by the outgoing tenants but....
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Re:Locate Awards
A Glittering Night

The annual Re:locate Awards, which honour companies and individuals involved in relocation, have been presented at a champagne reception and gala dinner held at the Institute of Directors, in London. Guests from across the relocation spectrum celebrated success, good practice and innovation in this increasingly high-profile field.  Launched in 2007 by Re:locate, the magazine for HR professionals and relocation specialists, this is the only awards scheme in the UK to celebrate achievement in this field.  With business becoming ever more global, relocation and mobility are hot topics for many organisations. Speaking at the gala dinner, Re:locate’s managing editor, Fiona Murchie...
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Member News
June 2009

BridgeStreet Launch in Liverpool
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Clearview Open in Africa and NZ
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UK Relocation Services Scoop EMEA Award
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Pricoa - Stephen Fairn Named as Senior Vice President, International Operations
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