21 april 2016 oxfordshire guardian city

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Thursday, 21 April Wednesday, 27 April, 2016

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DETACHED and offering into the three bedrooms, dining room that is the this home centre in Kennet Road, of the home. Abingdon, Providing direct should appeal access to families the sunny aspect conserv to looking to acquire aa cosy tory, this retreat whilst family area provide still having a s welcom access to the local e link between the amenities. fully ďŹ tted kitchen and The ground floor the other homely feel whilst has a social parts of the house. having To the ďŹ rst oor, practical advanta there is ges for any ample family home. storage solutio ns to make the most These include a feature of the space ďŹ re- whilst also place and solid wood providi ng two ooring double which ows from the bedrooms and a front living area • Continues on page 10

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THE number of complaints against Oxford landlords for harassment and unlawful evictions has risen by 62 per cent in the last five years, the Guardian can reveal. Figures obtained from Oxford City Council through a Freedom of Information request also shows very few landlords are prosecuted at court following complaints to the council. Last year, only five per cent of the 60 complaints against landlords resulted in a prosecution and the National Landlords Association (NLA) has called on the council to do more to combat ‘rogue landords’. Chief executive officer at the NLA, Richard Lambert, said: “No one should have to live in fear of harassment or the threat of unlawful eviction at the hands of their landlord and Oxford City Council undoubtedly needs to do more to expose and punish the very worst rogue and criminal operators who make their tenants’ lives a misery. “ However, with some 16,000 households living in private rented

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By Alex Ballinger housing in Oxford, these figures show that very few have raised a complaint against their landlord on the grounds of harassment or unlawful eviction.� The figures show 29 complaints were lodged with the city council over landlord harassment in 2010, increasing by 48 per cent (43 complaints) in 2015. Unlawful evictions jumped by 112 per cent during the same period, from 8 to 17. In 2015, only three prosecutions were brought from these complaints, despite 60 being fi led to the council for both unlawful eviction and harassment. Oxford City Council’s portfolio holder for housing, Mike Rowley, said: “It is noteworthy that numbers of complaints have increase significantly since 2010. “I’m not surprised by this and think it shows tenants are more confident in complaining to the council because they know we can and will act.�

" !% ) '# (% ( * ) # ' UNLAWFUL EVICTIONS ( ! ' $' &+ % ( + UP 112% A BIRD’S eye view of Oxford shows building work progressing on the city’s new £440 million shopping centre. Five cranes are towering over the city as the build

develops, and at the height of construction eight cranes will be working from the site off Bonn Square. With the two storey basement car park complete, resi-

dents will be able to see the buildings take shape over the next few months. It will have more than 100 shops, 25 cafes and restaurants and a cinema.

Work started in March last year and developers, the Oxford Westgate Alliance, said the build is on track for the shopping centre to open in October 2017.

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t $$ & $ t $$ $ UP TO OFF 2 WEEK FURNITURE FRENZY + & ( $! SOLID WOOD, OAK, t ) #, & & # , (# # PINE AND PAINTED * , , t '- ---$" & $ * FURNITURE & (# &(# Holiday Monday

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