CONTENTS OCTOBER 2011 42


100% loans. A good thing – or not?


21 52


Liking people who are like us. Affinity groups grow.


44


Is your agency ready for the scrum?


4 OCTOBER 2011 PROPERTYdrum


Finding the right staff. How?


6 NEWSbeat There is news and there is gossip, at PROPERTYdrum we lean towards the


news in a big way, focusing on the really interesting and the very useful.


12 The social mix Local authorities simply do not have enough social housing to fulfil the demand and they don’t have the funding to build more. The solution (in part) is working with the Private Rented Sector. Andrea Kirkby reports.


21 Recruitment – a difficult job indeed... The word is that finding the right staff has never been more difficult.


So what really is the best way? Advertise? Ask current staff? Use an agency? What works?


25 Recruitment directory The Who’s Who of the recruitment market – especially for property


professionals of course.


26 Comment If you don’t learn in a difficult market, you’ll never learn. So says Simon Oldfield, Franchise Operations Director, Reeds Rains.


29 Agents in the community Peripatetic property people, charging across the countryside, raising


money for good causes, entertaining teddy bears... whatever next?


32 The Proper ty Ombudsman Property sales and letting is all about keys. And keys are a big responsibility, says Christopher Hamer, The Property Ombudsman.


34 Outsourcing magic How are you coping with business? Too much to do? Not enough staff?


COVER FEATURE If you have days where you feel like a headless chicken, help is at hand. MORTGAGES


40 Mor tgage news Can it be true that mortgages are becoming easier to arrange?


Let’s not jump to conclusions, but there are more on offer.


42 100% mortgage – with strings attached The return of the 100% mortgage. Time for celebration? Or trepidation? Richard John, a leading property lawyer, says it’s not 100% good news.


TRAINING


44 Heads-up estate agency All agencies have to tackle the training issue; Philip Bowden takes a look


at how sportsmen train and develop strategies. Scrum down!


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