Phil Spencer: how to steal a bargain in a Cotswolds chocolate box village

I was honoured to receive a call from Phil Spencer’s team to contribute to one of his regular columns in the Daily Telegraph, this time about the Cotswolds property market. I explained the hotspots are in between Daylesford and the pocket of villages surrounding Stow-on-the-Wold. Being to the east, this part of the district is closer to London and so comes with some of the highest house prices; the average cost of a property in Stow-on-the-Wold is £591,600, according to Rightmove.

I also explained to Phil that house prices saw a lift from the opening of the private club (Soho Farmhouse) as members want to be in close proximity to make the most of what’s on offer.

If you were to look further north, areas on the outskirts of Oxford have the same appeal as western options – offering cheaper prices than Chipping Norton but with access to the best parts of living in the Cotswolds.

The area could also soon benefit from the “Soho Farmhouse effect”. The same could happen in the villages north of Oxford, where Estelle Manor (a new members-only hotel that opened last year) just outside Witney could trigger a similar effect.