Start up a business, and you’re involved in every single decision from day one.  You don’t have the resources to do otherwise, and it’s not immediately operating on a scale which would warrant it anyway, but as time goes on and your business gets bigger, you have to devolve decision making to others with specific professional expertise.

It’s something that’s been happening slowly with Lower Mill Estate, which has grown considerably over the last 13 years.  Two years ago my family took the decision to hand over all day-to-day issues regarding properties, service charges and general management of leaseholder/landlord relationships to Strutt and Parker who became the estate’s managing agents.  We chose them because they’re very long established and an internationally recognised and respected operator in the field.

This brings clarity and focus to the landlord and tenant relationship, and the respective responsibilities of both parties.  Whether it’s about law and practice relating to service charges or any other tenant concerns, it’s important for the security and peace of mind of all parties that we use a company which is fully acquainted with legislation in this complex area.

Of course, there are going to be occasions when issues and concerns on either side of the landlord/tenant relationship need to be resolved through formal legal channels, in which case the managing agents hand matters over to our legal experts Mishcon de Reya who can ensure that there’s proper observance of all the legislative details on both sides.

For example, anyone who was in any way concerned about unfounded stories which were doing the rounds recently alleging that there would be unreasonable increases in service charges due to the recession, can know that there’s no intention of doing anything like this, simply because – as Mischon de Reya make clear – the relationship between a landlord and its tenant is recorded clearly in a contract between the parties known as a lease.  It’s therefore not legally permissible to decide a charge has to be increased without jusitification. Also, as they point out, the service charge is entirely non profit making and independently audited, so all of the checks and balances are in place… This arrangement doesn’t suit everyone though because if tenants are consistently in breach, the solicitors have to take action to protect the honest payers

I guess there will always be gossip but this business about the estate allowing “hoi polloi” into its private environment is a nonsense. The estate is private and we know everyone that has a membership, whether they are a lessee, holiday maker or a member of the facilities on the estate. The same checks are carried out on all and, if anything, we want bigger gates not smaller ones!

What it means for me is that I’m fully confident that tenants at Lower Mill Estate get fair service, and can be clear from the outset about arrangements, which means families can enjoy all the advantages of the estate.  That’s always been the way here because the estate is a place to escape, untroubled, unhurried, and somewhere people can reconnect with the natural environment.

The desire people have to own and have built one of these amazing Huf houses from Germany has finally reached Lower Mill Estate.

I think Kevin McCloud is partly responsible for the Huf House as one of its greatest proponents on Grand Designs.

 I see them as a kind of Mercedes Benz of houses. There’s reassurance in the Germanic precision and reliability of the construction, as well as in those crews of blokes who come on from Germany to put your house up – and usually have you living in the house within a few weeks.
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‘I often forget for long periods that Lower Mill Estate is actually a family business,’ says Jeremy Paxton. ‘For me it’s where I live most of the time, where I and my family work and where I’ve concentrated almost two decades of passion and hard labour. I don’t even really see myself as a “developer” in the traditional sense.’

Even when it was a glimmer in the former magazine publisher’s eye, this extraordinary eco-icon, private nature reserve, holiday settlement and architectural showpiece sited around seven lakes in 650 acres of prime Cotswold countryside, was a mission more than it was a business idea.
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There are, as has been famously said, known unknowns and unknown unknowns.

One of the most remarkable things that has developed at Lower Mill Estate since its founding, and that Jeremy Paxton readily admits he wasn’t really expecting, is the way a real community has developed both on the estate as a whole – and in the distinct, individual villages that it is built around.

The community has attracted the attention and applause of academics, of journalists and property writers and notably of  Kevin McCloud of Channel 4’s Grand Designs.
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Hundreds of acres of lush, unspoilt Gloucestershire countryside to roam at will. Thousands of wildlife species to observe and enjoy. Lakes where even on a busy bank holiday, you can often row, fish or swim on your own. Groups of houses cosily nestled in among it all.

It could almost be a scene from Laurie Lee’s Gloucestershire childhood, just updated a little so the honey coloured Cotswold cottages are now exciting modernist homes with broadband and all the latest 21st century green accoutrements.
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“This guy is worth watching he will be the UK’s young architect of the year I think – he did the hide for me before he qualified and it is genius”

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jeremy paxton

The first HUFHAUS at the Lower Mill Estate  - a fantastic opportunity to build pretty much any Hufhaus at the estate has opened up due to Richard Reid and I designing a fantastic south facing Island that is surrounded by water and can (when it shines) get all day sun.

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“Frenchie has just arrived as the new community addition to serve all sizes (and ages) of children – she is, I am assured, the original one from the movie Grease – does anyone remember her?”

Time was when everything worth having was proudly stamped ‘Made In the United Kingdom’. These days, everyone seeks out stuff from Germany, Japan, Italy … anywhere, it seems, apart from here.

Well I like to think the Pound shrinking down like a sweater accidentally put in the hot wash to the new mini-Pound (a rare bit of good news for our hard working exporters, incidentally, and for our tourist industry) will also make people think more seriously as they did years ago about regarding for the Made In The UK mark as a good thing.

I happen to know we still make some fantastic stuff here. Which is why I’m now putting a lot of energy behind Lower Mill Estate’s newest venture … the unique BBC – British Built Cottage.

A short while ago, I commissioned Richard Reid to design ten houses using only UK-sourced materials and labour, from the windows, doors, rendering and light fittings right down to the smallest hinge in the kitchens.

There are the best part of 30,000 ‘parts’ in a house, and my mission and Richard’s was to get all bar the odd screw or electrical widget in the new cottages to come from these islands.

There are going to be ten of them, known as Orchid Village and we’ve already begun work on Richard’s designs.

They’re going to sell for £295,000, and will be completed by Spring of next year.

Even today, that’s a fairly amazing price, I’d say, and it’s possible largely because sticking with British materials and labour saves us something like a third on costs.

It’s been a while since it’s been possible to say that. I’m especially proud of our British cottages and I hope it gets other businesses thinking about similar kinds of initiative.

Do you remember that “I liked it so much I bought the company” ad?  Not hugely romantic.  I think it had something to do with nasal hair clippers.  Given that he owned the company, Victor Kiam probably enjoyed a non-stop supply of this essential facial grooming product, and never had to pay for the privilege of having one ever-ready in his jacket pocket.

I’ve got the same passion for my own product (so to speak), so this week I decided to get one for myself.  No, I didn’t take it as a freebie.  I’ve just paid the full market price for one of the Nightingale Walk houses.

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