New roles for high-end buying agent and country houses chief

Jonathan Hopper, the managing director of Garrington Property Finders - the search agency originally founded by Phil Spencer - has joined the board of The Property Ombudsman.

An announcement by a public relations agency used by Garrington says Hopper’s appointing “reflects his experience as a leading sector specialist and the rising influence of buying agents in the property industry.”

Hopper, who has previously contributed to the drafting of The Property Ombudsman’s Code of Practice for Residential Buying Agents, will now represent the property finding sector on the Ombudsman’s decision-making board.

“The property industry is increasingly recognising the efficiency that buying agents bring to a property transaction, and ever more buyers across the price spectrum are discovering the buying power that we can offer them” claims Hopper, who says the buying agency sector is “the fastest growing area of the residential property services industry.”

Christopher Hamer, who steps down as TPO in November, says the move is “very positive.”

Meanwhile Humberts - the country house sister agency of London’s Chestertons - has announced the appointment of Jeremy Campbell-Harris as Head of London Country Houses, charged with bringing London buyers to the country house market.  

Campbell-Harris has almost 30 years of agency experience and will be based in the capital, but working with Humberts’ network of 23 country offices from Cornwall to Yorkshire. He will report to managing director Ian Westerling.