GROWING numbers of foreigners are buying up some of Oxford’s hottest property, with wealthy Russians increasingly choosing the city.

Many of the houses are being bought as second homes or as investment properties, and are not being lived in for much of the year.

Estate agents told the Oxford Mail that 40 per cent of the city’s top properties were being sold to international buyers, and 15 per cent of them to Russians.

Hamptons International senior manager Mike Simkin said: “What we are seeing is prices increasing in London, and buyers looking further afield where there are still sustainable prices, and Oxford has that. He added: “Over the last 12 months there has been a significant increase international buyers.

“A lot are looking for second homes, most significantly in the OX2 postcode – North Oxford and Central North Oxford – and also some of the villages.

“But while we get a lot of inquiries from international buyers, the majority of the buyers are still from the UK.”

Knight Frank associate Harriet Gascoigne-Pees said the interest was strongest among houses valued at £2.5m or more.

A lot of them were second homes, she added.

She said: “Nearly 40 per cent of house sales we have done this year have been to overseas buyers.

“I would put that down to the economy and people wanting to buy in because of the pound.”

An unnamed Russian oligarch has expressed an interest in land with planning permission for a vast 24,000-square foot mansion between Charlbury and Witney, which could be worth up to £18m, according to The Cotswold Property Shop owner Joost Barnas.

He said: “With the running costs and making sure the site is maintained, you need to earn more than a Premier League footballer in order to afford it.

“The majority of interest has come from the Middle East but there has been interest, and there is still interest, from a Russian client.”

He added: “About 15 per cent of interest in our large properties is coming from Russia, but the majority of interest now – about 40 per cent – is coming from the Middle East.”

City council deputy leader Ed Turner said: “Oxford is a remarkable and very beautiful city with a worldwide reputation, and it would be surprising if people with a lot of money did not want to add a home in Oxford to their ski chalet in St Moritz or their summer beach home in St Tropez.”

The Russian community in Oxford is now big enough to support a specialist Russian Children’s Centre, Rosinka, which operates from West Oxford Community Centre and North Oxford Community Centre.

Russian Lada Krasnosselskaja, 43, who moved to Botley with husband Vadim two years ago, said: “The numbers of people at the children’s centre grow every year.”

The mum-of-two said that when she applied to the Dragon School in North Oxford for a place for her boy Alexey, six, she was told that the school had significant numbers of Russian pupils.