Jones Lang LaSalle OSCAR 2008 Retail Park

	The accurate measurement and monitoring of costs set out in the OSCAR report is an essential tool for the Chartered Surveyor in developing effective property management strategies and measuring management performance. RICS has worked closely with Jones Lang LaSalle to ensure that the new industry Service Charge Cost Categories are compatible with those used in OSCAR. The highly respected OSCAR work is a considerable contribution towards our objective of more consistency and transparency within the property management sector. Christopher Edwards Chair, RICS Service Charge Group
	Jones Lang LaSalle's Retail Park OSCAR is now in its 5th year of publication and represents the most extensive survey of multi-let retail parks in the UK.
	Retail Park OSCAR 2008 provides research on 2007 reconciled service charge costs and 2008 service charge budgets. Also provided is some commentary on a small sample of 2009 service charge budgets As with previous Retail Park OSCARs the analysis has adopted the expenditure codes from the RICS Code of Practice - Service Charges in Commercial Property, as these are widely adopted by the property industry. This has also made the preparation of data and comparison more straightforward. In the last 3 editions of Retail Park OSCAR we have used the "Classification of Parks" based on unit user as determined by planning user as an indicator of the different types of parks. This has proved a reliable measure and we have retained this in this year's analysis. Variation in the size of part of the database this year has resulted in some of the headline comparisons between years producing inconsistent results. To address this issue, comparison has been made of the same parks in the research year on year and this is presented as a more reliable yardstick where appropriate.
	The size of the database has generally maintained the guide "benchmarks" on parks with varying classifications, sizes and locations and it has been possible to set out service cost breakdowns for virtually all categories. These benchmarks will continue to prove useful in demonstrating comparative "value for money" and increase transparency in Retail Park Service Charges and Service Charge Budgets.
	Retail Park OSCAR 2008 continues to include analysis on individual cost centres and to develop this where possible. We have not this year included separate detailed analysis on "size" and "location". Our thanks yet again to our contributors and their managing agents for their very considerable help in providing the data. Analysis on service costs and benchmarking for individual Retail Parks can be provided by the Jones Lang LaSalle Retail Park OSCAR Team if required.