Dubai Properties

In the latest survey conducted by Knight Frank on Prime Global Cities Index, United Arab Emirates (UAE) has recorded a 4% climb in property value in the first quarter of 2012. They are also the highest compared to other cities included in the survey.

Although they are the best performing location in the Middle East, their property values have only risen by 3% year-on-year.

The survey also stated that prices of prime property across the globe fell by 4% from January to March as the firm noted that investors are focusing on locations that have “low political risk, transparent legal systems, good security and preferably, a high-net-worth-individual-friendly regime”.

Another attraction factor Dubai has is it’s newly announced legislation which protects foreign real estate investors which also includes a law that prevents developers selling properties before at least 20% of a scheme has been constructed.

The law, which will preserve the rights of investors, is part of the Strategic Plan of the Government of Dubai. The act will also cover all stages of the development process and help to facilitate the relationship between developer and investor.

Fitzroy Square

Free lunch time entertainment in Fitzroy Square Gardens for residents and passers-by. On various Thursdays from May to September the Jubilee Statue in Fitzroy Square Gardens will be transformed into a stage area. Expect international performers from the world of opera, circus, poetry, music and dance to entice you to rest and enjoy exciting, funny and thoughtful moments. Bring lunch!

Venue: Fitzroy Square Gardens (Jubilee Statue), Fitzroy Square, W1T 6ER

Date: Thu 31st May 12 at 1:15pm

Admission – free

For more info visit here.

BSB Buildings

The Broad Group, a private company based in China who are global manufactures of a vary of products have managed to achieve the impossible by mastering the art of “instant” building which enables them to build up to 6-storeys in just 24 hours!

Their innovative flat pack techniques has allowed broad sustainable building (BSB) to finish a 3-storey workers cafeteria within a week.

With their recorded accomplishments, the company’s CEO Zhang Yue is setting his sights on building a 220-storey skyscraper which could rival London’s The Shard as the worlds tallest building and if Mr Zhang get’s his way, it will also give The Shards and any other future buildings a run for it’s money and time as he plans to complete any possible skyscraper within four months!.

Besides the recently completed canteen and their ambitions for a skyscraper, BSB managed has also built a 30-storey hotel in December within 15 days.

According to Mr Zhang, – ‘In the past, people find it hard to believe in the fact that it is possible to build a six story building in a day or so or in more than 10 days we could build a 30-story building, especially as we were building these buildings very cheaply, using even less money than is needed to build a traditional one.

People used to say – “You’re using so much so-called technology, isn’t it expensive?” My response was – “Firstly, I can build it that quickly, secondly, I can build it that cheaply, and thirdly, once it’s built, it’s more comfortable than the rest”.

The whole building process is very simple and the modules are similar to those like children’s building blocks. The concept is based on factory-made ‘modules’, which include all the necessary pipes and cables before they are slotted into place.

Which means that 90% of the work is done before the builders are even present on site. It also helps drive costs down, with the prefab buildings coming at a price of about 4,000 yuan (£396) per square metre. This means the 4,500-square metre canteen came to a total of 18million yuan (£1.78million).

The flat modules, the largest of which are about 13ft by 49ft and form the buildings’ floors and ceilings, are prepared in two factories in Yueyang, near the BSB headquarters in the provincial capital Changsha.

As amazing and hassle free as it seems, Mr Zhang insists on leaving a legacy of buildings that last after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake caused many poor quality buildings to collapsed, which claimed some 87,000 lives.

BSB rose to fame after their time-lapse video of the T30 Hotel project was uploaded online with over 5 million views.

A billionaire who founded the company after making his fortune in eco-friendly air conditioning, Mr Zhang cares deeply about building thimgs that last, that are eco-friendly and secured.

He believes that there is an urgent need for construction security, especially energy-saving in construction, and this touches on conserving materials. To truly safeguard humanity, and guarantee we live in security, regardless of where, structures should be all-steel construction.

History

Broad Group is a private company based in Changsha, China. Since 1996, it has been the global leader in manufacturing central air conditioning non-electric absorption chillers that are powered by natural gas and waste heat. Broad Group currently export products to over 60 countries.

They are one of the few Chinese manufacturing companies that has been widely recognized for its green policies and commitment to climate change. It has expanded its business in recent years to include other energy saving products and sustainable buildings.

Fresh data has been published on the council’s website giving residents the latest information on the town hall’s performance.

The updated information appears at the open council and allows residents to check on how the council is performing on a wide range of issues.

Residents can now see the latest A level and GCSE scores, new data on how long it takes to approve adoptions, the number of library books issued, the ratio of council tax being collected and how quickly new housing benefit claims are being processed.

This information sits alongside wider-ranging data showing how quickly local roads are repaired, the borough’s recycling rates, the progress of pupils in local schools and the time it takes to re-let an empty home.

Wandsworth’s performance is compared to London’s 32 other boroughs so that residents can see for themselves where the council is doing well – and just as importantly where performance is lagging.

In cases where the council’s performance is below average, the cabinet member responsible for that service explains why – and what he or she is doing to raise standards.

The information concentrates on the 27 key performance indicators which have been judged to be the most relevant to the public.

But to make sure these ratings continue to meet the public’s demands for transparency, the revamped website gives people the chance to vote on which indicators they want included in this top list and those they can do without.

The full list of more than 100 performance indicators is readily available on the Open Council section of the website giving residents the chance to gauge the council’s performance across all service areas. Accessing this wider list will help the public decide which indicators they want included in the key headline list.

Council leader Ravi Govindia launched the ‘Open Council’ initiative in January this year with a pledge to make Wandsworth Britain’s most transparent council.

Wandsworth was the first authority in London to give residents fully transparent information on how it was performing so that the public could hold local politicians and town hall managers to account.

As well as the performance indicators, this section of the council’s website also shows details of all town hall spending over £500. This will enable residents to see for themselves if the council is offering taxpayers the best value for money.

Cllr Govindia said: “The services we provide day in and day out directly affect the lives of nearly 300,000 residents. We want to make sure they have the information at their fingertips to hold us to account, so that we can be more responsive to their needs and better tuned in to their priorities.

“This drive for greater transparency and openness will raise standards and spur us on to become an even better council.”

For more, click here

The ongoing financial and political turmoil in Southern Europe has sparked an increased of interest in London properties mainly from buyers from Greece and Spain.

These potential investors who have the finance to spend are looking for a “safe haven” to do so and with London’s property market currently appealing to the world, where better to invest!

According to property agent Savills, the number of Greek investors who are searching for homes well above £1.5 million has jumped up by 39% in April compared to just 6% in previous months.

With the euro in crisis, more and more Europeans have either been migrating into London or snapping up properties there as a form of income ( buy-to-let ) or investments.

Liam Bailey, head of residential research at Knight Frank said – “What we’re seeing is another stage in the euro zone crisis gathering pace. It’s ironic that the more instability you get in the euro zone the more the London property market benefits.”

Savills noted that buyers from Spain has also marked an increased by 14% in April while Knight Frank recorded an increased by 21%.

London Railways

Wandsworth Council’s proposal for a new direct rail services between Waterloo and Heathrow has won support from more London boroughs.

Hounslow and Hammersmith & Fulham Councils are backing the scheme as a key measure to improve surface access to the airport and to ease congestion on the Piccadilly Line.

The service would include stops in the borough at Queenstown Road , Clapham Junction, Wandsworth Town and Putney.
Wandsworth unveiled the rail proposal in October last year which is based on BAA’s ‘Airtack’ scheme.

The new version – renamed ‘Airtrack Lite’ – would provide four trains an hour from Waterloo to Terminal 5. It avoids routing extra trains through level crossings in Mortlake and Egham which was the key problem with the original scheme and led to it being scrapped in April last year.

The proposals have now been discussed at top level meetings with the Department for Transport (DfT) and BAA.
The scheme has now been included in the tender documents for the Great Western Rail Franchise. The next franchisee will be expected to help develop the proposal further as a means of improving links to Heathrow.

An extract from the tender documents reads:
“Options for longer term enhancements of rail links to Heathrow, such as Western Access and Airtrack Lite, are being considered and the franchise operator will be expected to engage constructively with industry partners in developing these options. The franchise operator may have the opportunity to tender for the operation of such services in due course.”

Leader of Wandsworth Council Ravi Govindia said:
“We’ve made a good start with Airtrack Lite but there is still a lot of work to do behind the scenes building the case.
“What everyone can agree on is that Heathrow needs to be at centre of a genuine local rail network offering easy access to communities on all sides of the airport. Our scheme would provide an alternative to tortuous journeys on the Piccadilly Line and help get more cars off the road.

“Airtrack Lite was devised as part of ‘Wandsworth Travel Choices’ – an ambitious campaign to make our borough a better connected place with a broader range of transport services. One of the key aims is to reduce people’s reliance on cars by making alternative travel choices more appealing and convenient.”

Airtrack Lite would provide four trains an hour from Waterloo to Terminal 5. The plans avoid routing extra trains through level crossings in Mortlake and Egham. This was a key problem with the original scheme and led to it being scrapped by BAA in April last year.

Two trains an hour would run between Waterloo and Heathrow via the Hounslow loop. Two existing services on the Waterloo-Windsor line would split at Staines to provide a further direct link to Terminal Five.

Two services an hour would also come up from Weybridge to Heathrow – again without adding extra frequencies over level crossings at Egham.

The scheme would require a new station at Staines and a new stretch of track from here to Terminal 5. The rest of the route would run along existing lines.

Heathrow is one of Europe ‘s busiest airports but is served only by the Heathrow Express to Paddington and by the Piccadilly Line.

This forces Wandsworth residents to travel north through London to join a Heathrow bound service rather than travelling direct.

For more info click here

Portuguese Properties

Thanks to the current offer made by Portugal’s banking sector,who are offering higher Loan-To-Value (LTV) mortgages, the property market is looking more and more attractive to investors.

According to Stephen Anderson, managing director of infinito real, an estate agency in Portugal, interested buyers are most likely to obtain a 100% LTV loan on repossessed homes which are being sold by the nation’s financial institutions.

He also stated that with yields as high as 5%, investing in Portugal’s property market will prove to be beneficial. With a stronger exchange rate versus a year ago, this also means that prices are even more affordable, with a 20% gain to be had on sterling to euros.

More and more homeowners are currently switching from owning a property to renting. With mortgages that are too high, they are left with no choice but to rent.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors/Ci Portuguese Housing Market had conducted a survey last month which highlighted the country’s rental sector and found an increasing number of households who are renting instead of owning a property, which in return has helped boost the rental market

Sales for properties in Portugal have been weak for some time now so the current boom in the rental market is definitely good news.

According to Financial Times, property prices are lower in central and northern Portugal, compared to those in the popular tourist areas further south and around Lisbon.

With the latest move made by the banking sector, estate agencies and developers alike are hoping that this will help shed some light on Properties in Portugal and hopefully will bring about changes in sales as well.

A bike race that rewards the slowest competitor is one of the unique sports-related events being held at the Pump House Gallery next weekend.

The Battersea Park gallery’s regular Monthly Do event is scheduled to be a celebration of alternative sport for all on Saturday May 19 and Sunday May 20.

Artists will be exploring the art within games and present performances, workshops and activities for visitors to compete in. On the Saturday, Harry Meadows will be presenting a Slow Bike Race while Alex Baker is planning to host a Reverse Chess Club.

Contestants in the bike race must complete a 100m course through Battersea Park in the slowest time without putting their feet down, going backwards or straying out of their lane.

For those interested in taking part in the race, click here

HMS Belfast Summer Jamboree

Celebrations aboard HMS Belfast will be full steam ahead when it opens again on 18 May. To mark the end of 6 months’ repair work, the WW2 warship will be hosting a weekend of exciting activities that enable visitors to explore its unique seafaring history.

During the Jamboree on 26-27 May, visitors will be able to talk to veterans who served aboard the ship, explore the extensive vessel and learn about its history, aided by the immersive WW2 Gun Turret Experience and the interactive Operations Room. You will also have the chance to explore the Bridge Wireless Office, which is still used by the Royal Naval Amateur Radio Society today.

For those needing a breath of fresh air after experiencing the cramped conditions in which 950 sailors would have been housed at one time, a barbecue will be available on the top decks, giving visitors the chance to take in the view and enjoy festive music provided for the occasion.

More About HMS Belfast

HMS Belfast, which has been an iconic feature of London’s South Bank for over 40 years, was launched in 1938 and performed key roles in WW2, the Korean War and subsequent peacekeeping efforts before retiring in 1963. This light cruiser is the last remaining vessel of her type left in existence and visitors should not miss the chance to explore this key piece of British naval history in her restored glory.

Dates: 26 May 2012 to 27 May 2012

Times: 26 – 27 May 2012 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM

Venue: HMS Belfast

Prices: (Adult Ticket) Free per ticket

For more info click here.

Malaysia's retail property sector

Savills latest report on property investments in the Asia-Pacific region has found that many investors are turning their attention to Malaysia’s retail property sector.

The firm also believes that there will be a “Major shopping centre transactions” from April to June, with several deals currently in the pipeline.

Apart from the retail sector, Malaysia’s hospitality sector is also on the rise as there have been an increasing number of local businesses who are investing their finances into this part of Malaysia’s commercial property market.

In conclusion, Savills believes that the success of Malaysia’s retail sector can be attributed to it’s tourism industry as the country recorded some 25 million tourist entering the country last year with receipts edging close to RM60 billion (£12.1 billion).

In the latest Global Commercial Property survey published by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, sentiment among commercial real estate professionals was largely positive for Malaysia.

Rental in Malaysia for the coming quarter is believed to be in positive territory,while the supply of distressed assets is set to be balanced by demand. However, capital value and investment expectations were both slightly negative.