Real Estate

The Government announced a support of almost £23 million for communities. This budget is to be used to develop Neighbourhood Plans until 2022.

What should come out of this move after the entire period?! The type of local growth the British Government is encouraging targets new buildings and homes, parks and other type of green spaces, offices, and shops.

Details upon the outcomes in this article below on Property Wire.

£23 million announced to help communities have a say in new housing

The pro-active moves of the Government however do not compensate on the lack of active involvement until now on ‘abusive’ leaseholds. The officials are expected to ‘make a move’ on current leaseholds and ban these types of contracts in the future. Considering the plan to build and develop new homes, the actions taken now should be a ground for more reliable future leaseholds.

Calls for UK Government to urgently sort out ‘abusive’ residential leaseholds on new builds

 

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Finding new places to live and create human-friendly environments is a constant subject of search in the last years. Most specialist find in Mars the most fitted place to create these environments and studies have intensified lately.

For example, to study the forms of life that adapted to the type of environment found on Mars, astrobiologist Armando Azua-Bustos went to the most Martian place on Earth – the Atacama Desert in Chile. Here’s what he found:

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Photo source: Property Reporter http://bit.ly/2wICfB5

Taken individually, these moves we hear about on the property market seem to be weird and with no rational basis: ‘biggest fall since…’, ‘highest raise’, etc. But if you judged them in the context of the market as a whole they make perfect sense.

For example, home buyers have been increasingly attracted by discounted luxury property. They now count for 45% of all purchases in prime central London. As an effect, the number of investors in buy to let (BTL) has seen a significant decrease, falling by 1/3.

Since luxury homes are the main target for the demand, the natural outcome is that the number of flat sales to fall easily. And this is exactly what has happened since the beginning of this year: flat sales went down 11% and prices have increased by 2.6%.

If you want to understand all the effects and, more important, the causes of the effects happening on the property market in the UK read the full analysis on Property Reporter:

Who is buying up Central London?

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Photo source: Wikimedia http://bit.ly/1MRE303

The Hotel Ryugyong is a hotel like no other. Located in Pyongyang, North Korea, the building has a prominent feature. It can be seen from afar due the towering height of 1,080 ft structure and is shaped like a pyramid, and is the tallest building in North Korea.

 

Work was due to be complete by 1989. Had this been achieved, the hotel would have been the tallest hotel in the world at that time. The Hotel Ryugyong was surpassed in height in 2009, by the Rose Tower in Dubai.

In total, there are 105 storeys, with the top eight intending to rotate. The building was originally intended to house five revolving restaurants and either 3,000 or 7,665 guest rooms, depending who you talk to.

Built as a “mixed-use” development, the building was meant to house a hotel, apartments and business facilities.

 

It was hoped that the building would attract foreign investors to the sum of $230 million.

The hotel was scheduled to open in June 1989, but building methods and building materials delayed completion. Had the building opened on time, then it would have been the seventh tallest building in the world.

 

In 1992, work again halted the project due to the economic crisis in North Korea.

Japanese newspapers estimated the cost of construction a massive £750 million. In the late 1990’s, the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Korea concluded that the structure was irreparable, and questions were raised about the buildings concrete and the alignment of the lift shafts, which some sources claimed were “crooked”.

 

In 2008, a Korean government official told the Los Angeles Times that Korea halted work on the project due to a lack of money.

 

In April 2008, work again resumed. In March 2013, plans to open the hotel were suspended.

In 2017 the building lies empty. There are no fixtures and fittings in the building and the only signs of life are the Korean conscripts working on the site.

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Photo source: Fixflo http://bit.ly/2fon22j

Section 21 notices can get tricky for those who do not know all the laws and amendments.

You have to know:

  • when a Section 21 Notice can be served
  • when a Section 21 Notice becomes invalid
  • the paperwork you need to provide
  • when the courts might become involved

Fixflo created this useful fact-sheet for those searching to have a clearer image of section 21 and it can be downloaded from their website.

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Photo source: Wikipedia http://bit.ly/2ws9LeN

The Tower of London dates back as far as 1066, although the White Tower was not built by William The Conqueror until 1078. The Tower was a resented symbol of oppression, inflicted by the ruling elite. The castle was used as a prison from 1100 until 1952, which was to hold the last prisoners, The Kray’s. Although a prison was not the primary purpose.

 

Early in the Towers history, it served as a grand palace as a royal residence. The Tower is made up of a complex design of two centric rings, a ring, within a ring of defensive walls and a moat. There have been several expansion phases, under Kings Richard The Lionheart, Henry III, and Edward I in the 12th and 13th centuries.

 

The Tower has played many roles from an armoury, a treasury, a menagerie, The Royal Mint, a public record office and the home of the Crown Jewels of England.

 

In the late 15th century, the castle was the prison of the Princes in the Tower.

Many figures were held within the great walls such as Elizabeth I before she became queen and Sir Walter. Only seven people were executed within the tower before the world wars of the 20th century. Executions were more commonly held on Tower Hill, with 112 occurring there over a 400 years period. In the first and second world wars, the Tower was again used as a prison and witnessed the executions of 12 men for espionage.

 

Anne Boleyn was beheaded in 1536 for treason against Henry VIII. Her ghost is said to haunt the chapel of St Peter and Vincula, where she is buried and it is said that she walks around the White Tower carrying her head under her arm.

 

In 1999, evidence that lions were held at the Tower became evident when cages were uncovered. One caged measured 6.5ft x 10ft. Very small for a lion that can grow to 8ft in length. In 2008, the skulls of two male Barbary lions, now extinct, from Northwest Africa were found in the moat area of the tower. Radiocarbon tests dated them from 1280-1385 and 1420-1480.

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Photo source: Pixabay http://bit.ly/2wYP9OK

Every property comes at a cost! But you can ‘mind’ your budget as a property owner when it comes to one financial department concerning properties: taxes.

Financial consciousness should be a field in which every house owner should be a master. There are a few tricks that can be used to lower the tax level upon your property:

  1. Don’t build any secondary constructions to the house. Even a garage can easily raise the tax level, being considered an outdoor structure.
  2. Pay constant attention (not money!) to the taxes paid. If you feel like you’re paying too much you can file an appeal to the local tax agency. And you can ‘prospect the market’ too: ask your neighbors with similar house how much do they pay.
  3. Don’t make your home over glamorous. Apparently being too posh can be taxed accordingly so keep your home on the normal ground.

More tricks and details in the article on Property Division:

Are your property taxes outrageous? Tips to lower them down

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Photo source: Flickr http://bit.ly/2w1IB2K

There comes one point in every home owner’s life when a though crosses his/ her mind: I need a bigger place. Climbing up the property ladder is a natural thing to do when you have a family and the financial situation is in your favor.

The solution is either moving into a bigger apartment (considering you already own one) or switching for a house. And the decision might not be as easy to take as you might think. A spacious and well placed apartment can be almost as expensive as a house, so the financial reasons might not be enough to have a clear choice.

If this is the case, bear in mind a couple of decisive facts when choosing a new place to live:

  • Try to estimate as realistic as possible the necessities for the family space. How many bedrooms? How big should the living be? How many bathrooms?
  • The neighbors. You might be that type of a people person that doesn’t mind hearing neighbors through the walls or you might want some peace and quiet and more personal space. A house doesn’t guarantee sonic isolation, and you’ll still have neighbors looking over the fence, but it is clearly more isolated than an apartment.
  • Gardening. Decide fast how much do you like it and to which extent. If you find overwhelming watering the cactus, you will definitely hate mowing the lawn once every… let’s say ‘week’ to make you feel comfortable.
  • Future development. Do you think you’ll need a garage or some extra storage space in the years to come? Think about how flexible the surrounding space should be to meet all your needs.
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Photo source: Property Division http://bit.ly/2eS3I0m

Property is a better investment for old age than pension, experts say! Even with the rising uncertainty over the property market, most specialists consider a rented property a reliable source of income.

Buy to let or simply investing in a property is a good decision according to this article in Property Divison:

More People Choosing Property Over Pensions

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