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Obama embodies King’s dream
Obama embodies King’s dream (AP) / 29 August 2013 President Barack Obama led civil rights pioneers on Wednesday in a ceremony for the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, where Dr Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech roused the 250,000 people who rallied there decades ago for racial equality. Large crowds gathered at the Lincoln Memorial, where the first black US president spoke just after 1900 GMT — the same time that King delivered his spellbinding speech. ( L-R) Rep. John Lewis, former president Jimmy Carter, former president Bill Clinton, US President Obama and Oprah Winfrey applaud during the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington and Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. – Reuters The first march was early in the turbulent 1960s, when the South still had separate restrooms, schools and careers for blacks and whites, and racism lingered across the country. In the two years following the march, President Lyndon Johnson signed the landmark Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act to outlaw discrimination, and King received the Nobel Peace Prize. “There were couples in love who couldn’t marry. Soldiers who fought for freedom abroad but couldn’t find any at home,” Obama said, speaking of that era. “America changed for you and for me,” he added later. Obama has said King is one of two people he admires “more than anybody in American history.” The other is Abraham Lincoln. Thousands of people were in attendance in wet weather. Two former presidents, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, spoke movingly of King’s legacy — and of problems still to overcome. “This march, and that speech, changed America,” Clinton declared. Carter said King’s efforts had helped not just black Americans, but “In truth, he helped to free all people.” Oprah Winfrey, Forest Whitaker and Jamie Foxx were among the celebrities. Winfrey said King forced the nation “to wake up, look at itself and eventually change.” International commemorations were being held at London’s Trafalgar Square, as well as in the nations of Japan, Switzerland, Nepal and Liberia. London Mayor Boris Johnson has said King’s speech resonates around the world and continues to inspire people as one of the great pieces of oratory. On August 28, 1963, as King was ending his speech, he quoted from the patriotic song, “My Country ‘tis of Thee” and urged his audience to “let freedom ring.” “When we allow freedom to ring — when we let it ring from every city and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last, free at last, great God almighty, we are free at last,” King said. The civil rights leader was assassinated five years later. Not everyone at the latest march was celebrating progress. “I thought we would be a lot further along than we are 50 years after hearing King’s speech,” said John Pruitt, 83, a voter rights advocate who attended the first march as well. Organisers of the rally broadened the focus well beyond racial issues, bringing speakers forward to address the environment, gay rights, the challenges facing the disabled and more. Whitaker told the crowd it was their “moment to join those silent heroes of the past.” US President Barack Obama (C) applauds the ringing of a Birmingham, Alabama church bell during ceremonies celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 1963 “March on Washington” at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington on August 28, 2013. – Reuters Obama considers the 1963 march part of his generation’s “formative memory.” A half-century after the march, he said, is a good time to reflect on how far the country has come and how far it still has to go, particularly after the recent acquittal of George Zimmerman in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager. Race isn’t a subject Obama likes to talk about in public, but the Martin case is one time he has done so. In an interview on Tuesday on Tom Joyner’s radio show, Obama said he imagines that King “would be amazed in many ways about the progress that we’ve made.” He listed advances such as equal rights before the law, an accessible judicial system, thousands of African-American elected officials, African-American CEOs and the doors that the civil rights movement opened for Latinos, women and gays. “I think he would say it was a glorious thing,” he said. But Obama noted that King’s speech was also about jobs and justice. King’s eldest son, Martin Luther King III, spoke on NBC of staggering unemployment among young black men. Continue reading
Buy-To-Let Boom Set for Long Stay, Reports Leading Property Firm Knight Knox International
With average house prices breaking the £200,000 barrier, the buy-to-let boom is set to continue as first-time-buyers are ruled out of the market and forced to continue to rent, particularly in cities such as Liverpool and Manchester, where home-building remains low. buy-to-let mortgage lenders offer a much more free-handed approach, with £16.4 billion being lent to savvy investors, who saw the financial rewards and longevity of the market, in 2012. This has not slowed down in the second quarter of 2013, with 40,000 mortgages worth £5.1 billion, being given to buy-to-let investors, according to data published by the CML; determining that both the number of buy-to-let loans, and the value of lending, were at their highest level since the third quarter of 2008. Although rewards are strong for landlords investing in the buy-to-let market across the country, LSL confirmed in their buy-to-let index for April 2013 that rewards were in fact the strongest in the North West, where yields were highest. The index documents that the North West produced yields of 7.2%, topping London’s 5.0%, and an average rent of £568, outshining the average rents of near counterparts Yorkshire and the North-East. Two cities which contributed largely to the North West’s table-topping performance, in terms of buy-to-let, were Manchester and Liverpool. Case Study: Manchester Voted by Britons as the Nation’s second city in a survey by the Trinity Mirror Data Unit, Manchester is a city bursting with renters, some who live there to avoid commuting to work, some who are studying at University and some, who well, just enjoy the experience of living in a place awash with culture and entertainment. Investors can purchase units at a relatively cheap price in Manchester, when compared to other cities, yet still claim average gross rental yields of 7.6%, with renters willing to pay high prices to reside in this cultural hub. HSBC also named Manchester as a top four UK buy-to-let-hotspot in a study carried out this April, confirming the high-performing rents that landlords can retain when investing in Manchester. Investors can also expect to receive these high-performing rates over a long period of time, with the National Housing Federation predicting that rental rates will grow in the city by 36% by 2018. Case Study: Liverpool Liverpool is an area which is failing to supply the increasing amount of private renters, who desire to live in this thriving city. Although rental stock in Liverpool has grown by 79% between 2001 and 2011, this is proving inadequate in housing the city’s growing population, which has mushroomed by 5.5% over the last decade to reach 466,400. In a bid to counter this surging demand from private tenants, the Mayor of Liverpool has pledged to deliver 5,000 new homes in the city and, with statistics from Shelter revealing that the average single person in the city needs nine years to save the deposit for a house, while the average couple need four years, this influx of properties is sure to be needed for rental stock. The Solution? More purpose-built student accommodation has been heralded as the answer to an increasing demand for rental stock. Real-estate adviser Savils Plc argued in a report that the ever-increasing amount of HMOs (Houses in Multiple Occupation) are inflicting a damaging restriction on the housing supply, making the call for more purpose-built student accommodation as a solution to free-up social housing and rental stock, one of critical importance. Knight Knox International are in agreement with this rallying call, having sold properties in areas such as Manchester and Liverpool where student demand and housing shortages are concentrated. In reaction to this increasingly urgent shortage, Knight Knox International has put themselves at the forefront of construction, building purpose-built student accommodation, such as X1 Chapel Street in Manchester, to free up HMOs. The property firm has also added more residential stock through refurbishments and construction, avoiding using rental stock already on the market, which would be detrimental to local markets considering the demand for more local housing. In Manchester, the property investment company have recently launched residential stock at X1 Town Hall , which is already 75% sold out within only a month of launch, highlighting that investors see Manchester as an area ripe for investment and Merebank Court in Liverpool, which is already over 60% sold out,again, highlighting the demand for good quality rental stock in Liverpool. To enquire about residential and student accommodation properties in Manchester and Liverpool please contact Knight Knox International’s buy-to-let experts on +44 (0)161 772 1370. Continue reading
Buy To Let Best Returns Table By Postcode
27/02/2010 Buy-to-let investors looking for the best returns should look outside trendy hotspots, with many less fashionable areas delivering far better returns, a study shows… A report into the Top 100 towns for buy-to-let yields, compiled by property listing website FindaProperty.com for This is Money, shows that Blackpool is the postcode delivering the best returns in the UK. The Holy Grail for property investors is a combination of low average property prices compared to rental returns and the report shows that locations not typically considered property hotspots make up a sizeable chunk of the top 25 postcodes. Investors in property in Blackpool are looking at an average home asking price of £161,722 and monthly rent of £720, according to FindaProperty.com, delivering a gross yield of 5.34%. This represents a far more accessible investment than the next best postcode, which covers Kingston on Thames, where the average house price is £420,469. While the top 20 is peppered with more fashionable locations, including Kingston, east London, Manchester, Central London and Twickenham, it is the more run of the mill locations that stand out. Blackpool is joined by Kirkcaldy, Romford, Sunderland, Wigan, Blackburn, Bolton, Luton and Cleveland, all of which offer yields above 4%, but a far lower cost of purchasing a property. FindaProperty.com calculated the gross yield by taking a property’s rent over 12 months as a percentage of its purchase price. Noticeably, while all the postcodes delivered far greater yields than the return on the average savings account of around 1.5%, none managed to breach the 6% mark that attracted investors in the early days of the buy-to-let boom. Once mortgage costs, letting fees, maintenance costs and tax are factored in, returns on the buy-to-let investments would be much lower. Nigel Lewis, of FindaProperty.com, said: “This shows that the best places for high gross yield are those with lower housing costs, a changing population and in particular if they have one or more universities.’ ‘London is strong because it’s under population pressure and has multiple universities and therefore even satellite areas such as Twickenham do well. ‘The other places where gross yields tend to be high are where there is a large inbound ethnic population getting on its economic feet and rental demand is high but house prices usually lower than the average.’ TOP 100 BUY-TO-LET POSTCODES Area Postcode Ave price Monthly rent Yield % Source: FindaProperty.com, February 2010 1 BLACKPOOL FY £161,722 £720 5.34 2 KINGSTON UPON THAMES KT £420,469 £1,843 5.26 3 KIRKCALDY KY £198,118 £856 5.19 4 LONDON (East) E £275,844 £1,147 4.99 5 MANCHESTER M £141,435 £575 4.87 6 DURHAM DH £128,730 £521 4.86 7 ROMFORD RM £230,792 £909 4.72 8 UXBRIDGE UB £266,486 £1,029 4.63 9 LONDON (south East) SE £275,267 £1,060 4.62 10 SUNDERLAND SR £131,336 £498 4.55 11 WIGAN WN £123,052 £463 4.52 12 BLACKBURN BB £123,326 £463 4.5 13 LIVERPOOL L £161,325 £598 4.45 14 GLASGOW G £154,084 £563 4.38 15 LONDON (central) WC £726,415 £2,612 4.32 16 BOLTON BL £142,150 £508 4.29 17 LUTON LU £182,388 £650 4.27 18 CARDIFF CF £158,736 £564 4.26 19 TWICKENHAM TW £328,924 £1,162 4.24 20 CLEVELAND TS £155,013 £547 4.23 21 SHEFFIELD S £141,691 £499 4.22 22 WARRINGTON WA £194,709 £682 4.21 23 MEDWAY ME £210,421 £737 4.2 24 DONCASTER DN £150,021 £523 4.18 25 DARTFORD DA £234,077 £810 4.15 26 SOUTHEND ON SEA SS £220,562 £763 4.15 27 GUILDFORD GU £374,124 £1,287 4.13 28 NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE NE £185,928 £636 4.1 29 MOTHERWELL ML £155,170 £530 4.1 30 CHESTER CH £196,250 £665 4.07 31 HULL HU £151,975 £510 4.02 32 CROYDON CR £271,135 £908 4.02 33 BIRMINGHAM B £180,558 £604 4.02 34 FALKIRK FK £185,138 £617 4 35 SUTTON SM £279,164 £927 3.98 36 WOLVERHAMPTON WV £153,470 £507 3.96 37 PRESTON PR £173,044 £566 3.93 38 WALSALL WS £162,956 £531 3.91 39 LONDON EC £581,944 £1,886 3.89 40 LEICESTER LE £202,522 £656 3.88 41 NOTTINGHAM NG £171,205 £554 3.88 42 OLDHAM OL £147,390 £471 3.84 43 LONDON SW £763,873 £2,415 3.79 44 WAKEFIELD WF £151,705 £479 3.79 45 ILFORD IG £316,562 £997 3.78 46 HARROW HA £358,059 £1,120 3.75 47 ABERDEEN AB £296,788 £928 3.75 48 DUNDEE DD £236,304 £735 3.73 49 CANTERBURY CT £210,284 £652 3.72 50 MILTON KEYNES MK £243,106 £754 3.72 51 NORTHAMPTON NN £195,595 £603 3.7 52 BRIGHTON BN £270,454 £834 3.7 53 BRISTOL BS £238,133 £732 3.69 54 COVENTRY CV £215,250 £661 3.68 55 BRADFORD BD £159,527 £489 3.68 56 PORTSMOUTH PO £243,599 £744 3.66 57 HALIFAX HX £159,201 £482 3.63 58 CAMBRIDGE CB £299,459 £903 3.62 59 CREWE CW £217,792 £655 3.61 60 CARLISLE CA £175,168 £526 3.61 61 READING RG £329,551 £990 3.61 62 ENFIELD EN £339,492 £1,010 3.57 63 STOKE ON TRENT ST £181,652 £539 3.56 64 STEVENAGE SG £286,730 £851 3.56 65 STOCKPORT SK £195,535 £579 3.55 66 WATFORD WD £362,059 £1,070 3.55 67 LEEDS LS £198,555 £585 3.54 68 DARLINGTON DL £181,717 £535 3.53 69 SWINDON SN £255,832 £743 3.49 70 KILMARNOCK KA £163,562 £475 3.48 71 DERBY DE £179,080 £517 3.46 72 COLCHESTER CO £228,779 £655 3.44 73 BROMLEY BR £349,775 £1,001 3.43 74 PETERBOROUGH PE £205,970 £589 3.43 75 CHELMSFORD CM £305,268 £873 3.43 76 LONDON NW £566,176 £1,616 3.43 77 BATH BA £241,395 £686 3.41 78 SOUTHAMPTON SO £315,063 £895 3.41 79 SALISBURY SP £294,765 £835 3.4 80 TONBRIDGE TN £318,006 £898 3.39 81 OXFORD OX £339,426 £951 3.36 82 NEWPORT NP £189,680 £529 3.34 83 NORWICH NR £237,902 £661 3.33 84 GLOUCESTER GL £272,069 £753 3.32 85 HUDDERSFIELD HD £175,771 £486 3.32 86 SLOUGH £ £453,701 £1,254 3.32 87 INVERNESS IV £233,018 £643 3.31 88 LANCASTER LA £238,246 £655 3.3 89 LINCOLN LN £191,717 £524 3.28 90 REDHILL RH £354,207 £962 3.26 91 HEMEL HEMPSTEAD HP £372,837 £1,009 3.25 92 BOURNEMOUTH BH £304,095 £817 3.22 93 DORCHESTER DT £268,855 £721 3.22 94 LLANDUDNO LL £232,060 £622 3.21 95 PERTH PH £302,464 £792 3.14 96 LONDON N £493,492 £1,276 3.1 97 DUDLEY DY £228,510 £587 3.08 98 LONDON W £996,894 £2,531 3.05 99 SWANSEA SA £214,500 £533 2.98 100 EXETER EX £278,522 £691 2.98 Read more: http://www.thisismon…6#ixzz0gmD8nSLj Continue reading
