Tag Archives: australia
London Mayor announces new £10 million loan for affordable housing in London
The Mayor of London is forming a partnership with Big Issue Invest to renovate empty properties into much needed new affordable homes in the UK’s capital city. Boris Johnson has awarded a £10 million loan from his Housing Covenant to Big Issue Invest who help small community organisation's to renovate empty homes or buildings to convert them into good quality affordable housing for Londoners to rent or part buy. The funding will revolve over a 10 year period and result in up to 400 empty homes being transformed into good quality low cost housing. In addition it will provide long term unemployed people, veterans and out of work young people from across London the opportunity of employment and training in construction. The Mayor's Housing Covenant supports organisations proposing innovative ways of delivering affordable housing through a Revolving Fund and is one of a number of housing schemes the Mayor is delivering to boost affordable housing, stimulate building and fast track the delivery of thousands of much needed new homes. The proportion of empty homes in the capital has fallen dramatically under the Mayor, and at 0.7% is now at the lowest level since the 1970s. Over 5,000 empty homes have been brought back into use through GLA housing programmes since 2008. ‘With the huge demand for housing it's essential we get empty properties back into use, which is why I'm helping innovative projects renovate them back into much needed affordable homes,’ said Johnson. ‘Big Issue Invest are masters of boosting community social enterprise and delivering key employment and training skills to the homeless and unemployed people who need our extra support. This funding sits alongside my affordable home programme which is on track to deliver 100,000 new low cost homes across the city,’ he added. The Big Issue Group's chairman, Nigel Kershaw, described it as an exciting opportunity. Big Issue Invest is a specialist provider of finance to social enterprises. It provides investment from £50,000 to £1.7million and develops innovative financial solutions which help organisations tackle poverty and create opportunity. Since 2005 Big Issue Invest has invested over £27 million across the UK in more than 330 social enterprises, directly benefitting over 1.8 million people. The new loan will allows Big Issue Invest to finance and support more innovative housing projects undertaken by social enterprises and charities. These projects will serve to increase the volume of affordable housing available in London. The Mayor's commitment to getting empty homes back into use and boosting affordable housing is part of a package of wider measures he is promoting to stimulate house building. Continue reading
Singapore and Hong Kong are most expensive for foreign property investors
Singapore and Hong Kong are the most costly places for a foreigner to invest in real estate as they are subject to more property taxes, new research has found. They are more expensive as they are locations where the disparity between the tax burden on foreign and local investors reflects a ‘foreigner premium’, according to an analysis from international real estate firm Knight Frank. Cooling measures in Hong Kong amount to a 15% Buyer’s Stamp Duty and in Singapore there is also a 15% Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty and a higher tax for foreign investors. Australia, Malaysia and Thailand also work out more expensive due to taxes which effectively amount to higher real estate tax levels for foreign buyers. In Australia, Thailand and Singapore foreign buyers acquiring a property for investment are subject to more taxes than if they were buying for their own use. On the other hand, Cambodia, Japan, Malaysia and South Korea do not impose such premium on both foreign and local investors. In the analysis, the Special Stamp Duty and Seller’s Stamp Duty in Hong Kong and Singapore respectively are found to be the most potent policies to deter property flipping. The report explains that following the global financial crisis and its significant impact on fiscal revenues for countries around the world, the global tax landscape has been rapidly changing. ‘Not only has there been more aggressive clamping down on loopholes and a pressure to improve tax governance, we are seeing more cooperation between countries on an international scale,’ it explains. The tax burden ranges between 12.6% and 15.5% in Australia mainly because stamp duty varies among states. In Cambodia, if the investor opts for a ‘hard title’ registered with the national Land Office, as opposed to a ‘soft title’ issued by local authority, he will incur the 4% transfer tax which accounts for the huge cost difference. Some markets effectively charge an investment premium, according to the report. For example, a foreigner buying a property in Australia for investment is subject to 7.4% more taxes than if he purchases it for self use, excluding income tax on rents which is not applicable to an owner occupier. For a local buying a second property for investment purposes, the premium varies considerably depending on the reference point. If the second home is for self use instead, he pays only slightly less in tax. The huge difference in premium implies that Australia taxes more on the purchase of a second property per se than on the purpose of the purchase. Similarly, the cooling measures in Hong Kong and Singapore target the number of properties owned but do not distinguish between investment and self use homes. In contrast, Thailand taxes on investment properties, regardless of the number of houses possessed. Even though Australia and Cambodia do not tax according to holding period, average annual tax burden is lower for long term ownership mainly because one off costs, namely stamp duty and… Continue reading
Property markets in Dubai and Abu Dhabi set for a stable 2015
Property prices in Abu Dhabi are expected to see a gradual increase in 2015 but not on the scale that was seen in 2104, it is claimed. Leading property firm Cluttons believes there is still some great investor appetite in Abu Dhabi and predicts that new residential schemes will still be popular. It also expects that there will be more off-plan housing launches this year, from the leading firms such as Aldar and TDIC as well as some private developers. But William Neil, head of Cluttons in Abu Dhabi warned that there is a danger that residential rents could continue to go up. ‘With no rental cap in place in Abu Dhabi, if there is a lack of supply then the market could face some of the same issues it faced back in 2007 when rents were so expensive that many people were forced to commute here each day from Dubai,’ he explained. He added that the commercial market is waiting with anticipation to find out what the new rules will be regarding the proposed financial free zone on Al Maryah Island. ‘With Yas Mall now open, we are predicting growth for retail rents in the city. However, with more shopping centres being built on Al Maryah Island and Saadiyat Island, there is a danger over the next three years for oversupply,’ he said. Meanwhile, in neighbouring Dubai the New Year is expected to see a mixed outlook with some sectors of residential property selling well but prices and sales varying depending on location. According to Matthew Green, the head of research and consultancy for the United Arab Emirates at CBRE Middle East the residential market has shown signs of stabilisation over the past six months across both sales and leasing markets. ‘We expect this to be a similar outlook for this year, with the scheduled pipeline of 20,000 new units during the year likely to help constrain rental inflation and add more balance to the sector,’ he said. ‘As has been the trend, a fragmented market will continue, with certain products and locations performing somewhat independently from the wider market. For example, the villa market, which has been relatively stable in recent quarters, could be set for rental deflation in certain areas as a substantial supply of new units starts to emerge from locations such as Jumeirah Park, Arabian Ranches, Dubailand and Jumeirah Golf Estates,’ he explained. ‘The demand for mid to low end residential offerings is expected to remain strong in the short term because of limited supply and high demand. Much of this demand is being generated by solid growth in the services sector, particularly from the retail and hospitality industries,’ he added. Dubai’s commercial office sector saw improvement in 2015 and this is expected to continue into 2015 and Dubai’s position as the headquarter city of choice for global corporates in the Middle East looks set to continue. ‘However, with limited good quality and efficient office properties available in the… Continue reading
