In brief

Dubai’s Emaar Properties is offering tenants in one of its two rental residential developments the chance to buy their homes. Residents at The Greens can access loans of up to 97 per cent of the value to complete the deal – although Emaar said those who do not wish to buy can stay on as rental tenants.

‘There is a huge demand for quality residences in Dubai and people increasingly prefer to stay in their own homes than pay rents’, said Emaar’s managing director for the UAE Ahmad Al Matrooshi. ‘There have been several requests from our tenants to buy the homes. We are repaying the trust our clients have placed on us by providing them with the first option of buying the homes they live in’.

Three Romanian citizens have won the right to property taken from then by nationalisation or confiscation. The European Court of Human Rights decided that the rights to protection of property of Mr Enciu and Mrs Lega, and of Mrs Stroia had been breached. It said their properties should be restored to them within three months, or £99,000 be paid in respect of the property owned by Enciu and Lega, and the same in respect of that property owned buy Stroia. Each were awarded compensation for ‘non-pecuniary damage’ amounting to just short of £2,000.

Costa Blanca’s Jávea town council has done the almost unthinkable and asked for local development to be cut back. By suspending the long standing outline plan the council has effectively put a block on major developments within the town. Suspension of the 1990 plan has been agreed by the Valencia regional government pending completion of a replacement plan.

US investors spent an estimated £4.4bn on timeshare interests in 2005, and £2bn on maintenance fees, according to a report prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers for the ARDA International Foundation. The figures are included in ARDA’s report on the Economic Impact of the Timeshare Industry on the U.S. Economy, 2006 Edition.

Cyprus house prices moved up by 2.6 per cent in January, the BuySell Home Price Index estimated. This put the average price of a house at £106,900 - 8.7 per cent up on January 2005.

Some 96 per cent of clients buying multi-million dollar homes are ‘self-made’ millionaires, US estate agent Coldwell Banker has reported. Most (88 per cent) are business or corporate executives. By line of work, 37 per cent are doctors, 31 per cent are lawyers; and 30 per cent are in finance. One in seven are involved in entertainment or sport.

Foreigners will in future be limited to buying only one property in Beijing, the authorities have announced. Before buying, investors will have to show they are registered with the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau and have been living on the mainland for more than a year – hence Hong Kong residents are also affected. Foreign owners will not be allowed to let their properties.

There are separate rules for corporate buyers. Another change is imposition VAT on new projects with rates going as high as 60 per cent.

The move is intended to dampen house price inflation, which was at 9.5 per cent in Beijing last year.