 In
some Caribbean countries the climate for landlords is not as
attractive as the weather, The Golbal Property Guide has concluded. ‘Some
countries have very restrictive rental systems’, it reported. ‘In
particular, the Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe and the French
Caribbean, and the St. Vincent and Grenadines can be described
as strongly pro-tenant. In addition, the Dominican Republic forbids
security deposits. In the US Virgin Islands, rents are frozen
to its 1947 level’.
These controls
do not help tenants however, since they discourage landlords
from investing in new rental units,
leading to less supply. ‘As
demand for rental units increases with population growth, shortages
develop. Landlords lose the incentive to maintain and upgrade their
rental units. The quality of the existing rental housing stock
deteriorates. Landlords may turn to illegal measures such as key
deposit to recover their investments’.
The most pro-landlord
countries are the Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, the Cayman Isles,
Dominica, St Kitts & Nevis, and the Turks & Caicos
Isles, said the guide.
Only one in three property investors buying abroad bother to have
a structural survey conducted, the Halifax has discovered. Its
Spanish operation Banco Halifax Hispania believes this is not
good. ‘The importance of having a survey carried out cannot
be overlooked when buying a property in Spain, as there are a
number of things that could go wrong with the property which
are not immediately obvious to the untrained eye’, it has
warned.
Although surveying fees will increase the purchase cost, this
sum is a relatively small price to pay for peace of mind, compared
to the expense of trying to sort out unexpected difficulties in
the future. It also makes sense to know exactly what you are buying
into, said the bank. A professional surveyor will be able to identify
signs of damage or causes for concern. Finding out about these
potential problems at an early stage of buying may even help the
renegotiation of a cheaper sales price to reflect the cost of repairs.
Banco Halifax Hispania has an approved panel of English speaking
Spanish surveyors and can recommend English speaking Spanish solicitors.
A British property owner told to demolish his illegally built property in La Hoya, Elche says he is one of 16 owners to have received
similar orders. And as a local paper has claimed arerial photographs
taken by the Instituto Cartográfico Valenciano have identified
a total of 1,376 illegal homes in area, there may soon be many
more. Meanwhile Bruce Gauntlett’s bank account has been
frozen and the Valencia land and housing department has told
him he will be fined up to 3,005 euros for each month that he
fails to demolish his home. He has lodged an appeal and is asking
for others in a similar situation to join the fight.
A new residential waterfront development in Cape Verde has become
the first of its type in the island group to be fully bank bonded.
Cape Verde Solutions, which is developing the Vila Jardins Do
Oceano on Santiago island’s south coast, has secured the
bond from Banco Commercial Do Atlantico. Its parent bank, Caixa
Geral De Depositos, is wholly owned by the state of Portugal. ‘Every
payment made by investors will be fully protected’, said
Louise James, managing director Cape Verde TOPA, the agency marketing
the development.
New property investment opportunities in north east Brazil
are ‘huge
and very exciting’ according to Gerry Jones of Quest 2 Invest,
the Newbury-based Saffron Villas Group company. ‘Tourism
is set to soar and with 20 per cent year on year growth in property
values predicted, off plan investors in some of the new schemes
will see impressive short and long term gains’, he claimed.
Among the first of the new coastal resorts planned is Lagoa do
Coelho which will occupy more than 1,000 in ‘one of the most
beautiful locations in the lush tropical paradise around Natal’.
A dispute over planning permission has reached the European
Court of Human Rights. It this week ruled that Italian Camillo Paudicio’s
property rights had been breached over the refusal of his neighbours
to demolish a stable adjoining his land. The neighbours had been
found to have breached planning regulations by building a stable
block which exceeded the volume for which planning permission
had been granted. But Paudicio said it had been impossible to
secure enforcement of a demolition order.
The ECHR said the local authorities’ refusal or failure
to demolish the building had no legal basis in domestic law,
and awarded
Paudicio 5,000 euros for non-pecuniary damage and 3,000 euros for
costs and expenses.
Leading US real estate broker Coldwell Banker is extending its
franchise network in Turkey. Chief executive Jim Gillespie said
the firm was drawn to launch business in Turkey because of the
availability of professional partners, the stable growth of the
Turkish economy, the newly introduced mortgage system plus the
growing interest of the younger population in becoming home owners.
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