June 30th, 2008
When I was 17 my best friend was paralysed in a motorbike accident. He is now a very successful entrepreneur and we have stayed in touch over the years even though he is an Arsenal season ticket holder! He is a really confident person and traveller, but many others in his position are not.
Being in property myself and knowing the problems wheelchair users have getting into buildings and using the transport system I was curious to find what was available across Europe for the investor that he or she could holiday in free from the normal worries. Check it out yourself it is incredible how few properties there are.
So we are going to change this with a truly luxurious development of holiday homes for the investor who has some disability in their family yet wants the whole family to go away to enjoy a pampered holiday in a warm and sunny location.
Its going to be a destination that only those who know will realise is an accessible resort. It will have the best spas, swimming pools, restaurants and great views with the comfort of knowing that it’s within 5 minutes of all the essential amenities necessary for a great holiday. That means the beach, golf course and the hospital!
This will be a place that you can stay at for the winter months whilst Northern Europe is dark and cold. As a holiday destination you’ll be able to use it as a base and travel around or you can stay on the resort for the entire length of your holiday; the choice will be yours.
We’ve got the best accessible architect in the UK to consult on the project and my friend (who designs accessible kitchens and bathrooms) is also going to consult on the project and he will make sure every personal requirement he has will be catered for.
I intend to launch this in March 2009 and it will be completed in 2011. I know it will be unique and I expect demand to be great. Get in touch with me if it interests you in any way. It will also be something that I hope The Lord’s Taverners will benefit from in some way.
Carl
June 30th, 2008
3 years ago my friend (and Accountant) Dipen and I were talking about investment and in particular property, as a vehicle for achieving financial independence. He told me that there was a big opportunity in Cyprus and had been given the advice by a close friend of his that he did his articles with who was now working with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Cyprus. PWC was and is advising the government on its strategic plan for commerce and tourism which aims to attract the top end of business and the leisure market. So I thought he should be in the know!
The area of particular interest was Larnaca in South East Cyprus (in the South of the Island). I knew nothing of Cyprus. As far as I was concerned it was a place where ageing Brits went to have their English Breakfasts abroad! Having recently hit 40 with two kids’ school fees to pay I decided it was an opportunity I needed to investigate further and off I went on my own journey of due diligence.
Before I visited the Island I did some of my own research into the geography of the Island, the politics and the economic situation. One area stood out as an opportunity and that was Larnaca. So much excitement surrounded the place and there were some really big plans. I decided to visit Larnaca and have a look around. I was on a plane within a couple of weeks and 3 days later I returned having bought into the story!
What excited me so much? Well quite a lot really!
Cyprus joined the EU in 2004 and as part of the Maastricht Treaty’s aims of “balanced economic growth†there was a lot of inward investment to develop Cyprus’ economic infrastructure. When I first visited the Island there was a real feeling of optimism and a “can do†mentality which was so refreshing. It is still the same today -I get a buzz from this every time I visit the Island. It’s a real antidote to the pessimism that exists in the UK at present.
On January 1st 2008 the Euro was introduced. It’s now the lowest tax regime within Europe and many organisations are moving their head offices there. The Sunday Times recently voted Cyprus as the No1 retirement location in the World for as whole host of reasons to do with climate and lifestyle, but it is also to do with only a 5% tax rate on pensions
The two largest projects in the planning around Larnaca are the Port and the Airport.
Work on the airport is well underway. Its due for completion in November 2009 and on each visit its possible to see the progress made. When finished it will be an impressive development fuelling a booming tourist trade and securing the business links with the Middle and Far East as well as the rest of Europe. The airport will be able to handle the biggest planes and will mean that Cyprus will be the entrance to the EU from the east.
It will be able to handle 7.5m (it only handles 2.5m now) passengers per year rising to 9 million in 2013. It will also employ c.6000 people. All these tourists, business travellers and airport workers will need to shop and live somewhere!
If you are concerned about the tourist trade’s reliance on carbon producing aeroplanes then a more environmentally friendly (and upmarket!) tourist pursuit is Cruising. Larnaca’s development of its deep sea port is designed to attract the very biggest cruise liners with the huge spending power that this brings with it both from the operators and the tourists.
The transformation of the Larnaca port is the largest development project undertaken in Cyprus with an estimated cost of 2 billion Euros. The port’s transformation will turn Larnaca into the Eastern Mediterranean’s leading cruise centre. The transformation incorporates a large marina project with five-star hotels, 2000 apartments, leisure and retail developments and a promenade to central Larnaca and nearby beaches. Some of these developments will be located ‘under water’ which is a concept initially introduced in Dubai (Palm Island).
The project will place Larnaca on the international cruise map and it will also turn the city into a world-class destination for cruise tourists. It has been estimated that 100,000 tourists will reach Cyprus through the new port every year. The impact this will have on the local economy is enormous. Every visit from a medium sized cruise liner (medium sized is c2000 passengers) will generate £100,000 of revenue!
Cruising is on the increase and there is considerable investment in new cruise liners. Over the next 3 years 34 mega vessels (4000 passengers) will be delivered – 50% of them to European operators where Mediterranean destinations are by far the most popular.
The expansion of the Larnaca International Airport is expected to facilitate in attracting cruise business to the new port. The new port will also have a marina that will harbour many of the boats of the wealthy residents that are attracted to Larnaca.
And another thing! Being a golfer I was also absolutely amazed that on the whole of the Island there are only 4 Golf courses; with 310 days of sun a year what a waste! Again after investigation I found out there are 4 new courses to be built one of which will be the only PGA approved course. This will be built at Tersefanou just 4 kms from the airport.
New roads, hotels, a nature reserve are all part of the Larnaca master plan which excites me (and many others from around the globe). If you haven’t looked at Cyprus yet or you’ve only been to Paphos, take a look at Larnaca.
I’m more than happy with my investments there and indeed am taking ownership of another property in July 2008. There is plenty of growth left in Larnaca, the place will be transformed over the next 3 to 5 years when the secondary market will really start to thrive.
I’ll keep you posted on how the delivery of my latest property goes and what other snippets of information I pick up.
Carl
June 13th, 2008
The Bank of England left UK base rates unchanged last month in it latest decision announced last Thursday. The decision to hold rates had been widely expected. Rising food and fuel prices pushed inflation to 3% in April, well above the governments’ target of 2%. Anyone who has witnessed the nearly daily hike in petrol prices will find it hard to believe that inflation is only 3%!
The MPC has already cut interest rates three times since December in an attempt to help the slowing economy. However, the economic slowdown and falling house prices had led some to call for another cut in rates to boost spending. However, in reality the bank had little choice with oil and commodity prices continuing to move higher, the Office for National Statistics announced today (9 June) that UK producer prices growth was at a record level. In May alone, the output prices for the sale of manufactured products grew by 8.9% in the year to 31 May.
The impact on UK house prices is clearly there for all to see with House prices falling as the credit crunch makes lenders reluctant to provide mortgages. The latest figures from the biggest mortgage lender, the Halifax, showed a 2.4% fall in house prices during May. On Wednesday, the Home Builders Federation called for a half-point cut in interest rates to 4.5%, saying a cut was “imperative†to avoid a severe housing market slowdown. It appears that this slowdown may already be happening. A couple of weeks ago a member of the QIS team met a Senior Board member of a major UK Housebuilder, who noted that whilst viewings at show homes were down 10-15% (not too bad by my estimation) that actual sales were down close to 60%. The message was clear, “the buyers are out there but lenders are not willing to provide mortgages†Lenders continue to monitor the market closely and are clearly looking to manage their application levels using rate changes. Last week two major lenders, Nationwide and Alliance & Leicester increased fixed and tracker rates by some 0.3%, despite their being no change in base rates. This follows, the Abbey who cut rates a few weeks back, to be the market leader, but promptly increased them when they were flooded by new mortgage applications. I suspect that we will see more of this in the coming weeks.
The outlook for European rates is no better with inflation (3.6%) still the main stumbling block for a cut in interest rates which have been kept on hold since July 07. Indeed announcing that rates were being held last week, Jean Claude Trichet, stated that there was the possibility that rates would need to rise in the near future to calm inflation before we ECB council would consider rate cuts.
We await the various central banks next move with interest.