Edition 15

GLOBAL

PROPERTY SCENE ISSUE NO. 015

The Number One Buy-to-Let Magazine | www.globalpropertyscene.com

This issue: Buying former military property | India’s changing industrial revolution A guide to buying property at auction | Should I move to Lisbon?

FOCUS ON : ISRAEL

IS THE ITALIAN PROPERTY MARKET SINKING?

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UK £4.99 USA $8.99 Europe €7.99 Hong Kong $67.00 Malaysia 31.00 MYR UAE 36.00 AED Singapore $11.00 SGD

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*Where Sold

For more information, contact: Tel: 0161 772 1394 Web: www.fortisdevelopments.com

INSIDE Features

18 The effects of nuclear fallout

40 Buying property at auction

47 India’s changing industrial revolution

71 How to boost state funding

Chernobyl. Just hearing the word still strikes distress into the hearts and minds of many, a word with the ability to conjure up visions of an oozing reactor, a deadly nuclear plume, an ever-rising death toll, and the eerie abandoned landscape left in the wake of the ill-fated nuclear power plant that made these things synonymous.

With more and more sales being made each year, homebuyers are looking at different ways in which to find (and purchase) the perfect property. One approach to buying that is going from strength to strength is that of the auction.

Whereas China is on a rapidly accelerating trajectory, India has somewhat failed to live up to all the hopes, dreams and money invested there over the second half of the 20th century. The potential is there for India to be a true economic giant and exercise a level of influence commensurate with its physical size.

The problem for the MOD is a simple one; as defending the country gets more expensive, how do you fund these innovations when the government won’t give you any more money? One of the answers is to begin selling off a chunk of its 1,000 areas of land currently owned and maintained by the ministry across the UK.

Regular Articles

Listings (sponsored)

09 Market in Focus: Israel

90 UK

THE ITALIAN PROPERTY MARKET

Israel possesses an intensely complicated history which encompasses persecution, wars, tragedy and triumph.

86 Should I move to Lisbon?

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Lisbon is the remarkable capital of Portugal and considered to be one of the major economic centres in the world.

The home of the Industrial Revolution, the UK has long been established as a major commercial centre, benefiting from strong trade links with companies on every continent. With a long history in international cooperation, the country is an attractive place for investors both foreign and domestic.

Knight Knox has sold thousands of properties. We have experts on the ground that can help to find your perfect property. Why purchase with anybody else?

ISSUE 015 GLOBAL

PROPERTY SCENE ISSUE NO. 015

EDITOR’S NOTE

The Number One Buy-to-Let Magazine | www.globalpropertyscene.com

This issue: Buying former military property | India’s changing industrial revolution A guide to buying property at auction | Should I move to Lisbon?

FOCUS ON : ISRAEL

IS THE ITALIAN PROPERTY MARKET SINKING?

It’s often too easy to be sucked into picking a New Year’s resolution. After all, it does feel good to start the year afresh with something instantly tangible. For me, I find it’s better to set goals rather than resolutions, because in truth, I know I’m only delaying the inevitable. If I’m not working towards something, I can struggle to last the distance.

A country who seem to have little difficulty lasting the distance is China, whose rise is set to define the 21st century as the East Asian superpower closes the gap to the USA at the top of the international power rankings. However, the most interesting nation to watch could well be India, who despite falling behind their neighbours in the early 90s, seem to be on a strong upward trajectory. In this edition, we take a look at how India aims to boost its economic future.

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*Where Sold UK £4.99 USA $8.99 Europe €7.99 Hong Kong $67.00 Malaysia 31.00 MYR UAE 36.00 AED Singapore $11.00 SGD

Contact +44(0)161 772 1394 info@globalpropertyscene.com www.globalpropertyscene.com

Credits Individual Samantha Jones, Hannah Wilde, Alex Timperley, Will Leyland, Emma Martin, Richard Ellis, Alistair McGovern, Leonardo Pizarro, Suzanne Todd, Callum Whiteley, John Power, Martin Copeland, Michael Vickers, Mark Williams Commercial Knight Knox, X1, Fortis Developments, Forshaw Land & Property Group, Buy Association, INTUS Lettings, Gold Key Media, Shutterstock, Unsplash, Property Investor, Crossbow Investments CODA Studios Ltd, Tatton Investment Management

Still adapting to the economic turmoil generated by the global financial crisis, the UK continues to live through tough austerity measures put in place to balance the country’s books. Announced last year, the Ministry of Defence stated that it planned to sell up to 10% of its current stock hold of land because they were simply too costly to maintain.

We examine some of the potential sites soon to become available.

Italy is another country facing its own set of difficulties. With political instability, financial stagnation and mass unemployment strangling the nation’s development, it seems an end is yet to enter sight. With such a rich and complex history, it seemed fitting we make Italy our Main Focus.

And finally, on the 16th January 2017, Geneva played host to the annual Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie, an exclusive trade show exhibiting some of the finest watches and jewellery ever created. In the first of six events to feature this year, GPS headed over to Geneva to discover the latest creations.

From all of us here at GPS, we hope you enjoy the first edition of 2017.

Editor-in-chief Michael Smith

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WHAT CHALLENGES MIGHT 2017 BRING? ...

Will Leyland

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ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES --Despite the signing of the Paris agreement last year, there are signs that global warming is occurring faster than we ever could have imagined. Glacial reduction in the Arctic and Antarctica is accelerating at terrifying speed, while global temperatures and extreme weather continue to be pressing issues.

BREXIT --In June 2016 the UK made its choice that it felt Britain would be a more prosperous place outside of the European Union. That in itself is hardly an outrageous statement, but the implications of that decision at home and abroad are large and currently unknown.

An article written for Scientific American said that “currently the atmospheric concentration of CO2 (the leading greenhouse gas) is approximately 398.55 parts per million (ppm). According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-the federal scientific agency tasked with monitoring the health of our oceans and atmosphere-the current average annual rate of increase of 1.92 ppm means we could reach the point of no return by 2042.”

Frustration at a government that is no clearer on its negotiating strategy than Donald Trump is about his private life in Russian hotel rooms has been mounting.

“Brexit means Brexit” and “Red, White and Blue Brexit” make no sense to a country that has 48% of the population currently terrified that we’re heading off a cliff into economic oblivion and possibly a great deal more who simply don’t have the appetite for a ‘hard Brexit’, whatever that actually means.

Some believe we have already reached this point, and no amount of reduction in emissions will now save the human race. That’s not to say we shouldn’t try. Extinctions, global weather catastrophe, deforestation and carbon dioxide emissions represent the most real and pressing threat to our survival as a species, and up to now it doesn’t seem as though the world’s governments are taking the issue seriously enough. This brings us nicely on to our next topic.

Brexit, handled poorly, could spell economic disaster, more political unrest and even rioting on the streets.

The hatred, mistrust and ill-feeling felt in Britain today after the most bitter political event in recent memory isn’t going to shift any time soon and the signs are there that Theresa May’s team currently do not have a clue what they would like to achieve. Notes revealed by a newspaper photographer indicate the government’s current Brexit policy amounts to “having its cake and eat it”, which I’m sure will inspire confidence all over the continent.

PRESIDENT TRUMP --Probably the most controversial election and victory ever seen in the US has meant that a tide of hatred, suspicion and depression has washed over the self-declared ‘greatest nation on earth’.

A man constantly accused of being a racist, a climate-change denier, a bigot and a sexist does absolutely zero to enhance his reputation as he constantly lashes out against opponents, the media and just about anything else he doesn’t like the look of.

Bold and undeliverable economic promises, threats to freedom, inciting violence and cosying up to Russia have all been moves that could eventually spell catastrophe not just for America but the world at large.

Who can honestly say they can’t imagine a situation where Trump is impeached, starts a war with somebody, sets off a nuclear warhead or starts a civil war by being so incredibly offensive that the world and his own population can no longer stomach him?

There are also arguments that Trump could drive America into economic disaster with poorly planned policies and brash decisions. This, again, leads us nicely into our next challenge.

THE RISE OF THE FAR RIGHT --From Britain to America, to Austria to France and Germany, the rise of far-right political parties as a reaction to increasing globalisation is a risk that must not be underplayed or ignored. Put simply, there is an argument that now has enough momentum to take somebody like Marine Le Pen into government and the possibility to derail nearly a century of work carried out across the Western world after it nearly tore itself apart in World War Two. The refugee crisis currently occurring in Syria and across Northern and Central Africa is real, with migration levels the worst the world has seen since the 1940’s. Most understand and support the idea that people simply should not be left to rot in war torn countries with the inevitable outcome of children’s deaths. The problem is that it’s not quite as simple as that and when wage depression, living standards and quality of life have all dropped across the West after the 2008 financial crash, it is not difficult to see where the blame may head when things turn sour.

Innovative, radical, centrist or sensible politics are currently being crushed under the aggressive, emotional and visceral politics of the right, and it currently has no strategy of how to fight back. Sense and decency simply must find a way to convince people it has solutions to their problems or Trump and Putin may not end up to be the only right-wing leaders in town.

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MARKET IN FOCUS Israel

Words : Will Leyland | View : Boris Stroujko

Israel ranks, arguably, amongst the most controversial countries in the world. For almost 70 years the country of Israel has ignited furious debate amongst scholars, politicians, students and many others since it was declared as the world’s only Jewish state in 1948.

Israel possesses an intensely complicated history which encompasses persecution, wars, tragedy and triumph. The history of Israel stretches back millennia. The notion of the “Land of Israel”, known in Hebrew as Eretz Yisrael, has been a sacred ideal to the Jewish people since Biblical times. According to the Torah, the Jewish equivalent of the Bible, God promised the land to the three Patriarchs of the Jewish people: Abraham, his son Yitshak (Isaac), and grandson Jacob (Israel). On the basis of scripture, the period of the three Patriarchs has been placed somewhere in the early 2nd millennium BCE, with the first Kingdom of Israel established around the 11th century BCE. Subsequent Israelite kingdoms and states ruled intermittently over the next four hundred years, and are known from various extra-Biblical sources.

In later years the region was ruled over by the empire established by Alexander the Great for 270 years before being invaded and conquered

by The Roman Empire in 63 BC. The Romans ruled the region for another 270 years and subsequently decimated the Jewish community before

renaming Jerusalem as Aelia Capitolina and Judea as Palaestina to obliterate Jewish identification with the Land of Israel (the word Palestine, and the Arabic word Filastin originate from this Latin name).

Following the fall of the Roman Empire, the Arabs entered the territory, ruling for 300 years before the area was invaded and captured

by Christian crusaders in 1099. The Crusades were a series of religious wars sanctioned by Pope Urban II who preached a call to arms for Western European Christians to recapture the holy city of Jerusalem from Arabian Muslim occupiers.

The 16th century saw the Israeli territory absorbed in to the enormous Ottoman Empire for 400 years before eventually falling under British rule in 1917.

On 14 May 1948, the day before the expiration of the British Mandate, David Ben-Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency, declared “the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz-Israel, to be known as the State of Israel.” The only reference in the text of the Declaration to the borders of the new state is the use of the term Eretz-Israel (“Land of Israel”).As the Mandate expired, the armies of four Arab countries—Egypt, Syria, Transjordan and Iraq—entered what had been British Mandatory Palestine,

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Old town of Jaffa and the modern skyline of Tel Aviv city, Israel

launching the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, with contingents from Yemen, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Sudan joining the war. The purpose of the invasion was to prevent the establishment of the Jewish state at inception, and some Arab leaders talked about driving the Jews into the sea. According to Benny Morris (a professor of history at Ben-Gurion University in Negev), Jews felt that the invading Arab armies aimed to slaughter the Jews, while the Arab league attested that the invasion was to restore law and order and to prevent further bloodshed.

After a year of fighting, a ceasefire was declared and temporary borders (known as the Green Line) were established. Jordan annexed what became known as the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Egypt took control of the Gaza Strip. The United Nations estimated that more than 700,000 Palestinians were expelled by or fled from advancing Israeli forces during the conflict—what would become known in Arabic as the Nakba (“catastrophe”).

This is just a small snapshot of the complexity of a country, a region and a people that have faced more than their fair share of adversity over recorded history.

Despite the horrors of World War Two, The Holocaust and other atrocities that the Jewish community faced, there are many who would argue that Israel has no right to exist whatsoever. There are endless accusations of anti-Semitism, of Zionism and of other unrepeatable things that are constantly thrown around when discussions arise, so finding a calm and meaningful debate about the positives and negatives of an Israeli state can be difficult.

Here we take an unbiased and central position and fall on neither side of

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the debate. With that in mind we’ll look at a country going from strength to strength, and assess Israel’s economy and property market.

Taking a look at the headline figures for the Israeli economy paints a very positive outlook. The latest reported figures show population growth from 7.8 million in 2011 to 8.4 million in 2015. This population has meant GDP (Gross Domestic Product) has increased from USD275 billion to USD305 billion in just 4 years, an increase of 2.5% in 2015 capping a very strong five years. Israel’s average GDP growth in that timeframe is 3.26% compared to the global average of 2.67%. Unemployment in the state has fallen from a high of 6.8% in 2012 to just 5.3% in 2015. Government bond yields sit at a healthy 2.38% and the Israeli stock market is at an impressive 1,281 points at the time of writing.

In December more good news was announced, as it was revealed that Israel’s economy grew by 3.5% in 2016, defeating the Bank of Israel’s original prediction on a 2.8% growth by 0.7%. The bank’s data indicated that Israelis’ standard of living grew by 2.9%, private consumption rose by 5.9%, and per capita growth increased by 1.5%. The Bank of Israel had originally predicted a 0.5% per capita growth in 2016.

Furthermore, the past year also saw unemployment drop to a record low of 4.8%. According to the data, the first quarter of 2016 was slow, but the economy began accelerating in the second quarter: overall investments jumped by 10%, double the original projection. Imports, excluding defence imports, rose by 10.2%, and overall consumption, excluding defence consumption, grew by 4.3%.

Contemporary Israel shouldn’t be judged by facts and figures though,

as this beautiful country offers some of the most awe-inspiring scenery available in the Middle East. For Western tourists it may be fair to assume that a trip to the West Bank on the outskirts of the Judean desert doesn’t represent a safe and relaxing holiday. The area has cultivated in the Western media an identity of a war zone and a place of great danger. It’s understandable for tourists to feel initially uneasy, and that Israel would invest massively in to educating foreign tourists about its reality. There is now an enormous effort taking place to change the perception of war.

Fears regarding safety aren’t totally unfounded, but it should be noted that Foreign Office warnings relate only to very specific areas on the main road connecting Jerusalem with Hebron and Nablus.

For those who are keen for adventure, there are immensely rewarding opportunities on the paths that hug and intrude into the Judaean desert.

There are now a variety of outdoor and community-orientated pursuits opening up across the region. Israel and Palestine experience an immensely complicated diplomatic relationship but there seems to be some sort of unofficial recognition of certain areas of The West Bank as an area of outstanding natural beauty, and as such there also appears to be a very unofficial mutual agreement to treat it as such.

The recent introduction of purpose made walking trails running the length of the West Bank, from Rummana in Jenin to the village of al-Burj in the Hebron Valley, (along with the promotion of a number of outdoor pursuits by various non-profit organisations), has enabled Palestine and Israel to introduce a new generation to outdoor activities and build a tourism infrastructure around one of the most impressive and culturally rich landscapes in the Middle East. One the key attractions is Abraham’s path, a walking trail that retraces the steps of Abraham, the Jewish prophet, through the Middle East. The success of the newly introduced trails are

explained as tourists discovering a side to Israel and Palestine that is so often forgotten in a volcanic political environment and Palestinian youths suffocated by political unrest finally finding freedom in outdoor pursuits.

It’s not really a case of Israel finding a new and innovative way to collaborate with Palestine out of a natural wish to include them in economic expansion, but rather an acknowledgment that in order to dispel impressions of a dangerous war zone they must simply put their differences aside in certain situations, lest tourism never move beyond its current situation.

More ambitious than the trails, though, are overnight treks and camping trips organised by the Bedouin, the West Bank’s most vulnerable community, as well as full moon hikes into the desert. The desert region offers truly spectacular views with crumbling walls, centuries old wells and walks towards the Dead Sea along ancient shepherding routes.

Tourism now represents a major economic benefit to Israel, with a total of 3.1 million tourists entering the country in 2015. The direct contribution of travel and tourism to GDP was ILS23.4bn, or roughly £5bn (2.2% of total GDP) in 2014, and is forecast to rise by 2.6% in 2015, and to rise by 4.1% per annum, from 2015-2025. Further to this, the total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP was ILS79.3bn or £17.5bn (7.3% of GDP) in 2014, and is forecast to rise by 1.7% in 2015, and to rise by 4.1% per annum to 7.5% of GDP in 2025.

Israel is going through a country and economy-wide growth programme and this, of course, includes the Israeli property market. First, some statistics for you. The average price of owner-occupied dwellings in Israel rose by 4.01% during the year to Q1 2016, to USD369,107, from annual

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Coastline of the Tel-Aviv, Israel

ISRAEL FACTS Area: 22,072 km2 Population: 8.6 million Per Capita: $36,023 All figures based on 2017 statistics 12

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price rises of 6% in Q4 2015, 5.2% to Q3, and 7.3% to Q2, and 7.6% to Q1, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Adjusted for inflation, house prices rose by 4.52% year-on-year in Q1 2016. On a quarterly basis, nationwide house prices rose by 0.4% (1.37% in real terms) during the latest quarter.

This represents strong and consistent growth across the property market. Israel managed to emerge relatively unscathed from the global financial crisis and property crash of the post-2008 economic collapse.

From Q1 2010 to Q2 2011 average house prices in Israel rose almost 13%, prompting a huge protest movement from Israelis unhappy about the cost of housing and state of public services. The government attempted to intervene, but despite managing to cool house price rises (some even fell) in the later part of 2011, prices have seen a strong rise of 25.7% since early 2012 up to the end of 2015.

Property sales also hit a record high in 2015 according to the CBS. Property sales averaged roughly 20,000 units every year from 2000 to 2014 but hit a record 31,500 sales in 2015. The CBS also reported that housing supply remains fairly static despite heightened activity. This has had a positive impact on yields for landlords and property owners watching the price of their assets grow. Furthermore, rental yields are strong as demand remains high whilst supply drops.

Israel is a country of controversy, but don’t let the headlines and the politics distract you from a country that offers unrivalled diversity and intrigue. So little focus is placed on tourism, economy and standard of life in the Jewish homeland that genuinely interesting reviews are hard to come by. It is, of course, true that Israel represents one of the hottest political topics in the world, and that shows no signs of changing in the coming years. The current government seems intent on inviting negative press either through reported declarations of war on New Zealand, or ignoring UN advice with regards to its expansion aims in Jerusalem.

Despite this, the people of Israel and the scenery that surrounds it are worthy of attention that forgets the political war zone. Unbiased and factual reports show a gem in the Middle East worthy of the time of any serious investor or traveller. A rich cultural heritage along with a robust and innovative economic strategy mean that Israel represents true value whether property is your main investment strategy or if you simply like to investigate general investment opportunities.

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OFF THE SITE Did you know that Global Property Scene produces daily updates on our website? Here is a collection of our favourite pieces produced over the last two months.

Want to read more? www.globalpropertyscene.com

January 4th 2017 Mega-cities to cause severe agricultural losses It is no secret that our global population is increasing in an exponential fashion, and this is placing an ever-greater strain on the worldwide food chain. In the simplest analysis, more people than ever before need more food than ever before. Looking a bit more deeply, the issue is regional.

Developing nations where food is scarcer are seeing their populations increase at a greater rate than areas where food is more plentiful. This is clearly a problem and the food chain in many places is becoming increasingly precarious as a result.

The loss of land suitable for growing crops is a huge problem across the world. Each year approximately three million hectares of cropland become unusable due to soil erosion and degradation. A further four million hectares are lost each year to urban conversion, making space for highways, housing factories and everything else needed for a modern city.

A new report from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) argues that this loss of land suitable for farming is set to get much worse over the next decade.

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Roughly 60% of the world’s cropland is located on the periphery of cities, leading to the PNAS prediction that the growth of a relatively small number of mega-cities could lead to the loss of almost 3% of all land suitable for growing crops across the world by 2030.

3% does not sound like a lot in isolation, but this is where the regional pressures on the global food chain come back into consideration.

The majority of new mega-cities are destined to be heavily concentrated in Africa and Asia – the ‘developing world’. The stand out examples of this are New Delhi in India and the Pearl River Delta in China which are projected to be home to 37 million and 60 million people respectively by 2030. Countries such as India and China are home to cropland which is more than 1.7 times as productive as the global average and they will be losing a disproportionate amount of it. That is without even mentioning Africa which has serious and well-known issues with its food chain already.

The loss of this cropland is likely to go hand in hand with other sustainability and environmental issues. Solving this issue will require intelligent local governance and it is likely that we will also need to rethink the global food chain somewhat. Famine is often thought to be a natural phenomenon, but this is not actually true. Famines generally occur as a result of bad political choices and agricultural mismanagement, and it is not hard to imagine a scenario where a rush for urban development in developing nations leads to a neglect of the local food chain and all the terrible consequences which come with that.

December 1st The UK’s Autumn Statement

December 13th Fossil Fuel divestment funds reach USD5 trillion

Last week saw the first Autumn Statement with new Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond at the helm, and as usual there was one main talking point: This year’s was the Chancellor’s decision to regulate fees charged to tenants renting privately in the UK.

The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, has today announced that the international total of fossil fuel divestment funds has doubled in a year and now totals more than USD5 trillion.

December 15th Venezuela discontinues the 100-bolivar note In similar steps to those taken by the Indian government, Venezuela has made the surprise decision to remove the widely used 100-bolivar note out of circulation. The motives for this also seem to mirror that of India, with the aim to bring a vast amount of unregulated transactions in from the cold.

Venezuela is a country dogged by a long history of gang culture, something the police have struggled to cope with as gang violence and increased drug use across the country has spiralled out of control. A large amount of the money that changes hands never enters a bank causing a vast amount of unregulated trade. It’s not surprising this note changes hands so much, with the central bank suggesting there are more than six billion 100-bolivar notes in circulation.

This figure makes up over half the total notes in circulation.

A large proportion of this money has been hoarded by local gangs, and President Nicolas Maduro feels this is a step that will render much of this illegal money useless. To increase the pressure on gangs, Venezuelans will have 10 days from Wednesday to exchange the notes for coins and new, higher-value bills.

What could this mean for local people?

The move has drawn much criticism from local analysists, with many predicting potential chaos at local banks and cash points. A lot of people feel the government lacks the facilities to make the transition a success, with a backlog of exchanges already building up.

Processing the funds will take some real man power, with some families depositing sizable amounts which require a financial stress test. The complaint most have made is the timing, with Christmas fast approaching many families will feel the financial strain of losing access to much of their funds.

Fossil fuel divestment is the act of removing assets – including stocks, bonds and investments – from companies which are involved with extracting fossil fuels from the earth.

Fundamentally, it is about trying to reduce the effects of man-made climate change by attacking the root cause: multi-national corporations which are more interested in making money than the future of the planet.

From humble beginnings in 2011, the fossil fuel divestment campaign now involves 688 institutions and more than 58,000 individuals across 76 countries.

This includes national sovereign wealth funds, such as the one operated by Norway, and international commercial and pension fund giants, such as Allianz and Aegon.

Fossil fuel divestment has entered the financial mainstream and, with an increase in value to USD5 trillion in five years, has undergone the sort of growth that fossil fuel companies themselves would envy.

It is an established fact that the only way to prevent a worldwide climate disaster is to leave all remaining fossil fuels in the ground, but that has not stopped people hungrily consuming them and ignoring renewable alternatives. The intellectual poverty inherent in our collective approach to the energy supply was again highlighted today in Delhi where they plan to install a jet engine to drive pollution away from the city rather than even begin to consider developing a low pollution, low carbon energy network.

Out of sight, out of mind. Problem solved – unless you happen to live downwind of the city, presumably.

It has been made extremely clear that the small group of oil barons, coal mining giants and natural gas superpower nations which are poisoning the planet cannot be persuaded to change their ways through either the obvious reality of environmental destruction or the fact that millions of people are killed every year by polluted air. It might be that attacking their bottom lines may prove the way to get their attention instead.

December 5th China launches the new Titanic China is increasingly becoming a popular tourist destination. With more and more international visitors expected over the next decade, the pressure is on to build attractions that will inspire return visits.

One of said projects will be the introduction of the New Titanic, a 1bn yuan (£116m) re-imagination of the famous transatlantic liner. The 269-metre replica will be constructed in Daying, about 115km east of Sichuan’s capital Chengdu.

This location will come as a surprise to most as it is over 1,200km from the sea.

The ship won’t be capable of floating, but this shouldn’t matter as the project is intended be the centrepiece of a high-end tourist resort. Visitors will have the opportunity to experience the luxury the ship offered the lucky (or should I say unlucky) wealthy few travellers of the period.

The first spade hit the ground on the anniversary of the ships famous collision in what was claimed as a “solemn ceremony” to officially kick off construction. The project has faced criticism, with some media outlets lamenting a faceless corporation seeking to profit from the 1912 catastrophe. Qixing Energy Investment, the company behind the build, feel it is a fitting tribute to the fallen ship.

Their case doesn’t sound too convincing, with some local villagers in Daying fearing they may be evicted from their homes to make way for the replica ship. Compensation, which often outlines the major class divides in China, is likely to be insufficient for local families, with some having to start afresh in a new part of the region. This seems to be a recurring theme in a country developing at such a stochastic rate.

Perhaps taking a lead from Scotland (a country which has banned all lettings fees), Mr. Hammond has condemned the actions of lettings agents across the country, who shift the cost of basic administration like signing contracts and creating an inventory over to unsuspecting tenants, who often have to foot a bill in the region of hundreds of pounds. The Chancellor’s justification for this premeditated action was that lettings agents should be funding these admin costs through the fee paid by the landlord for the lettings agent’s service rather than from the pockets of tenants, who are already stretched financially from rising rents.

While nobody is sure when and indeed how Mr. Hammond intends to introduce these measures, one thing is for sure— there has been widespread industry backlash as a result. The majority of speculators comment that these actions were declared in an attempt to help renters, but the fact is that the actions of the Government will do nothing but force rents even higher. Lettings agents, who will not be able to recoup the costs of admin from their tenants, will inevitably charge landlords more for their services, which will lead landlords to increase rent—thus tenants will end up footing the bill, either directly or indirectly.

Industry experts have condemned the action, knowing that it will just cause rents to escalate further. Average rents are already topping out at £902 per month according to HomeTrack (rising significantly to £1,542 per month in London), which is only going to continue with a vengeance once the fee changes come into place. And renters’ problems don’t end there: Savills has predicted that tenants’ rents across the UK will rise 19% in the next 5 years, while Londoners will see their rents grow 25%—if these figures are correct, UK renters could be facing monthly rent of £1,073 (and Londoners £1,927) as early as 2020.

All in all it was an eventful inauguration for Chancellor Philip Hammond, but one thing is for certain—with or without these new changes, the UK’s rental revolution is still in full swing and shows no signs of slowing down.

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THE EFFECTS OF NUCLEAR FALLOUT The story of Chernobyl

Words : Hannah Wilde | View : Milosz Maslanka

Chernobyl. Just hearing the word still strikes distress into the hearts and minds of many, a word with the ability to conjure up visions of an oozing reactor, a deadly nuclear plume, an ever-rising death toll, and the eerie abandoned landscape left in the wake of the ill-fated nuclear power plant that made these things synonymous. Images that many will never forget.

However, one positive image that may soon go alongside the images of death, destruction and displacement is solar power. Plans are currently afoot to turn the disaster area (rather unaffectionately dubbed “the Exclusion Zone”) into the world’s largest solar power plant, finally able to harness some good from an area of land unfit for human habitation.

Whilst environmentalists have praised plans to create a vast solar metropolis in the wasteland that was once a thriving city, whether or not Chernobyl can shake off its tragic and radioactive past is one element that remains to be seen…

Chernobyl—Then Chernobyl was once a city in the former Soviet Union—what is now Northern Ukraine—whose lifeblood was its namesake, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The factory provided boundless energy for the area and supplied thousands of jobs for Chernobyl’s 16,000 residents, until one day and one small human error changed everything.

In the early hours of 26th April 1986, a routine experimental test to determine how the plant would cope without power went terribly wrong, with one of Chernobyl’s nuclear reactors becoming the eye of the storm, the nucleus of the largest nuclear disaster in human history. A seemingly

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routine emergency shutdown caused an unexpected spike in power coursing around the plant, which ruptured the vessel in reactor number 4, which ignited and caused an explosion that emitted a huge plume of radioactive smoke into the atmosphere. This plume—and the fumes from the resultant fire which raged for over a week after the event—then began its descent over large parts of Europe, with the lion’s share (over 60%) landing in the neighbouring country of Belarus. Such was the magnitude of that day in April 1986, Chernobyl remains one of only two disasters in human history classified as at ‘Level 7’ on the International Nuclear Event Scale (with the other being the more recent 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster). Not only did Chernobyl affect a huge proportion of Europe across an area of 2.9 million square kilometres, it also affected the entire Northern Hemisphere, with countries as far as Japan over 4,000 miles away reporting relatively high concentrations.

The fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear crisis was incomprehensible.

According to the Chernobyl report conducted by the Russian Government, nearly 400 million people resided in territories contaminated with radioactivity as a result of the Chernobyl incident, with the report also stating that nearly 5 million people still to this day live with dangerous levels of Chernobyl-induced radiation (mostly in Belarus, Ukraine and Eastern Europe). According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, around 30% of the malfunctioning reactor’s 190 tonnes of fuel was distributed around the power plant and its surrounding areas, while around 1-2% was ejected into the atmosphere in addition to the lethal cocktail of toxic radioactive gases. To put the sheer scale of the disaster into context, the World Health Organisation estimated that the total radioactivity from Chernobyl was a huge 200% that of the combined

Abandoned ferris wheel in Pripyat, Chernobyl

releases from the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The clean-up, which involved 500,000 workers, a hastily-constructed ‘sarcophagus’ to place over the still-oozing and fatally dangerous reactor and cost an estimated 18 billion Roubles (£5.65bn in today’s currency), was not enough—the damage was already done.

The death toll as a result of Chernobyl—although varying hugely from publication to publication—is without a doubt in the thousands. While official reports indicate that only 31 deaths were directly attributed to the accident, the World Health Organisation puts this figure at 4,000, while Greenpeace (taking into account the increased levels of civilian cancer deaths as a result of radiation exposure) says the figure is closer to 200,000. If the latter is correct, that means there have been 6,666 Chernobyl-induced deaths every single year. Even former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan insinuates this figure could be much more, stating in April 2000 that “more than 7 million of our fellow human beings do not have the luxury of forgetting—they are still suffering every day as a result of what happened”. This was a disaster of truly epic proportions.

Shockingly, but perhaps unsurprisingly, the Soviet Union were slow to

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acknowledge and respond to the crisis. It was only after the level of radiation triggered alarms at the Forsmark Nuclear Power Plant in Sweden (some 1,000km away) did the Union admit that an accident had occurred, and only ordered the evacuation of the immediate area 36 hours after the fact—during which time the men, women and children of Chernobyl and the surrounding areas were almost certainly exposed to potentially fatal doses of radiation. Thus began a mass exodus from the danger area, with over 350,000 people displaced from the worst-affected areas of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.

Chernobyl—Now It comes as no surprise that not much has changed in the city of Chernobyl in the past 30 years. What was once a thriving power hub of Eastern Europe is now nothing more than a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

Preserved in its entirety as a shrine of mass displacement, and a perfect snapshot of life in 1986 Soviet Union, what’s left of the city forms the nucleus of the ‘Chernobyl Exclusion Zone’, an area larger than Luxembourg. Its 29-mile radius, with an approximate area of 2,600km2, is currently under the strict control of the Russian military, and still remains

The arch built to cover the exposed reactor number 4, Chernobyl

one of the most radioactively contaminated areas in the world.

As Chernobyl is still uninhabitable, unable to be farmed and unable to be forested because of the still abnormally-high levels of radiation, the site has now become something of a tourist destination for people keen to see the site of the largest manmade nuclear disaster in history. Although much-maligned, the longstanding phenomenon of ‘dark tourism’ sees thousands of tourists each year descending on infamous places like Auschwitz, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and even more recently the wreckage of the Titanic, first-hand. In the case of Chernobyl, a select number of companies have exclusive access to the Exclusion Zone, with one such company promising brave punters “an eye-opening experience of post-apocalyptic world”—as long as they follow the rules. And of course, there are many rules. Tourists shouldn’t wear long clothing, should wear open footwear, shouldn’t eat, drink or smoke in open air, and are absolutely prohibited from touching or eating anything found in the Exclusion Zone (a rule so stringently enforced that even sitting or placing any personal belongings on the floor is forbidden). It’s a surprise that tourists are so keen to pay to visit such a dangerous location—although proven safe for a short time (subject to radiation testing on entrance and

exit from the Exclusion Zone), PBS has reported that just 10 minutes next to the now-infamous reactor No.4 has the ability to transmit to onlookers close to 7 times more than a fatal dose of radiation.

However, the days of using Chernobyl as a ‘dark tourist’ destination may well be numbered. According to the Ukrainian Government, plans are well underway to completely reinvent the disused Chernobyl site. It is evident that Chernobyl and its encompassing country of Ukraine are both keen to leave its radioactive past firmly behind, learning from their past mistakes by foregoing all things nuclear in favour of an entirely more environmentally-friendly approach: solar power.

The Future of Chernobyl Given its bleak past, the future is looking surprisingly bright for Chernobyl. 2016 saw the unveiling of the largest moveable metal structure in the world, a brand new dome to shield Chernobyl’s defunct reactor, a structure taller than New York’s Statue of Liberty (at a lofty 355 feet) and three times heavier than Paris’s Eiffel Tower (at a hefty 36,000 tonnes).

This metal arch was sponsored by the European Bank for Reconstruction Castlefield, UK www.globalpropertyscene.com

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Government issued gas masks abandoned in Pripyat school, Chernobyl

and Development (at a cost of €2.1bn), with its president, Suma Chakrabarti, celebrating the creation as “a symbol of what we can achieve jointly with strong, determined and long-term commitment”.

It seems as if joint long-term commitment is at the heart of Ukraine’s mission to reinvigorate the desolation left behind by Chernobyl. Its plans to become a world leader in the creation and provision of solar power will put Chernobyl at the forefront of power generation once more, but this time in an incredibly eco-friendly—and, more importantly, safe—way. By channelling its ample opportunities for power-generation for good, Chernobyl can be reinvented as a positive power-generating facility, utilising its ample uninhabited space to produce green energy.

Although brave for any investor to take on the rather mammoth task of converting a toxic site into an eco-friendly powerhouse, there has been no shortage of companies willing to take on the job, with interest expressed from two American investment firms and four Canadian energy companies among others. Concrete plans are for now remaining under wraps, but one thing we know for certain is that two Chinese companies—Golden Conchord Holdings Limited (GCL) and the China National Complete Engineering Corp (CCEC)—have beaten the competition, enlisted to make this pipedream a reality. Together, GCL and CCEC will build the largest solar power plant in the world, and will take up the majority of Chernobyl’s 6,000 hectares of unused space. Reports suggest that the initial project will consist of a plant capable of producing 1 gigawatt of solar power (at the cost of around €1bn), but the overall site could eventually expand to full capacity, which could generate around 4 gigawatts in total, ironically the same amount of power generated by nuclear reactor number 4, the cause of all Chernobyl’s worries in the first place.

‘But why would anyone want to build on the Chernobyl site?’, I hear you cry. Well, although Chernobyl is not fit for human or crop inhabitation, one thing it does have in abundance is sunshine. Research shows that the sunshine over the Chernobyl site is as strong as the rays found across Southern Germany (one of the world’s most proficient procurers of solar power), meaning that Chernobyl will be more than able to provide the amount of sunlight necessary to fuel a solar power farm of this magnitude.

After all, as Bloomberg aptly surmises: “Sunlight is one of the only things that can be harvested from Chernobyl’s 1,000sq mile Exclusion Zone”.

For those still unsure of these grand plans, there is certainly method in the madness—it seems that Chernobyl is not the first to embrace this eco-friendly technology. Ukraine’s neighbouring country of Belarus ( just 20 miles from Chernobyl and equally ravaged by the after-effects of the disaster 30 years ago) has made leaps and bounds in the solar power stakes, currently constructing a 22.3 megawatt solar plant on land that is not fit for habitation or agriculture.

Of course, there are moral issues regarding the construction process-(that is, allowing construction teams onto the Chernobyl site and risk exposing them to the radiation still lingering in the atmosphere), however, Ukrainian authorities have assured that the area is safe to be built upon, and that “[the] special industrial area is to be created in compliance with all the rules and regulations of radiation safety within the Exclusion Zone”.

Naturally, Ukraine’s Environment Minister Ostap Semerak could not be more enthusiastic of the gargantuan task ahead, keen to begin a new chapter for the tragic site: “The Chernobyl site has really good potential for renewable energy—we already have high-voltage transmission lines that were previously used for the nuclear stations, the land is very cheap, and we have many people trained to work at power plants”.

Whether or not you agree with the ethics of building on a dangerously toxic site, surely it’s a good thing that over 6,000 hectares of dead space is being finally put to good use…isn’t it?

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Abandoned recreation centre, Pripyat

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1815 Annual Calendar, A. Lange & Sรถhne

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GPS ATTENDS Global Property Scene attends some of the most exclusive events on the international calendar. To find out more visit our website. www.globalpropertyscene.com

MASTERS OF TIME Event review: SIHH 2017 Words: Michael Smith

Exhibitors --A. Lange & Söhne Audemars Piguet Baume & Mercier Cartier Girard-Perregaux Greubel Forsey IWC Jaeger-LeCoultre Montblanc Panerai Parmigiani Piaget Richard Mille Roger Dubuis Ulysse Nardin Van Cleef & Arpels Vacheron Constantin

The “Carré des Horlogers” --Christophe Claret Grönefeld H. Moser & Cie Hautlence HYT Kari Voutilainen Laurent Ferrier MB&F MCT-Manufacture Contemporaine du Temps Ressence RJ-Romain Jerome Speake Marin Urwerk

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On 16th January 2017, Geneva played host to the annual Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie, an exclusive trade show whose audience comprises a mix of invited members of the press, and the retail industry. There was some trepidation before the event, with many watchmakers feeling the weight of a difficult 18 months. Sales for the industry have been falling, with some brands opting to reduce production levels and lay off staff.

Time for change The event is to many watchmakers and industry specialists, a very important date on the calendar. Many of the world’s most important watch brands unveil their newest products, and outline their design direction for the year. The event had remained private to give retailers a chance to see new products before the public. Orders would be made and the industry would be prepared for the coming months.

With the event entering its 27th edition, the organisers decided to make a change and open the event up to the public. Tastes and target markets seem to be shifting at an ever-increasing rate. It’s now the job of the watchmakers to become the retailer, to have a better understanding of their clients’ interests, tastes and desires. All of which should help create a more honed product.

Industry shift The market still has passionate watch collectors, looking for the ultimate piece of design and craftsmanship. Unfortunately, with strong competition it’s becoming increasingly difficult to keep customers engaged. In response to the high demands of collectors, brands have started to produce distinctive flagship models that stand out in even the most prestigious company. The pieces carry mouth-watering price tags, but will stand as a testament to the brand’s abilities and pedigree.

Another move from watchmakers is to try and connect with a younger customer base, in the hopes their business will continue over many years. This has created a U-turn on attitudes towards affordable products. Cartier, Montblanc and Jaeger-LeCoultre have all introduced more affordable products with starting prices in the lower thousands, made from less precious materials. These products should sell at volume, giving brands more long term stability.

Exhibitors Maintaining the industries traditions, the historic Maisons received a boost from the return of Girard-Perregaux. The brand had opted to attend Baselworld for a short period before returning to the SIHH fold.

Girard-Perregaux was also joined by first-time exhibitor Ulysse Nardin, a brand founded in 1846 by 23-year-old Ulysse Nardin. These two brands bring the number of historic Maisons exhibiting to 17.

SIHH is always keen to encourage innovation in the industry, and the launch of “Carré des Horlogers” in 2016 is a testament to this approach.

“Carré des Horlogers” showcased the future of the industry, and would give nine artisan-creators and independent workshops a chance to show their skill. The Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie, organiser of the SIHH defines “Carré des Horlogers” as a process for “spotlighting new approaches, new philosophies, and alternative ways to understand the measurement of time, with contributions from a variety of Haute Horlogerie watchmakers.”

The initiative proved very successful, and it opened the door to many new independent brands looking for a platform to exhibit their new creations. SIHH received many applications but only five were ultimately selected by the SIHH Exhibitors’ Committee, all receiving the stamp of approval before joining the rest of the field. The selected brands were Grönefeld, MCT, Ressence, RJ-Romain Jerome, and Speake-Marin. To become an exhibitor, each applicant must meet the watchmakers criteria outlined in the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie’s “White Paper.”

Despite difficulties in the industry, this year’s event proved to be a record year, with exhibitor numbers increasing from 24 in 2016, to 30 brands for SIHH 2017. The event space too has grown, with total area reaching 45,000m2. It seems with more interest from the independent brands and the public, the event will only grow further.

Special thanks to SIHH for their hospitality throughout.

Over the page you can find our product highlights from this years event.

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1858 case back, Montblanc

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5 WATCH HIGHLIGHTS

1 Richard Mille RM 50-03 Tourbillon Split Seconds Chronograph Ultralight McLaren F1

--This unique piece contains a mixture of carbon, titanium and a revolutionary material called graphene. Limited to 75 pieces, the watch is claimed to be the lightest split-second tourbillon watch on the market, and represents the first release in a 10-year partnership with the McLaren formula one team.

Price: $1.04 Million

2

3

4

Jaeger-LeCoultre

Parmigani Fleurier

Piaget

Geophysic Tourbillon Universal Time

Bugatti AĂŠrolithe Performance

Altiplano Off-Center Tourbillon High Jewelry

---

---

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This elegant world timer from Jaeger-LeCoutre packs an automatic movement, with a pink-gold winding rotor, delivering a 48-hour power reserve. The dial also features hand carved elements and places 26 global cities around the outer ring.

Featuring a laser cut titanium case, the watch delivers a bold destinctive finish. The face takes its design from the world of high-speed pursuits, with both km/h indications in red and mph in blue referencing the signature colours of Bugatti.

Celebrating its 60th anniversary, the Altiplano line features its first tourbillon. The watch uses a new 4.6mm thick movement, 48 baguette-cut diamonds around the bezel and further brilliant-cut diamonds around the body.

Price: $145,000

Price: $22,916

Price: $192,000

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Note - Figures based on exchange rates and prices from : January 2017

5 A. Lange & Söhne Tourbograph Perpetual ‘Pour Le Mérite’

--Limited to just 50 units, this stunning watch delivers a rising moon, large tourbillon, perpetual calendar functions and the day of the week.

The watch’s chronograph hands allow the user to time two separate events simultaneously.

Price: $483,871 www.globalpropertyscene.com

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Email: exhibitions@knightknox.com +44 7456 815 739

KNIGHT KNOX HONG KONG INVESTOR SEMINAR Date 17th March - 19th March 2017

Location Kowloon Shangri-La, 64 Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui East, Hong Kong

EXCLUSIVE UK PRODUCT LAUNCH!

Knight Knox’s 2016 show calendar was a huge success - our three UK seminars and two in Hong Kong were all hugely popular, so Knight Knox have begun the new year by announcing a brand new and exclusive Property Investor Seminar in Hong Kong in March!

The three-day event will take place from Friday 17th - Sunday 19th March at the Kowloon Shangri-La Hotel. The seminar offers our Far Eastern clients the unique opportunity to meet with Knight Knox’s dedicated exhibitions team, as well as have one-to-one consultations to discuss individual investment needs. Seminar attendees will also have exclusive access to brand new developments not yet launched on the open market.

Knight Knox

One-to-one consultations

Exclusive new launches

As one of the UK's leading property consultancies, Knight Knox uses its 10+ years in industry to provide a tailor-made approach to investing. Heavily involved in the creation and development of each of our 75+ projects, Knight Knox provides the best buy-to-let opportunities in proven regional hotspots like Manchester and Liverpool.

Throughout the three-day event, a team of experienced Property Consultants will be on-hand to schedule a private one-to-one appointment with clients to discuss individual needs, as well as present Knight Knox’s portfolio (consisting of 75 launched developments and 53 developments completed and tenanted, at a value of over £835m).

Knight Knox’s first Hong Kong Property Investment Seminar of the year will see the launch of a brand new product that has not yet been launched on the open market, giving seminar attendees first choice of the prime apartments on offer before anybody else, as well as a ‘first look’ at some other exciting developments in the pipeline.

CONTACT US TODAY TO REGISTER FOR YOUR FREE TICKETS

+44 7456 815 739

INVESTING IN ITALY Dov’è la Vittoria?

Words : Hannah Wilde | View : Uli

It is no wonder that passionate Italians call their country “Il Belpaese” (the beautiful country)—located in the heart of the Mediterranean sea, bordering the likes of France and Switzerland over 116,000 square miles, Italy certainly is picturesque. However, the events currently unfolding in Italy are far from beautiful—political instability, financial stagnation and mass unemployment are just some of the issues facing this small but majestic European republic.

Italy’s political paradox Wherever your place in the world, 2016 was the year of political upsets.

First was the UK’s “Brexit”, in which Britain voted by a tiny margin to leave the European Union. Next was the surprise election of Donald Trump to the most powerful office in the world as President of the United States.

And just when surprise political decisions were thought to be over, the baton was passed to the Italian public as the year was drawing to a close—it was their turn to write their chapter in history. Italy gave the deciding vote on constitutional reforms to the people, a referendum on which the future of the country’s constitutional landscape depended.

Naturally, much ink has been spilled in the run-up to Italy’s monumental referendum, which took place at the year’s end, placing yet more uncertainty in the political, infrastructural and economic landscapes

up and down the country—and even calling into question Italy’s place in the European Union. Former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, leader of the Italian centre-left Democratic Party, spearheaded a campaign to completely reform the country’s constitution which, as it stands, requires all legislation to be approved in both Parliamentary houses—the higher house (The Senate) and the lower house (The Chamber of Deputies), a process which can drag on for years. Renzi envisioned a utopia which would have seen a significantly reduced Senate (in terms of size and power), a more streamlined legislative process, and the guarantee of a political majority to all democratically-elected parties.

Renzi has made no secret of his dislike of the current bicameral parliamentary structure, bemoaning the establishment’s antiquated policymaking edifice since his prime ministerial tenure began (unofficially as an incumbent in December 2013, and then officially as the 56th Prime Minister of Italy in February 2014). A revolutionary through and through, Renzi has made countless impassioned speeches on his cause, not least his direct plea for unity against the current system: “We need a constitution for the future, not only for the past… Italy needs an incredible season of reforms”.

Renzi was not alone on his crusade, despite appearances. He had good ideas, and some upstanding supporters. Many politicians, residents and

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Milan, Italy

media outlets systematically and vigorously agreed with his assessment of the antiquated and unyielding Italian government, designed almost intentionally to make the passing of crucial legislations an almost impossible dream. In a damning indictment, Forbes commented: “Italy has about as sclerotic a governmental process as any country in Europe”, going on to praise the Prime Minister’s proposed measures, which will “streamline Italy’s legislative process, [thus] breaking parliamentary gridlock which has crippled successive governments, and [will] open the way to far-reaching economic reforms”.

The Prime Minister’s rousing battle-cries, not too dissimilar to a general preparing to march his troops into battle, did not fall on deaf ears—a referendum was called, the battle was about to be fought. One revolutionary taking on the entire Italian Parliament. Renzi himself saw the combative parallels, calling the referendum “a battle between nostalgia and the future between those who want to change nothing and those who are looking ahead”. But little did Renzi know, it was going to be a bloodbath.

Much like the mud-slinging battles that were Brexit and the US

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presidential election, there was much to-ing and fro-ing from side to side.

The opinion of those in favour of the referendum was crystal clear: Italy needs this referendum to make the passing of legislation quicker and easier, and to give the country some much-needed political stability. But of course, for every supporter there were multiple opposers, fearful that the removal of power from both Parliamentary houses would place too much power in the hands of governing parties. Furthermore, The Telegraph newspaper cites the dominant reasoning against reforming the constitution to be that it would weaken the almost-omnipotent views of the Senate, which was put into place over 70 years ago after the end of World War II, designed to be purposefully difficult “to prevent the rise of another Mussolini”.

And of course, the voice of the Italian public was resounding. They said no. Whilst a shock outcome for many, over a month on from the verdict comes the gift of hindsight—many commentators are putting Renzi’s downfall down to the fact that that he made the referendum personal, publicly stating his intention to step down in the event of a ‘no’ vote. So, rather than being a referendum measuring public opinion on constitutional reform, it soon became more of a vote of confidence into Mr. Renzi’s

administration. This was potentially how the axe fell on the unsuspecting Prime Minister: the Renzi reign didn’t exactly inspire confidence. At the time of the election, youth unemployment was at a record high (peaking close to 40%) and the economy was struggling. A massive 18% of Italy’s debt was classed as non-performing, (one of the highest in the Eurozone), thus eroding the banking sector and leaving the lifeblood of any economy—its thriving small, medium and large businesses—high and dry, further stagnating Italy’s economic growth.

dollar. Luckily this wasn’t to last, as the currency soon bounced back to its highest level since mid-November 2016, but the fluctuation reflected the shock of the world that Italy had voted ‘no’. Despite the very clear message sent by the Italian people, the general sentiment was a unanimous feeling of shock, certainly across Europe, with German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble commenting that, regardless of the referendum decision, “Italy has to continue the path that Prime Minister Renzi has taken, economically and politically”.

The aftermath of the Referendum

WIth Italy a leaderless country, a replacement was needed to fill Renzi’s shoes. Therefore, the executive decision was taken by Italian President Sergio Mattarella to mimic the prime ministerial resignation of 2011, handing over the country to an unelected technocrat Paolo Gentiloni until a new democratically-elected leader comes to power at the next General Election. Renzi’s fight is over, but Italy’s battle has just begun.

With the election of a new leader could come the ever-present threat of yet another referendum, this time calling into question Italy’s place within the European Union. The Financial Times has noted that Italy’s populist Five Star Movement (5SM) and the anti-immigrant Northern League “are hoping to use [the] defeat of Mr. Renzi as a springboard to power at the

The day of the momentous vote—5th December 2016—became the day that the 56th Prime Minister gave way to the 57th, citing his unwillingness “to take part in old-style political games—either we change, or I have no role to play”. Renzi admitted defeat after he lost by a 60% majority, a margin much wider than even the pollsters predicted.

In the immediate aftermath of the referendum, just like with political shake-ups like Brexit and a Donald Trump presidency, the currency took a nose-dive, with the Euro falling initially to a 20-month low against the

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next national elections, in early 2018”. Naturally, this has many heads of state, particularly in Europe, worried. A referendum of this magnitude would not simply be constrained to Italian consciousness—another European Referendum has the potential to affect an entire nation, with Forbes astutely commenting that “the European Monetary Union does not work very well, if at all, without Italy—a ‘no’ vote would be the death knell of the Euro”.

Italy’s precarious economic position Anyone would think that an economy so vital to the European Union would be strong, stable, robust. In Italy’s case, this is far from the truth.

The economy is relatively stagnant at present, with political website Politico.eu commenting that “Italy’s banking system is groaning under €360 billion in bad loans”, which equates to around 18% of the entire country’s debt. This is an incredibly worrying state of affairs. CNBC elaborates: “The Italian banking system has been a problem for the third-largest euro zone economy since the financial crisis due to the high levels of bad loans across all institutions, [with] several attempts to deal with each one of them also affecting consumers’ confidence on the system”.

The recent announcement that two Italian banks—Banco Popolaire di Vicenza and Veneto Banca—are in the process of being bailed out by the government does little to quell the rumours that Italy’s financial institutions are out of control. Erik Jones, an esteemed professor of international political economy at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, USA, said that this is an inevitable indicator of a bigger underlying problem: “These two small banks are not the next big problem—they are the latest symptom of the slow-burning, non-performing loan crisis that Italy has to tackle”.

However, Italy’s Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan has remained bullish in the face of harsh criticisms of his country’s fiscal policy: “We are the EU country that has paid the least to save its banks—out of 600 banks, only 8 ‘have problems’”, providing the example that the Government has set aside a €20 billion fund to save banks, and is expected to provide roughly €6.7bn to prop up the ailing Tuscan bank Monte dei Paschai di Siena. Padoan is unrelenting in his view that Italy’s economic position is firmly on the up, citing the fact that 2016 saw Italy receive €17bn in taxes, unemployment on the whole is down, domestic consumption is steadily rising, and public investment is rising. And indeed there is evidence of this improvement, with the Financial Times reporting that the amount of bad loans circulating Italy shrank by nearly €2bn in November 2016 compared with the same time last year. At last signs of recovery (however small) are coming to the forefront, which means Italians can breathe a (small) sigh of relief—things are getting better. Slowly, but making steps in the right direction.

Italy’s housing crisis The housing market is another area of concern adding to Italy’s ever-mounting problems. The Financial Times reports that Italy’s property market has still not recovered from the global economic crisis of 2008, being the only major EU country to report a house price drop in the first quarter of 2016. Across the country, house prices dropped 1.2% in Q1 2016 compared to the previous year, coupled with the rapid decline of construction across Italy, which in 2014 saw 100,000 fewer construction companies in operation compared to 2008. It seems that this declining market is contributing hugely to Italy’s precarious economic environment, with over 40% of corporate bad debts in 2014 stemming from companies in the real estate market—a figure that rose to 70% gross in May 2016, and is still rising.

According to an Italian economic think-tank Nomisma, Italy’s housing crisis is largely down to its surplus supply of unsold houses—“When the

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crisis hit Italy, homeowners refused to sell their property at a discounted price, as they were betting on a strong recovery of the market in years ahead”. This massively stagnated the market—pre-crisis property transactions were strong (around 860,000 in 2006), whilst post-crisis transactions nose-dived 54% (hovering at 403,000 in 2013, the lowest volume in 30 years).

The numbers continue to support the notion that Italy’s housing market is indeed in crisis. Further analysis by the Financial Times shows that the number of residential properties built yearly has fallen by 85% since 2005 and reached its lowest level last year to just 41,000 units. To this end, the future doesn’t look particularly bright for Italy’s young people.

The chronic unemployment of young people across the country has led to a generational housing crisis, with the number of young Italian adults aged between 18 and 34 still living with their parents at an all-time high, with research published by The Guardian putting this at a shocking 66%.

Italy’s housing market isn’t in good shape, but financiers and market analysts expect that the housing slump will gradually fix itself as time goes on, with some even confident that prices will rise marginally in 2017 (albeit not above the rate of inflation). Furthermore, although the housing market doesn’t bode well for first-time buyers looking to enter the market, Italy’s housing market has always been strong on an owner-occupier basis—Italy has a relatively high level of homeownership (73%), higher than the UK’s 65% and Germany’s 53%.

The forecast looks bleak in the short-term for Italy’s housing market, but there’s definitely a glimmer of sunshine on the horizon in the medium- to long-term to alleviate the strain of a stagnant and financially-unstable property market. The housing market will be revived—just the questions of when and how are ones only someone with a crystal ball can answer.

Uniting through culture Lawmaker for the Italian Democratic Party, Anna Ascani, puts Italy’s problems into a larger global perspective, pontificating that “maybe we could afford another period of instability if things were calmer in Europe and the world, but now it is incumbent for us to stay solid”. Now this is a picture we’ve seen before. A post-Brexit Britain vowing that we all need to pull together. An America that vowed to get through the future of a Trump presidency united. Solidity has been the order of the day in the face of all kinds of uncertainty, and that’s exactly what the people of Italy have to do now. “Keep calm and carry on”, as their former EU comrade Britain would say. Luckily for Italy, they have their own slogan for hope and solidarity—their national anthem “Il Canto degli Italiani” (“The Song of the Italians”) literally denotes the story of unbridled spirit, unity and patriotism. In one memorable verse, the anthem calls fervently for unanimity, all Italians together: “Let one flag, one hope gather us all. The hour has struck for us to unite”.

With that rousing song in their hearts, the proud and passionate people of Italy must go on, must try to forget about the doom and gloom endured across years of political and economic upheavals. The cultural calendar in and around Italy towards the end of the winter season offers residents a welcome reprieve to the political and economic upset happening all around the country, with plenty of cultural events dotted around Italy to unite the residents of this bruised but proud country.

Perhaps the highlight of the late winter/early spring cultural events calendar is the renowned Venice Carnival in its namesake city of Venice. This festival is a 19-day-long celebration (taking place between 23rd January and 9th February 2017), and is Italy’s way of heralding in its renowned Carnival season. During the Venice Carnival, there are many traditional events across the event’s duration, including masked balls, performances, party cruises and themed nights. These 2017

offerings are certainly playing up to Italy’s reputation as “the City of Love”, including such highlights as the ‘Casanova’ Grand Ball (named after the city’s most infamous lothario), the ‘Seduction’ dinner show, and a night in the Metropole hotel decorated in the theme of The Grand Budapest Hotel, described on the Carnival’s official website as “a party which will perform as a striking imitation of the film: Bell boys and sensual housekeepers will welcome guests in an intoxicating and visionary atmosphere”. Across the whole event, Venetians and tourists alike are able to forget their inhibitions and dive straight into the seductive world of theatrical marvels, stunning costumes and intriguing masks in an event that has to be seen to be believed.

Tying in with the end of the Venice Carnival comes the Viareggio Carnival, taking place in 2017 on each Saturday in February, before celebrations come to a head on the last day of the month, the 28th.

Situated on the northern coast of Tuscany, this festival is considered one of Europe’s largest and most famous Mardi-Gras festivals, second only to the aforementioned offering in Venice. Boasting a massive 600,000 carnival-goers each and every year, the masked parades of the Viareggio Carnival attracts people from miles around, keen to see the ostentatious floats adorned with huge and equally ostentatious papier-mâché figures (which can reach anywhere up to 4 storeys high and around 40 tonnes) parading around a 2km route around Liberty seaside boulevards of Viareggio, known locally as La Passeggiata (“The Walk”).

Battle of the Oranges is another event designed to promote fun and frivolity, but this time with a historical twist. Taking place in Ivrea, Italy on 25th—28th February, The Battle of the Oranges is steeped in history, with the event seeing 9 competitive teams of almost 4,000 individuals tell the story of a town in the Middle Ages fighting for their liberation against tyranny, depicted (as its name suggests) by an epic orange-throwing duel. Drawing parallels with Spain’s La Tomatina festival, this unique event draws crowds of nearly 100,000 each and every year, which sees a huge 500,000kg of oranges thrown annually across the three-day event.

Italy, as shown in this brief snapshot, is a country of contradictions.

Broken but united. Focussed on the country’s problems, but so quick to engulf themselves in culture to forget. So concerned about their dire economic and housing situation, yet still painfully optimistic. It seems Italy is a modern-day European yin-and-yang, the perfect juxtaposition of oppositional forces. In the wake of their now-infamous referendum, Italy’s task now must be to strive for a more secure political future as it grows and prospers in the New Year and beyond.

As the country’s national anthem, and the title of this article, asks: “Dov’è la Vittoria?” (“Is this victory?”) I’m sure the Italian people would say yes—after all, they got the political outcome they wanted in perhaps the most politically significant referendum in their country’s history. But further across the border into Europe, would the answer be the same? Probably not: an Italy whose Parliament is still as restrictive as ever, and whose future in the European Union is far from secure, doesn’t seem like much of a victory at all…

Lake Como, Italy

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BUYING AT AUCTION A guide to buying property Words : Emma Martin | View : Ron Ellis

The worldwide property market is more buoyant than ever before. In an uncertain world, the solidity of bricks and mortar is a welcome port in a storm. Thousands and thousands of properties are bought and sold around the world each year. Everything from the simplest home in a small town to the grandest apartment in one of the world’s great cities is up for grabs - and it has never been easier to find and purchase exactly what it is you are looking for.

Whether you’re a seasoned investor searching for a buy-to-let investment to expand your portfolio, a new homebuyer looking for the perfect place in which to grow a new family, or a savvy fixer-upper hunting for your next renovation project to buy cheap and sell high - there is an unbridled sense of excitement that comes from acquiring a new asset, and this is a fantastic time to put your money into property.

With more and more sales being made each year, homebuyers are looking at different ways in which to find (and purchase) the perfect property. One approach to buying that is going from strength to strength is that of the auction. According to global real estate services provider Savills, the total value of property sold across the whole of the UK auction industry rose by £790 million in just two years – equating to an extra 1,300 properties per year–and a trend that shows no sign of slowing.

In the current economic climate, and with new lots hitting the market all the time, buyers are flocking to the auction room to find their next bargain.

Not only is the market growing - it’s also diversifying. As Director of Savills National Auctions, Paul Mooney, notes: ‘As well as a huge increase in the

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volume of properties coming through auction houses, the types of properties have also developed.’ This corner of the industry is booming.

Risk and reward When it comes to property investment - a market that can be unpredictable at times - there is always an element of risk involved. But this risk can intensify depending on which avenue you decide to purchase through. So, when you’re potentially looking at one of the largest acquisitions of your life, it’s important to make sure that the small details are accurate. Without proper consideration you may find yourself in a minefield.

Different to the traditional house sale, and sometimes considered dangerous territory, buying at auction gives you the opportunity for fast and (potentially) very cheap purchases if you play your cards right.

The principal difference between buying at auction and the traditional sale process is that when you buy at auction you walk into the room without a property, and leave with a contract meaning you’ve legally exchanged, and are the new title owner of the property in which your bid won.

As well as the opportunity to grab a deal, this way of buying eliminates the uncertain and often lengthy process of traditional property acquisition. It minimises demanding and extensive legal procedures, the possibility of last minute gazumping, and the chance of sudden fall-throughs.

Chelsea town house, London www.globalpropertyscene.com

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UK house prices have increased by 0.4 per cent in January 2017

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In other words, when buying at auction the bottom line is that, once the gavel has fallen, you have legally exchanged and take lawful ownership of the asset - with completion normally required within 28 days.

Despite the risk factor, the auction-house continues to grow in popularity as it opens up, not only to major property moguls but to first time buyers looking to get a foot on the property ladder. This streamlined path to purchase has become far more mainstream, as smart buyers recognise there are deals out there to be found, as long as you do your homework and bid intelligently.

Not dissimilar from grabbing the last item in a popular sale, auction-goers are drawn to the exhilaration and prospect of finding a hidden gem. With this in mind Global Property Scene has put together the basic do’s of don’ts of buying at auction, and how to negotiate your first foray into the exciting world of the auction house: Before the day of auction The auction house can certainly be an intimidating place for those who are new, and there is no denying that, just like being the new kid at school, you might want to take a back seat and observe that which is in front of you.

Auction houses can be loud and busy, and you are sure to be surrounded by austere auction veterans who will be well-versed in the buying process, and clued-up on how to find the best bargains – ready to pounce on the most attractive lots. With this in mind it’s advisable to do a little bit of pre-auction prep so you can match up to the competition! But don’t be put off initially, even if you’re feeling overwhelmed by the idea of bidding against big players – there will almost certainly also be new home buyers and first timers there too.

It is worthwhile to sit in on at least one auction before deciding to buy so that you can get a feel for the process, and the atmosphere. This means that you’ll know exactly what to expect when the time comes to place your maiden bid. We also recommend that you take advantage of friends and family who may have already dipped their toes into the auction process, as they could potentially offer a wealth of knowledge and pass on some useful first-hand tips.

Find your auction house If you’re unsure where to start in your search of buying at auction, there’s no harm in making a pre-emptive, knowledge-finding visit to your local auction house. From here you will be able to access every shred of information you need to get a foothold in the auction room, get some handy tips, and subscribe to their mailing list.

Sometimes you will find that different auction houses specialise in certain kinds of properties - for example commercial, residential or buy-to-let. They may even be set to appeal to those with certain budgets. You need to find the auction that best suits you and your buying needs, so be sure to have a look around before settling on one.

Study the catalogue Each auction will have its own catalogue, which is generally released two to four weeks before the day of the sale itself. This can normally be found online at the auction house website, or in print on request. The catalogue will show all of the properties available for purchase – and you should make it a priority to study this as you begin your search for the perfect property.

For many, flicking through the catalogue is one of the most enjoyable parts of the whole transaction. It allows you time to really consider what it is you’re looking for, and find the right place for you. Consider making a checklist of all the key aspects you wish to have, and use this to narrow down your search.

Once you’ve looked through the catalogue you may find that you have picked out several lots that pique your interest, and this is where the real leg-work begins...

Get professional advice While it’s important to view all of the lots you’re considering, potentially the most crucial aspect of any purchase is getting a trusted solicitor in place.

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Modern UK apartments, Vauxhall, London

This is absolutely key to making sure you don’t tie yourself into a problematic property with a host of hidden issues - allowing you to walk in the auction house with peace of mind and bid with confidence.

Properties sold at auction are sold as seen (meaning that once you’ve purchased, any fault that is uncovered is considered your problem), so you - as a buyer - need to take full responsibility at every stage of the process.

It’s definitely worth asking your solicitor to go over property particulars and the relevant legal packs, so that they can raise any enquiries on your behalf, and order the necessary title checks and searches.

> Reserve Price: The lowest price that will be accepted by the vendor, and is kept concealed from the auction.

Unlike buying through an estate agent, the prices of properties at auction are set to sell, which is why they are often at a reduced cost – however it’s important to not get drawn in on a bargain guide price, as these are often set low to attract buyers. Equally, make sure you don’t get embroiled in a bidding war that may see you pay over the odds for something that in reality doesn’t match up to the price tag.

Consider a survey to get an expert valuation of the property. You can check this against the guide price and set your budget - and if you’re looking to renovate, why not take a builder along with you to quote prices for works, so you can avoid landing a hefty bill you can’t afford.

It is important that if you need a mortgage to finance the sale, that you agree one in principle before placing a bid, so taking the advice of a mortgage advisor is key. You can expect to pay a 10% deposit on the day; with the 90% balance due a month on, so making sure you have the money to complete is fundamental.

Confirm your finances

On the day

Deciding (and sticking to) your budget is a vital aspect of any property transaction, particularly when quick bidding can ramp up the price before you know it. When looking through the catalogue you will see the guide price:

It’s auction day, and after weeks of planning, organising surveys, and taking in legal documentation, it’s the final hurdle before acquiring the title to your chosen property.

> Guide Price: The price where bidding usually starts, and is generally the vendor’s bottom price for sale. Do your research when it comes to the guide price, and check the market locally to see whether this is where it should be. Also note that the guide price can be altered up until the day of sale, so it’s always a good idea to double check this the day before.

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By this point you should feel confident that there are no remaining uncertainties about what you’re about to bid on, and should have everything in order should you win your selected lot. On the day of the auction you should make sure you: > Arrive early: Make sure you settle in a good spot in which you have a clear view of the auctioneer to ensure that you will be seen when you start bidding.

> Remember your budget: It’s easy to get caught up in a whirlwind when bids start on your lot, and with hands potentially flying to get in the highest bid, it’s crucial to remember your budget. Don’t get caught in a bidding war, however tempting it may be to beat your competitor. > Bring your documents: on the day you will need your ID, legal documentation, and any financial paperwork relating to loans or mortgages should you have the winning bid. > Have funds to pay: Remember that you will be paying a 10% deposit, and the auction house fee which is usually around £200-£300, so double-check you have the credit available to pay on the day before making any binding commitments.

Going, going, gone!

There are many different types of properties to be found at auction, and a variety of reasons why a lot might be up for sale. There are multiple factors which must be taken into account; from houses with tenants in situ, to dilapidated homes in need of renovation, or repossessed properties being put back up for sale.

However, for those who are willing to put in some research, buying at auction can prove an extremely fruitful venture. With the right guidance and preparation taken prior to placing a bid, there are opportunities to buy properties that are unlikely to come to high-street agencies, and to find a diamond in the rough is where the biggest profits can be found.

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BUILDING A BRIGHTER FUTURE India’s changing industrial revolution Words : Alex Timperley | View : Roberto Caucino

The rise of China is set to define the 21st century as the East Asian superpower closes the gap to the USA at the top of the international power rankings. The ‘American Century’ will supposedly give way to the ‘Chinese Century’ as the two giant world economies gradually switch places and China begins to dictate global politics. This would represent something of a return to form for China, a nation which has had the largest economy in the world for most of the last 2,000 years.

As China begins to dominate, other countries will inevitably be left playing catch up. Japan is an obvious candidate for this, being an advanced economy in the same region as China, and will have to define its foreign and economic policies by what its larger neighbour does. Likewise, South Korea has an interesting future ahead of it due to its political relationship with America and its geographical proximity to China.

how similar their historical stories are in some ways. Following World War Two both nations began taking steps towards escaping the influence of foreign powers and dictating their own futures.

India was actually richer than China as recently as 1990 but now lags far behind. The average Indian income only exceeded USD 1,000 per year in 2013, a full decade behind China. Such a disparity in fortunes is remarkable, but what caused it?

The end of the 1980s saw India reach a challenging crossroads. On one hand, it possessed a unique and fascinating culture anchored in 3,000 years of incredible accomplishments as well as a population of almost one billion. This milestone would be reached in the year 2000, making India the second country in the world after China which more than one billion people called home.

However, the most interesting nation to watch could well be India.

Whereas China is on a rapidly accelerating trajectory, India has somewhat failed to live up to all the hopes, dreams and money invested there over the second half of the 20th century. The potential is there for India to be a true economic giant and exercise a level of influence commensurate with its physical size.

On the other hand, India lagged very far behind the first rank of developed nations when it came to economics. India had 15% of the world’s population but only accounted for 1% of global trade. In a globalised economy, such disparities tend to be self-perpetuating, and India is still struggling to close this gap almost 30 years later.

The comparison between India and China is especially apt considering how well matched these neighbours were only a few decades ago and

The 1990s saw a more hopeful and purposeful mindset begin to emerge at all levels of Indian society, which laid the groundwork for the booming

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Marine Drive, Mumbai

economy we can see today. The ruling Congress Party enforced economic reforms in 1991 which doubled India’s external trade between 1990 and 2000 and then tripled it between 2001 and 2007, giving ample evidence of its potential strength. Indeed, a prediction made by Goldman Sachs in the early 2000s states that the Indian economy will be larger than that of Japan by 2032 and, by that time, its population will be larger and younger than that of China.

Socially, the caste system was given a shake up as dominated castes fought for empowerment and positive discrimination, and the growth of higher education and the success of Indian emigrants around the world gave the economy a further shot in the arm.

Geopolitical problems remained, of course. In 1998, India openly tested its nuclear weapons in a bid to break the ‘nuclear apartheid’ which held the five members of the United Nations Security Council as the only nations allowed to maintain a nuclear arsenal. This led to international sanctions and reprimands which were not helpful. On top of that, the mutual mistrust between India and its neighbours acted as a restriction on the region – a situation which persists to this day. Bangladesh is still not keen on selling fuel to India, and has refused transit rights to the North Eastern Indian states. The relationship with Pakistan is even more fraught with issues

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ranging from transit rights to Afghanistan all the way through to more serious issues such as an antagonistic nuclear stand-off, an ongoing cross-border jihadist conflict, and the upcoming disputes over water supply which could turn into a significant international problem.

However, India is still the hegemonic regional power despite all of the issues it faces, and the groundworks have been laid to truly elevate the country into a world leader. The 1990s saw India look west and deepen relationships with Israel and other Gulf nations which account for approximately two thirds of its ever-increasing oil imports. India simultaneously looked to East Asia, joining the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1996 and becoming a founding member of the East Asia Summit in 2005, allowing it to somewhat offset China’s domination in the region. China’s support for Pakistan’s nuclear programme has not been forgotten, and nor has the memory of the Indo-China War of 1962. India is determined not to be overrun by its behemoth neighbour in the future.

India is also taking great strides in other areas. Its military capacity is growing steadily in all areas, with billions invested into equipment in order to turn it into a force capable of projecting hard power around the world.

India is also an emergent power in the world of space travel, with the

Indian Space Research Organisation aiming to “harness space technology for national development,” and pursue space science research and planetary exploration.

However, India has one major weakness which threatens its future prosperity.

The main reason why India has fallen behind China concerns the national infrastructure. Despite being the fastest–growing large economy in the world, India has reached something of an infrastructural bottleneck.

With a total GDP of more than USD 2.3tr, putting it 7th in the world, India looks to be in fine shape. However, the average wealth per capita tells a different story, with earnings of USD 1,820 per year seeing India languish in 141st place in the world.

The rapid, seemingly inexhaustible growth seen in recent years has raced so far ahead of India’s ability to support itself that there is now a serious issue developing. The infrastructure sector is absolutely the key for the country’s continued prosperity; not only is it the guarantor of future fortune and foreign investment, it is also the sector which is almost singlehandedly propelling the current boom.

It is impossible to overstate the importance of infrastructure to India’s

industrial revolution, and it is equally tough to pinpoint the improvements which are needed most desperately. Investment in infrastructure by successive governments has been very far from the levels required in order to modernise the country effectively. The cost of filling in the so-called ‘infrastructure gap’ in India has been estimated at USD 1.5tr

by Arun Jaitley, the current Finance Minister. A population of 1.2 billion people require some serious infrastructure to support them.

India’s attempts to present itself to the world as the next China rest entirely on building infrastructure. China has built a gleaming network of airports, railways, ports and roads which have led to a glut of foreign investment in the country. India has been the recipient of less than one tenth of the foreign investment which China has received, and that imbalance is largely down to the infrastructure gap – in 2016 India still ranked outside of the world’s top 80 countries when it comes to physical infrastructure.

The most glaring example of India’s infrastructural paucity is the fact that thousands and thousands of villages have no access to electricity, or indeed any recognisable post-Industrial Revolution power generation technology. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government won office on a platform of reducing inequality and fighting poverty, and one of their most important goals was the electrification of the more than 18,000 villages

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Old Delhi, India

which did not have power. This mass-electrification is supposed to be complete by 1st May 2018, and should go a long way towards boosting India’s productivity. At the same time, the fact this still has to be done in 2017 is a testament to the level of underinvestment in India up to this point.

In a similar vein, it is highly ironic that so many in India do not have power when the country as a whole is a world leader in power generation, including both fuel–burning power stations and renewable energy sources.

The world’s largest coal mine is being built in Australia, the Adani Mine, and funded by Indian backers who will transport the coal back across the Indian Ocean, with the goal of finally being able to supply power to any state in India whenever it is needed. Construction is expected to begin in 2017 if the current disputes over the environmental impact of the USD 21bn mine can be resolved.

India is also a leading nation in the field of renewable energy. Last year, the government committed to massively exceeding the targets set by the 2016 Paris climate change agreement, and to do it three and a half years ahead of schedule. The target for the Modi government is for India to produce 57% of its electricity via renewable fuels by 2027. Considering the size of the country and its ambitions, this is a huge undertaking and will surely require some significant innovation.

Luckily, India is well ahead of the game in that regard. The world’s biggest solar farm, a 10 sqkm site which will provide power to 150,000 homes, has recently opened in India to great acclaim. India is also home to giant windfarms, and is fourth in the world when it comes to wind turbine energy.

In addition, India is making scientific breakthroughs which could feasibly be used successfully around the world. Coal-burning power plants are one of the biggest pollutants in the world due to the excess greenhouse gases which are pumped into the atmosphere in enormous quantities. In 2016, a chemical plant in Tuticorin implemented a brand new technology to capture CO2 from coal emissions and then use it to produce valuable chemicals. By turning emissions into a money maker, India is now able to reduce its carbon footprint significantly without the need for subsidies, and it is not hard to see how this technology could make a big impact around the world.

In a happy coincidence, the renewable energy sector is one of the most attractive to foreign direct investment, and therefore will help India to meet another of its economic goals. Significant investments have already been made by Japan, Taiwan and France, and there is no reason to believe that more investment will not be forthcoming in the future. The government has joined the dots and is looking to the technologies of the future to solve the problems of today, and hopefully lead India to a brighter future.

However, it is no good building a world-class energy grid if there is no back-up infrastructure to support it. This is an area in which India continues to suffer, but progress is eventually being made.

In tandem with its electrification promises, the government is aiming to connect all of the 700,000 villages in India with new roads by 2019 as part of its huge modernisation plan. The plan is to lay 10,000 km of road in 2017 – if this was laid in a straight line it would take you a quarter of the way around the earth. In addition, there is a huge revamp of the railway system in the works. The current railway network is over 100 years old and has seen minimal upgrade work in all that time. Indian Railways employs more than 1.3 million people, but the hardware it operates is in a poor state compared to that of other leading nations.

Really, this issue of size and scale is one which India only shares with China. Both have to be innovative and make their plans on a huge scale otherwise it is not worth the effort. China has raced off into the lead, but India is not so far behind. The big problems with the national infrastructure have been identified and plans have been put in place to tackle them, and the government is dreaming big on renewable technology in order to future proof the country in a way which simply has not happened before.

India clearly has a long way to go, but it is a country heading in the right direction and one with a very interesting path ahead of it. The days of India being a country filled with potential but not much else are over.

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Jaipur, India

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WAIT, BUT WHY? How do places get their names?

Words : Alex Timperley | View : Claudio Divizia

The names of places don’t just exist to let us find them on a map. Of course, the name assigned to a place does not start and finish at its simple etymological meaning – the original root of the word. A name embodies the history of a place, and is a memorial to the people who have lived there. It can tell us what they did, what they found important, or just act as a note on the everyday oddities of life in a particular place and in a particular time.

The word itself is simply the starting point for a fuller appreciation of a name’s wider significance which can take in a place’s historical, archaeological, linguistic or geographical context, as well as local idiosyncrasies or folkloric aspects. Often, a name takes in a collection of these at the same time.

It is easy to go about our day-to-day lives taking place names for granted.

Perhaps we shouldn’t. In an age where we might be more disconnected from our environment than ever, it could be worthwhile to think about place names and what they mean in order to learn what they can tell us about the places we inhabit and to really appreciate where we come from.

The oldest place names can tell us much about tribal migrations, settlements and the ebb and flow of various conflicts through the ages about which we have scant written record, if any at all.

The British Isles offer a fascinating case study in this regard. The small island nation has been invaded and conquered repeatedly over the years

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and the place names which can be found up and down the country testify to this, such as the Yorkshire coastline. Vikings invaded this area many times and left their mark with places such as Whitby and Grimsby – “white settlement” and “Grimr’s Farm” in Old Norse respectively.

Perhaps the ultimate example of how we can track history through changing place names is Torpenhow Hill in Cumbria, an area in the far north west of England. All of “Tor”, “Pen”, and “How” mean “hill” in various languages from Middle English to Brythonic to Old Norse. It is speculated that the original local name for the place was “Tor”. As people who spoke different languages encountered the area, they would ask the locals what they called the place and then add their word for “hill” onto the end, not knowing that the local word meant “hill” as well. Thus, a multilingual tautology was born out of this gradual accretion of place names and Torpenhow Hill can literally be translated as “Hillhillhill Hill” today.

Other great examples of this include places such as the River Avon in the South West of England and Laacher See in the Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany. The literal meanings of these places are “River River” and “Lake Lake” respectively.

Colonisation is another prolific source of place names. People upping sticks to cross the seas or the steppes and implanting their culture somewhere entirely new will invariably rename things to remind them of home. When people arrive at an unknown land or shore, they have tended to look around at all the strangeness and feel scared. When you

Clifton Suspension Bridge spanning the River Avon, UK

Nairobi, Kenya

turn up somewhere new with nothing apart from memories of a lost home, naming the new place after the old one must be incredibly comforting.

This comforting-warm-blanket approach to naming things explains much about our modern world.

It explains why North and South America have hundreds of places named after old European towns and cities. People have been living in the Americas for approximately 42,000 years, but the maps have been completely rewritten by European invaders and colonists in just a few hundred.

It explains why Europe, North Africa and the Middle East are dotted with Latin and Greek names despite the Romans and Greeks being native to none of these places. Roman names can be found as far south as the Sahara, as far north as the Scottish borderlands and as far east as Syria.

It explains why there is a place on Kiribati, a tiny island in the Pacific Ocean, called Paris for the Parisii, an Iron Age tribe who lived on the banks of the River Seine half the world away in France. Father Emmanuel Rougier, a French priest, lived there between 1917 and 1939, named the

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settlement after his home and then planted 800,000 coconut trees.

The Irish playwright Brian Friel showed how the process works in his 1980 play, Translations. Set in 19th century agricultural Ireland, it shows the fate of Baile Beag, a small town whose name translates literally into “small town”. Unfortunately, the English surveyors could not pronounce that and anglicised the name to “Ballybeg”. This is a fictional scenario, but the 14 places across Ireland called Ballybeg speak to the underlying truth of it. It is a truth repeated across most of the world.

The waves of colonisation did not reach every shore, however. Japan stands in stark contrast to much of the modern world. Aside from the odd Christian missionary or attempt at an invasion from the mainland, Japanese culture has remained almost entirely untouched by outside influences for millennia. There is no record of cultural mixing between approximately 12,000BC and 1AD, and this allowed the island to develop at its own pace, free from foreign influence. This is reflected by the purely Japanese place names across the country. Japan has no equivalent of Hong Kong with its Waterloo Road, Argyle Street, Queensway and Victoria Harbour. Instead, Japan’s 430 islands are filled with places named only by the people who live there and no one else, leading to a collection of

place names which began as small things and evolved over time such as Tokyo which began life as Edo, meaning “estuary”.

about the gods people found important beyond the Christchurches and El Salvadors of the world. One of the best comes from Ancient Greece.

Water based names like Edo are popular around the world when it comes to people looking at what is around them and picking a name for their new settlement. Presumably this is because of the central role of water in human survival. Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, means “cool water”, and, on the same theme, Arguineguín in the Canary Islands means “quiet water”.

This is without even mentioning the countless places named after rivers across the world such as Sheffield (“a forest clearing around the River Sheaf”), Moscow (“the city by the Moskva River”) and Amsterdam (“a dam on the Amstel River”).

According to ancient myth, Io was a priestess of Hera, the wife of Zeus, in Argos in the Pelopponesian region of Greece. Zeus noticed this humble priestess and lusted after her but Io rejected his advances, leading to her being thrown out of the house by her pious father. Zeus went on to transform Io into an ox in order to hide her from his wife. Obviously, this deception failed as Hera was a god as well, and gods are often very perceptive. She asked Zeus to give her Io in her ox form as a present and proceeded to set a gadfly upon her to sting and bite her constantly.

Io, still completely innocent of any wrongdoing, was driven to wander the earth without rest by the stinging of the gadfly. Eventually this unfortunate woman was forced to cross the water which is straddled by modern day Istanbul, and this is why the channel is today known as the Bosphorus – meaning “ox passage”. The Greek gods were a particularly cruel and childish group of beings.

However, as nice as rivers and mountains are, quite often places get their names from places outside the natural world.

Perhaps the most unnatural place names are those which are based on the names of the gods. Classic examples such as Athens, named for Athena (the Greek goddess of wisdom, craft and war), and Allahabad, an Indian city named for the all-powerful creator god of Islam, are attention grabbing, but there are many other places which hide a deeper story

Other cities are named after people – often people who had delusions of grandeur and maybe considered themselves to be gods.

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Washington DC, USA

Alexander the Great, a Macedonian warlord and conqueror, was perhaps the most prolific eponymous place-namer in history, founding a total of no less than 18 cities named after himself. This is undoubtedly one of the most impressively egotistical acts in history. The most famous Alexandria is in Egypt, and was once the largest city in the world. This home to learning, scholarship, religion and commerce has been burned down and rebuilt many times, as well as being home to wondrous sights such as its famous Lighthouse and the Library.

to everyone else as Mount Everest thanks to Andrew Waugh, a British surveyor who blithely named the world’s tallest mountain after his predecessor, George Everest. Mount McKinley in America is a similar case where imposing the name of the incoming President, William McKinley, was deemed more important than letting the locals continue to call it by their own name – Denali, “The Great One”.

But Alexander is not alone in stamping his name across the world. Many other famous historical figures have been unable to resist stamping their names on foreign lands. Most often though, people have their name put on things by others in commemoration of a great deed or a life well lived. Washington D.C. in America is named after George Washington, for example, and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam is similarly named after the revolutionary communist leader.

In some instances, places can become synonymous with industry.

Industrial Revolution Britain offers a rich selection. Manchester gained the nickname ‘Cottonopolis’ in the 19th century thanks to its position as the centre of the global textile trade. The Industrial Revolution was born in the North West of England and was fed on a diet of coal and cotton until it grew large enough to consume the world. Today, the city’s cottony past still lingers. For example, people in Australia & New Zealand refer to cotton bedsheets as “Manchester”, because for a long time Manchester was simply where cotton came from.

Mountains around the world are particularly susceptible to the sort of cultural whitewashing which Europeans and their descendants turned into something of an art form over the years. The place known as Chomolungma to the Tibetans and Sagarmartha to the Nepalis is known

Middlesbrough, in the North East of England, is another classic example of how industry can enter into the soul of a place and define it to the rest of the world. Iron from under the Cleveland hills to the south of the city stands proudly across the world, from Bridges across the Tees and

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Sydney Harbour to railways across America, Europe and Africa. At its height, 30 blast furnaces operated within six miles of the city and the one million tonnes of iron produced in Middlesbrough every year represented approximately a third of the nation’s iron output. The pre-Saxon town of Mydilsburgh – so named because it lay halfway between the major settlements of Durham and Whitby – became renowned as ‘Ironopolis’.

And finally, sometimes the architects of a place get carried away by the pure joy of what they are building and their enthusiasm leading them to poetry. Samarra in Iraq is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the simple joy to be found in its name warms the heart. The formal name of the city is Surra Man Ra’ā, meaning “he who sees it is delighted”. Such beautiful simplicity is something to be treasured.

Place names are rarely complicated but are often underappreciated.

The familiar words which make up an address often hide a wealth of information about the history of a place and the people who lived there long before us.

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BUY-TO-LET IN THE NORTHERN POWERHOUSE APARTMENTS FROM

£130,000

THE BIG SHAKE-UP What are the risks of building on fault lines?

Words : Hannah Wilde | View : Joseph Sohm

Natural disasters, by their very nature, are sporadic—you never know when or where they’re going to strike. However, you can make a very educated guess: the chance of being hit by a tsunami or earthquake increases massively in any area situated on or near to a fault line (that is, an area that has already been fractured by tectonic movements in the past). According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Earthquake Hazards Program, “the world’s greatest earthquake zone, the circum-Pacific seismic belt, is found along the rim of the Pacific Ocean, where about 81 percent of the world’s largest earthquakes occur. That belt extends from Chile, northward along the South American coast through Central America, Mexico, the West Coast of the United States, the southern part of Alaska, through the Aleutian Islands to Japan, the Philippine Islands, New Guinea, the island groups of the Southwest Pacific, and to New Zealand”. And most of these countries have one big feature in common—they are all ravaged by fault lines. Global Property Scene will investigate why people build on fault lines, and what inherent dangers come with building over fractured and disaster-strewn land.

The science behind fault lines When the Earth was first formed, whether through the Big Bang or divine intervention, it began life as one big mega-continent, with all land mass interconnected. However, hundreds of billions of tiny movements in the earth’s crust over billions of years (at a rate of a few centimetres per year) slowly but surely led to the occurrence of ‘continental drift’—that is, the

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separation of the land mass from a single contiguous entity into what we know today as continents (Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia). Each of these continents sits on a itinerant slab of rock called a tectonic plate, once an interconnected part of the earth’s crust, and it is the movement of these tectonic plates—most specifically the violent interaction of two plates hitting one another—which causes the earth to move vigorously, leading to such natural disasters as earthquakes and tsunamis.

This is where fault lines come in. Fault lines are fractures in the ground caused by the movements of these tectonic plates, with the largest fault lines generally appearing on the boundary between two conflicting plates. Renowned seismologist Nicholas van der Elst from Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory explains that “plate boundaries are always growing and changing, so these faults develop kinks and bends as they slide past each other, which generates more faults”. According to scientific research, there are thousands of fault lines-(both visible and undetected)-all over the world, but there are around 118 marked as geographically significant because of prominent seismic activity, ranging from Europe (Greece, Germany and Russia) to the Americas (United States, Mexico, Guatemala and Chile).

These fracture lines can vary significantly in appearance, with the World Atlas going as far as to say that “they can be as thin as a hair, barely visible to the naked eye, or can be hundreds of miles long and easily

A Santa Monica apartment building destroyed by the Northridge earthquake in 1994, USA

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visible from space, [like] the Anatolian Fault in Turkey or the San Andreas Fault”. Some faults do not even break the surface, and are only known by specialist scientists who systematically analyse seismic waves. Yet others are abundantly clear, with plate movements common on the aforementioned San Andreas Fault to the tune of approximately 5-6 centimetres per year.

The world’s most prominent fault lines Being a natural occurrence, no two fault lines are ever the same—but what they all have in common is that an area containing one or more fault lines has significantly higher odds of being hit by an earthquake.

Perhaps the most prominent, or at least infamous, fault line in the world is the California’s San Andreas line. Situated between both the Pacific and the North American tectonic plates, the San Andreas fault is some 800 miles in length, stretching from the southwestern Salton Sea in the Sonoran Desert all the way through to Cape Mendocino, the westernmost point of California. Worryingly, atop this huge fault line are pivotal public infrastructures like subway stations and water mains, as well as no less than 966 public roads. Much scientific research has been undertaken on the world’s most notorious fault line, with seismologists predicting that a worst-case scenario for a fault line of this magnitude could be an earthquake that has the potential to hit an impressive 8.3 on the Richter scale. Going one step further, the USGS suggests that, if this worst-case scenario does in fact come to pass, such an earthquake on the San Andreas fault line could have the potential to kill 1,800 people, injure 55,000 and cause a massive USD 200m in damage that could take nearly 10 years to remedy.

While the rather more level-headed director of the Southern California Earthquake Center Tom Jordan admits that “that would require the San Andreas to rupture wall to wall from its southern extremis up to Cape Mendocino”, the fact remains that whether or not the entire fault line ruptures, even the smallest rift can have potentially devastating effect. San Francisco’s Loma Prieta earthquake in 1986 is just one of many examples—registering a 6.9 on the Richter scale, this earthquake was still violent enough to cause billions in damages, injure over 3,000, and kill 63.

Another such prolific fault line is found in Istanbul, Turkey’s capital city.

Dubbed the ‘San Andreas of the East’, the North Anatolian fault is the longest in the world (at 1,500km) and still growing, with evidence suggesting that the line has been ripping westward since 1939. Like its western counterpart, the North Anatolian fault line is a huge safety concern for each of Istanbul’s 13 million inhabitants, and has a deadly past. A 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck the small city of Izmet just 60 miles from Istanbul in 1999, reducing houses and infrastructure to dust, as well as causing an estimated 18,000 civilian deaths.

There are many more stories like this one, which goes to show that areas plagued by fault lines are increasingly vulnerable. Given the unpredictable, frequent and often fatal changes in the mechanical behaviour of these tectonic plates, we can now understand the dangers and concerns that naturally occur when people choose to build over fault lines.

Constructing over fault lines I’m sure many will see no question—we categorically should not build on or around the earth’s fault lines. However, that may be easier said than done, with Californian City Councillor Mitch O’Farrell adequately summing up the catch-22 situation: “The whole of Los Angeles has faults running through it—the question is: do we halt all development in Hollywood? Do we wait for that 11,000-year earthquake?” This same mentality can be translated across the globe: should we not build any new developments in, say San Francisco or Istanbul, because of a danger that might not even happen?

And if that’s the case, how are we to deal with overpopulation—what happens when the country has a surplus population and no way to house them?

Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles

These are certainly the questions facing Los Angeles at the moment. In 2013 construction plans were afoot to create The Millennium Towers, two skyscrapers against the Hollywood Hills backdrop. However, questions (ethical and environmental alike) were posed when whispers began that the development could end up falling within 50 feet of a fault line, thus violating the earthquake safety law implemented in the wake of the 1971 San Fernando Valley earthquake prohibiting any development less than 50ft away from any known Californian fault line.

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Los Angeles, USA

Then there is the issue, not just of new developments, but of existing structures—how are current buildings (homes, places of interest and infrastructure) being safe-guarded against natural disasters in fault line areas? Seismologist Lucille Jones, of the USGS, hits the nail on the head, surmising the problem as a “trade-off between seismic safety and financial considerations”. Of course you’d expect the main focus to be on the former, of maintaining the safety of residents and the structural integrity of the area’s infrastructure for minimal damage and resultant casualties.

Take Japan as an example. They are making leaps and bounds in this field, with advanced technology in place to shut down the city in the event of an earthquake—trains are able to grind to a halt at the first tremor, and residents are informed via TV, radio and their mobile devices as soon as possible as to the current situation and impending safety advice.

However, this cannot always be the case. According to Popular Science, to create a dynamic and robust natural disaster alert system can cost anywhere in the region of USD 80 million for California alone, with protection for the whole West Coast adding a further USD 40 million onto that figure. This is a princely sum of money, especially when considering that in 2016 former President Obama could only commit USD 5m to California’s earthquake safeguards. The money has made a start in the implementation of sensors for San Francisco’s mass transit system to

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significantly reduce the speed of trains in the event of an earthquake, but there is still much more that could be done, and perhaps a very limited budget on which to do it.

This is a concerning state of affairs for California, whose regional newspaper The Los Angeles Times reported in 2013 that up to and perhaps in excess of 1,500 concrete buildings built before 1975 in LA alone are structurally vulnerable to collapse should an earthquake hit the city. This just shows the deficiency in the city’s earthquake preparations— although a major earthquake has not occurred in LA since 1994, the chances of such an event reoccurring are very real, and the preparation should this happen is significantly lacking. Of course, Los Angeles is acutely aware of the problems ahead, with sitting Mayor Eric Garcetti commenting: “When you’re the mayor of Los Angeles, earthquake readiness must be a priority, and it is for me—from the outset, my administration has been working on the full spectrum of issues, including structural engineering, emergency services, and the preparedness of our residents for when the ‘Big One’ comes”.

As part of this preparedness, rules are implemented to restrict construction in affected areas. However, there are many who dismiss this as nothing more than ‘earthquake hysteria’, with one such naysayer, Philip

E. Aarons (a developer of the proposed Millennium Towers), saying that “it is connecting dots that may or may not pass through a given site— people have been made extraordinarily nervous. If people would feel better with more extensive testing, we are happy to do this”. Many not impaired by this ‘earthquake hysteria’ agree that stress-testing buildings before, during and after construction to ensure their structural integrity against earthquakes may well be the best way forward—completely prohibiting all construction over fault lines is not a sustainable option in the long-term (especially for areas like California which are plagued by them), whilst imposing regulations does nothing but hamper constructional development in an area. Although expensive to conduct, there are ample measures that can be implemented to predict—and thus mitigate the damage of—impending earthquakes, which could go some way to alleviating the risks of building on fault lines. The USGS recommends a series of procedures that could be implemented to help stress-test and secure buildings from earthquake damage: > “Probabilistic seismic hazard assessments such as the National Seismic Hazard Map that underlie seismic provisions of building and other regulatory codes; > Detailed urban seismic hazard maps that include the effects of rupture

directivity, 3D basin response and soil nonlinearity (with these urban hazard maps included in code updates for selected regions); > Development of credible earthquake scenarios for specific faults with synthetic ground-motion time histories for evaluating current engineering design practice, improving building codes and for emergency planning and public education; > Progression of site-specific designs and retrofits of critical and major facilities such as bridges, hospitals, nuclear power reactors, dams and tall buildings; > Modelling damage patterns and damage to specific structures after earthquakes, as well as assessing secondary earthquake hazards such as liquefaction and landslides.”

Naturally, only some of these measures can be implemented—some may not be relevant, while others may be too expensive to implement in specific regions. Whatever the reason, it has to be said that fault lines— and their subsequent natural disasters—are a big problem for some of the world’s most seismic areas. But what to do with them is another question altogether….

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RAISING STATE FUNDS The Ministry of Defence and the great land sell-off

Words : Will Leyland | View : kakoki

Austerity was perhaps the biggest theme of the UK government following the coalition’s entry into 10 Downing Street in 2010. No department escaped savage cuts to their budget since then and The Ministry of Defence (mod) is no different. The ministry saw an increase in its budget for the first time in six years last year following severe cuts from 2010 to 2015.

Theresa May, following her ascent to the office of Prime Minister in the summer of 2016, has used tough rhetoric when discussing UK defence-the government has once again committed to meeting its NATO obligation of spending 2% of GDP per annum on defending the country.

Shortfalls in the defence budget are still striking, though, and in need of urgent action. Here we’re going to take a look at what innovative tactics the Ministry are using to raise funds, and where they plan to spend them not only here but with our research and development partners in the US. In real terms, the amount of money being spent on defence isn’t as important as where the Ministry decides to spend it. In the years that followed World War Two, progress and innovation in warfare were relatively slow in comparison to the age that we now live in. The invention and cultivation of nuclear weapons had for a time slowed progress as both the USA and Soviet Russia battled for supremacy throughout the cold war, only ending in 1989 as the Berlin Wall fell and

Soviet Russia began to disintegrate.

The river of progress has always been one that has flowed ferociously throughout time, and nowhere is it more apparent than in military research. Billions are spent hiring the best minds the country has to offer in order to research and create cutting-edge technology capable of defending the country against the next wave of threats. Times change and threats change. From the 1950s through to the late 1980s Soviet Russia was seen as a constant global threat, and as the Union fell warfare between sovereign nations began to dissipate. The stakes became far too high for nuclear weapon holding countries to begin a game of chicken, and so the battle for supremacy took on new fields of action.

Today as Chinese, North Korean and Russian hacking programmes make headline news, there is a far greater emphasis on cyber-security than ever before. If we consider that ten years ago sales of smartphones worldwide were 122 million, or roughly one smartphone for every 57 people on the planet, (compared to 1.42 billion in 2015 and rising ever since) we can see that the landscape of technology globally has hit such an accelerated pace that it’s new becoming near impossible to keep up. We have, gone from one person in every 57 owning a smartphone to today, where the figure is closer to one in six.

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If we then realise that in 1995, just 22 years ago, fewer than 1% of the global population had an internet connection compared to 40% today, the implications of technological advances are staggering. One billion registered internet connections were made for the first time in 2005. In twenty years we went from a few hundred thousand people with internet access to over a billion.

If we further consider that with a Raspberry Pi, a low cost computer (around USD25 is the going rate), anybody can learn to code computer language and can computerise more or less anything they like. Last year, Stuart Russell (Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of California Berkley) claimed that it is perfectly conceivable that a group of ill-intentioned people could, with as little as a few thousand dollars, purchase a small army of drones and reprogram them to carry out untold destruction. The machines, he says, could quite simply be loaded up with small explosives with the simple computerised direction to seek out human targets and explode on contact.

With this in mind, global defence strategy has gone into hyper-drive, with emphasis on keeping up with technology at the absolute forefront of focus. As simple as the focus point may be, funding it isn’t as straightforward.

In order to recruit the brightest minds, produce the best research and development and act on those innovations by actually implementing them, the MoD needs tremendous amounts of money. Between 2009-2012 the Ministry of Defence took 120 decisions regarding where it should invest £41 billion. The areas required were new, existing and refocusing investments to keep the UK as safe as possible. Until fairly recently, or in the last 15 years, cyber security in the UK was not a major focus of defence spending. This was in comparison to, for example, hundreds of millions spent on new aircraft carriers, aeroplanes and other physical warfare equipment.

The problem for the MoD is a simple one, especially as defending the country gets more expensive: How do you fund these innovations when the government won’t give you any more money? One of the answers is to begin selling off a chunk of its 1,000 areas of land currently owned and maintained by the Ministry across the UK. Announced last year, the department stated that it planned to sell up to 10% of its current stock hold of land because it was simply too costly to maintain. Up to 13 sites have been earmarked for sale, which includes RAF, Army and Navy sites, as well as old World War Two training sites and an old D-Day training ground.

It is hoped that the sales will raise £1bn by 2040, but many have expressed scepticism that the money will even touch the sides of a budget that will increase massively as technology advances. Up to thirteen sites have been identified and include: > RAF Henlow, Bedfordshire > Middlewick Ranges, Essex > Amport House, Andover, Hampshire, the British Armed Forces chaplaincy centre > Land at Harley Hill, Catterick, North Yorkshire > Chalgrove Airfield, Oxfordshire, a former World War Two airfield > Colerne Airfield, Chippenham, Wiltshire, a former World War Two airfield > Azimghur Barracks, Chippenham, Wiltshire > Prince William of Gloucester Barracks, Grantham, Lincolnshire > Old Dalby, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire > Venning Barracks, Telford > Parsons Barracks, Donnington > Southwick Park, Fareham, Hampshire > Royal Marines Stonehouse, Plymouth The sites are significant, as they are earmarked by the government as areas to develop new housing projects with a total of 55,000 potential homes being built. With the housing market in the UK currently strong and robust, this appears to make perfect sense both for the government who are coming under intense pressure to solve the housing crisis, and the MoD who are currently exploring all possible avenues for revenue increases.

Currently government schemes to help people get on the housing ladder have proved popular, but are ultimately a drop in the ocean as a new generation struggle consistently for any sort of traction in the market.

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Euro fIghter, RAF

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Abandoned airfield, Cornwall

First-time buyers are still a group feeling the repercussions of the housing boom of the mid to late 90s with no signs of real improvement. Indeed, the opposition to the government have repeatedly raised concerns that, although the move to build the housing is positive, there must be assurances that the homes will be built affordably to allow first-time buyers to have a chance of getting their hands on the new housing. £1bn certainly seems like a tiny amount when we consider that the annual budget for the MoD alone is over £35bn. Needs must though, and, as online warfare as well as global insecurity increases, it is the role of the military to spend wisely and keep up with developments. As Russia apparently reignites its hostilities with the West as claims of hacking fly around with increasing frequency, the eyes of the world will once again be on the defences of the Western nations but, crucially, this time it will be fought through the internet.

The MoD faces some very complex funding issues in the near future, and it’s fair to say that innovation will be required if it wants to continue or increase its revenue streams. Land sell-offs are currently an area in focus as the government seeks to ease pressure on its own departments with house building projects finding momentum on expensive and disused land.

some of the most impressive military innovations seen by NATO forces in the last 12 months.

A ‘Star Wars’-style speeder Researchers for the US military have engineered and tested aerial motorbikes that can hover above the ground and reach speeds of up to 110mph. The concept resembles the speeders first seen in Return of the Jedi and work much like hovercrafts or drones.

The craft is called the Joint Tactical Aerial Resupply Vehicle, or JTARV. Capable of potentially reaching speeds of 110 mph, JTARV could carry teams rapidly and nimbly– it could even fly around a war zone delivering about 300 pounds of supplies by itself. JTARV also provides stealth advantages, including a small physical footprint since it flies through the air, rather than driving on the ground. It also has a reduced acoustic signature. These real life speeders wouldn’t require runways or traditional landing zones, giving teams lots of flexibility.

Surveillance drones that can fly for 45 days

The ministry still needs physical equipment of impressive ability to flex its muscles globally and as a show of strength but it is the technology and software inside them, and the implications for their use, that are most mind-blowing.

Developed by Airbus Defence and Space, the new drones get their battery life from solar power, and are versatile enough to be landed, modified and relaunched quicker than any drones the military has seen before. As mentioned above, drones with this capability can easily be modified for surveillance, attack or escape as required simply by attaching new pieces of equipment or re-coding the software that runs the machine.

In ground warfare, aerial warfare and online warfare we’ll take a look at

The new drone is called the High Altitude Pseudo Satellite (HAPS), but has

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been affectionatley nicknamed the Zephyr. The Zephyr could fly without landing to provide the military with non-stop high-resolution imagery for a remarkable month and a half, and it could give teams accuracy down to six-inch resolution.

Flying at about 12.5 miles high at a fixed location, the Zephyr can see over 250 miles to the horizon and provide imagery in excess of 386 square miles. While the Zephyr won’t be flying in space, it can get impressively close. The drone can reach heights higher than 70,000 feet, and at those heights you can see the curvature of the earth.

Computers that recognise you without a password Currently being worked on by Dr. Angelos Keromytis, Active Authentication (AA) would bypass the need for ‘unnatural’ human behaviour that requires us to create a password, remember it and then keep up with a range of different passwords for different logins.

Dr. Keromytis has developed a system that would not require any further hardware installations that would read biometric characteristics such as an eye scanner or fingerprint scanner, which can be costly. Instead the computer will register how you use a mouse, the language and style you write in and the type of activity you do whilst working on a programme.

This, would also eliminate the security risk that exists in military software where a user may be used to log in before somebody else takes over the controls. The AA would therefore continuously monitor your activity checking that you are still in control of the computer.

Robots that cure you of all medical ailments from the inside

As part of the BRAIN initiative launched by President Obama in 2013, research is currently ongoing into the possibility of nano robots the size of a nerve fibre that can be injected into your body. The aim would be for the robots to work wirelessly with your brainwaves in order to identify where in the body any pain or trauma has occurred and immediately find its way through the bloodstream to the problem.

In military warfare the implications are obvious: nano robots that were able to fix and heal a wound within minutes would allow soldiers to avoid previously life-threatening injuries and infections. The majority of mortality experienced in live battle is from infections, blood poisoning or injured soldiers bleeding out. This could be tackled by these robots.

In civilian life, it is thought that the robots could help to eliminate cancer by being programmed to remotely destroy cancer cells and mutations before they become life-threatening.

There is a library of military innovations at our fingertips as we see unprecedented technological advancement in the military and civilian world. Even now as we are able to order something from thousands of miles away at the tap of a screen, or programme our heating on the way home through our smartphones, it’s easy to see where these technologies can be exploited both for untold good but unforeseeable evil.

The military, through innovative revenue building streams, are the ones tasked with coping with this advancing and increasingly invisible threat.

Hopefully through the sale of property and out-of-date warfare methods they can continue to do what has been, so far, a very good job at keeping us safe.

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WORLD MARKET VIEW The global financial crisis plunged property markets into a downward spiral. Nine years on, Global Property Scene takes a look at how the international markets are developing.

London, UK • Median sales price: $1,224,222* • Average price per sqft: $1,401

Note - Figures correct as of stated dates: *January 2017

Los Angeles, USA • Median sales price: $631,122* • Average price per sqft: $984

Mexico City, Mexico

New York, USA

• Median sales price: $83,200* • Average price per sqft: $625

• Median sales price: $1,314,919* • Average price per sqft: $1,869

Cities with highest homicide rate: (Correct as of January 2017)

Figures based on homicides per 100,000 people.

Sao Paulo, Brazil

70.88

72.31

73.51

86.45

104.73

108.54

111.03

119.87

• Median sales price: $217,877* • Average price per sqft: $281

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Palmira

Valencia

Distrito Central

Maturin

Acapulco

San Salvador

San Pedro Sula

Caracas

Cape Town, South Africa • Median sales price: $76,610* • Average price per sqft: $249

Singapore Moscow, Russia • Median sales price: $395,670* • Average price per sqft: $902

Dubai, UAE • Median sales price: $299,967* • Average price per sqft: $593

• Median sales price: $1,194,734* • Average price per sqft: $1,999

Sydney, Australia • Median sales price: $641,214* • Average price per sqft: $967

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Architecture Planning Structures Urban Design

WHAT’S THE ALTERNATIVE? Fine art Words : Michael Smith | View : Anky

It seems the sky is the limit when discussing the going rate for certain pieces of fine art. Many come onto the market with relatively substantiated reserves, only to then explode in a torrent of frantic bidding. If similar pricing was to be applied to anything else, be it technology or housing, I think people would certainly be outraged. Art seems to elicit excitement and interest unlike any other product to pass under the auction house’s hammer.

Much of this public enthusiasm can be linked to the story and history that stands behind certain pieces of work. Portrait de Paul Eluard, a Surrealist piece by the late Salvador Dali, is a great case in point. Painted in August 1929, its creation stemmed from Dali meeting poet Paul Eluard. Both were creative individuals, and soon bonded over their shared love of the arts.

Eluard was stunned by the beauty of Dali’s canvases, describing his works as both thought-provoking and inspirational. Dali in turn was amazed by his elegance and ease with women. Their bond can be seen through Portrait de Paul Eluard, a portrait of the poet surrounded by Dali’s imagery, proof to their intimate connection.

To giving the piece even further historical significance, Eluard was at the time friends with Gala, Dali’s future wife, who he introduced not long after their first meeting. She would become his creative muse, and featured heavily in much of his work.

staggering £18.1 million. To date this piece stands as the most valuable canvas Dali ever created, and the most valuable piece of Surrealist art ever sold.

It could be argued this wasn’t his greatest piece of work, but its significance is undeniable. This tells us the value for a piece of art cannot always be easily predicted. Age, something that can often produce higher pricing, doesn’t necessarily mean high value. Some works can often forge their own path even early in the career of a young artist.

The facts Let’s start with some stats and statistics. The global art market is currently flying high, with revenues last year reaching beyond £35bn. Currently holding the record for the most valuable piece of art ever sold is an oil painting by French Post-Impressionist artist Paul Gauguin. The piece called “When Will You Marry?” sold for £197m, the highest price ever paid for a work of art.

Works such as “When Will You Marry?” come onto the market rarely, and I’m sure that kind of pricing isn’t something that most investors will be looking to spend.

Investing in affordable works

All this history gives real significance to the importance of this piece of art.

It signifies the turn of events which created the Dali we all know and love.

The piece came to auction in 2011, and was sold by Sotheby’s for a

On the surface, investing in art could look like a risky decision even at low entry levels. Having discussed this matter with financial advisors in

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Art from Dali’s Museum, Figueras, Spain

the past, many have tried to dissuade investing. They often highlight the many downsides and risks associated with art. For instance, the industry is completely unregulated, giving investors no support from any financial compensation scheme if an investment goes south. Art can sometimes stand as an investment offering little financial flexibility, with some works proving difficult to sell forward. And most significantly of all, art doesn’t produce a regular income, similar to what you would expect from bonds or property.

market, tied to changes in the global economic environment. Art is often impacted by currency and exchange rates constantly moving up and down. Many auction houses will look to auction pieces in different parts of the world to achieve the best results. You must conduct the sale in the local currency, and then expect to pay any transfer and exchange rate charges. You could also be caught out purely by people’s constantly changing tastes. A piece of art which had previously been the flavour of the month could become unpopular, with its value plummeting overnight.

Now you would imagine that art would at least be a cheap item to maintain in comparison to a classic car or investment property, but sadly art too can be an expensive beast to own. Even before you’ve purchased a piece of art, you’re likely to have needed some expert advice which doesn’t come cheap.

Yet despite a long list of drawbacks and risks, art on the surface still looks like a potentially good investment alternative. There is a whole generation of new artist emerging, whose works are achieving strong market interest.

“Simple Intelligence Testing”, a piece created in 2000 by the world-famous graffiti artist Banksy, found its way onto the market back in 2008. The piece had only been produced in the year 2000, but due to the popularity of his works, and the exclusivity tied to them, manage to achieve an incredible price of £550,000. A good result considering the highest estimates placed the piece around £175,000.

Then you have the running cost of both insurance and storage. You may have the work on display, but that could prove even more costly due to light damage and temperature exposure. Art transactions too can prove very expensive, with some auction houses looking to achieve commissions of as much as 25 per cent.

Investors will also have to weather the discomfort of a potentially volatile

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Some art experts are also quick to point out that art has a very low correlation to equity markets, meaning if you have a large investment portfolio it could prove to be a good diversification option. Art does also

stand up well against the rise and fall of inflation. Like we have seen more recently with classic cars, the demand for the more exclusive products never dries up, with just a handful of vehicles passing between a small group of investors. This means the markets will generally always look for at the very least break even on sale and purchase price.

This brings us back to personal taste, if you want to invest you should look to buy something you both like and can afford. This takes the pressure off in the long term if you find it difficult to sell. Even if the art doesn’t move forward you will always be able to enjoy it.

income. The demand in China is also likely to boost the markets overseas, with more completion for some of the most collectable piece available on the open market today.

There are some art investment funds around, but they can prove difficult to join. It would make more sense to back an art consortium, whose collective knowledge and financial backing should allow you to have a more secure hands-off approach. These consortiums can often be reached through auction meetings, or alternatively by speaking to industry experts who will have established groups of their own looking for outside investment.

Taking the plunge If you do choose to buy art for investment purposes, you should certainly seek the advice of an art specialist. They can help you target a market where art is performing well.

For instance, traditional Chinese art is one market that has seen demand grow significantly. Many dealers have achieved strong returns from traditional style pieces with some almost doubling in value over the space of just twelve months. Demand for fine art is growing in Asia, as China continues to see a population with growing deposits of disposable

Art fairs too are a good place to start, with people on hand keen to give you advise when making your first purchase. They will also have a good range of art priced from as little as ÂŁ50. The returns maybe negligible, but it should give you a good idea of the processes involved in buying art.

Investing in art requires a good network of contacts, by building this up you can purchase and sell art more easily, growing a portfolio which in time should give you a good return.

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Q&A It’s time for GPS to answer some of our readers most pressing questions

Words : Samantha Jones

Q.

Q.

I am looking to buy my first investment property and am a little confused as to how the NET return is calculated. Different companies seem to calculate it in different ways.

I live in Dubai and am buying a property in the UK. I have just received the contract through and it says that the property is leasehold? I want to own the property, not rent it. The developer’s solicitor says that this is how all apartments in the UK are sold, is that correct?

A. Buying a property as an investment can be a pretty daunting experience, filled with technical jargon that doesn’t seem to make sense. The trick to understanding it all is to break the calculations down so that they are easy to understand.

A. The short answer to this question is yes. Whilst this may appear unfamiliar to you, the vast majority of apartments/flats in the UK are leasehold properties, with the owner of the freehold title usually being the owner of the building and the land it stands on.

A NET return means the income you will receive minus all outgoings (except tax if applicable). Essentially, this is the money you will receive as a profit on your investment. Outgoings are usually the same on every buy-to-let property (assuming you are not managing the property yourself) and include lettings/management fees, service/maintenance charges and ground rent.

As the owner of a leasehold property, you own the property for the entire period of the lease. The lease can be extended or sometimes the freehold can even be purchased, have a look at the further details on the Government’s website: https://www.gov.uk/leasehold-property/extendingchanging-or-ending-a-lease.

Your annual rental income, minus these three things equals your NET return.

Leases in the UK are typically very long term – anything from 120 to 999 years, dependent on the point at which you buy the property.

Example

As a leaseholder, you will not be responsible for the maintenance and management of the building and any communal areas; this lies with the freeholder, although you will be required to pay management/lettings fees and service charge/maintenance fees. You will also usually be required to pay an annual ground rent, which is essentially your ‘rent’ of the land that your apartment sits on.

Property Price: £89,995 Annual Rent: £7,500 (£625 per month) Less Lettings Fees per annum: £600 Service Charge per annum: £530 Ground Rent per annum: £350 NET Return Calculation: £6,020 which equates to 6.7% of the property price (this is often described as the NET yield)

*These questions and answers are provided for general information only and may not be completely accurate in every circumstance.

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The majority of freeholders will appoint a managing agent to look after the property on their behalf. This is of benefit to you as a leaseholder, as it usually means that you will not be responsible for any issues that arise in regards to the building, i.e. leaking roof, garden maintenance, painting of communal areas etc.

ASK THE EXPERT Security and counter-terrorism is a major concern in the modern world, and no more so than in public spaces. If terrorism is the deployment of fear and violence on civilians to enact political change, then protecting people in their day-to-day lives becomes incredibly important.

We spoke to Adrian Griffiths, director and partner at Chapman Taylor, a multi-award winning architectural and masterplanning company, in order to better understand the process of designing for counter-terrorism.

Words : Alex Timperley

Q.

Q.

How early in the design process do you begin to take security concerns into account?

Is there a trade-off between aesthetic concerns and security?

A. From the beginning of the planning process, there are two different types of terrorism you have to take into account – ‘lone wolf’ attacks and vehicular terrorism. Historically, the latter is the biggest threat and that is really the only type of terrorism we can plan for.

The principle is to make it difficult for vehicles to access a public space in an uncontrolled way through the design of the space and the public realm. This can be achieved through such measures as servicing spaces where vehicles are assessed for legitimacy before entering. It is about managing security from the outset, and this is all taken into account when the masterplan for the space is drawn up.

A. Yes there is, but with good master-planning the two can go hand in hand.

For instance, a mixed use development can be designed so that it is occupied at all times of day in order to increase public vigilance, or the layout of the car park at a shopping centre can be designed to allow for both public convenience and risk management. Good, considered design shouldn’t lead to a fortress scenario.

Q. What would you say is the best example of designing for counter-terrorism?

Q.

A.

What physical measures are undertaken?

For me, London is a fantastic example of well thought through security planning which stops many threats we never hear about. The combination of extensive surveillance and well-planned public spaces saves lives.

A. The form of the construction itself is important. The structure can be the difference between a building collapsing after an incident and a building retaining its integrity and thereby saving lives. This can be anything from designing a steel or concrete frame construction to minimise the effects of a catastrophe, to installing windows with a special film on which allows glass to shatter but not fall and injure people below.

Events like the New Year’s Eve fireworks display would not be possible without the layers of surveillance and security which have been designed into the city. Managing risk on a daily basis is London’s biggest success.

Public vigilance is vital but it would not be enough without the extra layer of security which is present.

Outside of that, surveillance plays a major role. Both CCTV and public vigilance are important in ensuring that potential threats are constantly managed and picked up before a situation can escalate. This is taken into consideration at the design stage, in consultation with the police who offer their input and suggestions for improvements.

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SHOULD I MOVE TO LISBON? Words : Leonardo Pizarro | View : Paulo Miguel Costa

Lisbon is the remarkable capital of Portugal, and considered to be one of the major economic centres in the world. Home to a mix of architectural constructions, the city is rich in history, culture and social energy.

Becoming an increasingly popular place to visit due to its warm Mediterranean climate, amazing golden beaches, fascinating historic sites, monuments and museums, Lisbon certainly is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It is one of those places that once you visit, you will begin contemplating living there.

Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world. The city boasts stunning architecture and is overflowing with history. You will see hundreds of buildings covered in decorative tiles called ‘azulejos’. These exquisitely painted ceramic tiles can be found anywhere from churches and palaces, to ordinary houses, shopping malls and railway stations. Azulejos were first introduced in the 15th century, being mostly used in churches and palaces. However, in the early 18th century their mass production had started, and by the end of the century, no other European country had as many tiles with such a variety in design. Visitors will also be pleased to hear that Tram 28 is still up and running. Everyone who has been to

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Lisbon has seen the little old-fashioned yellow vehicle roaming around on rails, passing through most of the city’s finest districts. It is part of the local cultural experience and less expensive than tour buses.

Getting lost in Lisbon is a real pleasure. There is just so much to discover and so many districts to visit. Since the city is built on seven hills, each hill represents a district with its own unique characteristics. Alfama is probably the district you would get lost in. But fear not, you will certainly have an adventure walking through these tight alleyways and winding streets. If you want something a little bit more exciting, pay a visit to Bairro Alto and Chiado. Quiet during the day, it transforms into a vibrant party district at night. If you are in a festive mood and feel like bar-hopping, pay this district a visit.

Usually, you can get around by speaking English and using body language, since younger generations usually learn English at school and can speak the language at a limited working proficiency. However, older generations don’t speak a single word of English, absolutely ‘nada’.

Therefore, it is useful to know a little bit of Portuguese. Not only will you

Lisbon Tram, Portugal

feel more integrated within the community, you will also find it easier to understand Spanish, as there are plenty of Spaniards currently living in Lisbon. Don’t worry, you will find Portuguese people extremely friendly, which should come as no surprise since Portugal has been ranked as the 5th most peaceful country in the world, out of 163 countries, according to the Global Peace Index 2016.

You can go on a shopping spree, even after midnight. Most shopping centres in the city centre only close after midnight during summer, which is convenient since Portugal has an average of 3,023 hours of sunlight per year. So, if you feel like a midnight snack or forgot to buy something and it is getting late, you will find yourself with more than enough company for the night. You won’t have to worry about getting back and forth, since public transportation is simply amazing. Travelling by metro is the quickest and most reliable way to get around the capital. The underground railway stations are filled with decorative azulejos and sculptures, and there is just something unique about the sound the metro makes when it arrives and leaves the station. The bus system is another great alternative, as there is usually a bus every five minutes with most routes covered. Alternatively,

you can walk. It is very easy to get to most places in Lisbon by foot. This is facilitated by the numerous intimate alleyways and shortcuts the city holds. Plus, you will be able to experience the city’s beauty more suitably and perhaps learn some Portuguese on the way.

Eating in Portugal is cheap compared to most European countries. You can enjoy a coffee and the most popular Portuguese dessert ‘pastel de nata’ pastry for €1.50, have a beer for less than €2 or eat like a horse for €10 or less, for lunch or dinner. Lisbon offers incredible fresh local foods, and if you like seafood, you will find a lot of ‘peixe’ on almost every corner.

If you are a vegetarian or vegan, do not worry as the city has a couple of the best vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Europe, and most food stores, such as Celeiro, can cater to your needs.

The sun-kissed city is known for its perfect Mediterranean climate and for being the city with the warmest winters in Europe, with temperatures reaching 18 °C during the day and 10 °C at night. The average temperature during summer is roughly 25 °C, the perfect weather to go swimming at the beach. The sea is around 15 minutes away by car or by bus from the

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Suspension bridge over the Tejo river, with the Cristo Rei monument in the background, Lisbon

heart of Lisbon. Lisbon accommodates many beautiful sandy beaches, which can be divided into four main regions. You have Serra de Sintra which boasts huge waves and is ideal for surfing. The Estoril-Cascais coastline is probably the most popular region as well as it being family friendly. However, it can get a bit crowded at times. Costa da Caparica is another beach worth considering, as it showcases a trendy bar scene. If you are into breath-taking scenery and prefer some peace and quiet, pay a visit to the South side of the Setubal. They are reasonably empty, so you will be able to take plenty of scenic photos, and are regarded as the cleanest and most beautiful beaches in Portugal.

Lisbon was the home to the Expo in 1998, the worlds largest international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of a host nation. It attracted around 11 million visitors in 132 days. The city reopened the site in 1999 as Parque das Nações (Park of Nations). It stands as a stunning free-access park, full of activities to do and diverse buildings including an Oceanarium, one of the world’s biggest aquariums and one of the city’s main attractions. The park is also one of Lisbon’s main business centres, with an increasing amount of companies basing their headquarters at or

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around the location. This demonstrates the country’s astounding ability to manage the infrastructure of such a massive venue that has been closed due to the end of the Expo ‘98.

With its clear and transparent tax rules, Portugal is considered to be one of the best countries to buy and invest in property. Additionally, investors can take advantage of the Golden Visa. Investors from non-EU countries simply need to carry out investments in the country in order to obtain a residency permit in Portugal. Not only does this allow residency to extend to family members, but it also allows them to travel freely within most of Europe. The Golden Visa is considered to be the best residency program for people seeking to invest in Portugal. The country has excellent tax advantages, the city boasts cultural richness, as well as being recognised internationally for the high quality of architectural work done, and it has a low cost of living. These factors are extremely eye-catching for property investors looking for a city to invest in. The World Bank currently ranked Portugal in 25th place amongst 190 countries as one of the best countries in the world for the ease of doing business.

With the UK leaving the EU, Lisbon might just replace London as the Financial Services capital and business meeting point. It is home to an increasing number of tech startups, such as Seedrs, CardMobili, Moneytis and many others. Lisbon is also the new home of The Web Summit, a major tech conference believed to be ‘the best technology conference on the planet’, where people like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk regularly do speeches. Not only will this attract tens of thousands of visitors, but it will also increase the country’s economic growth, thus making it a prosperous country to live in.

From sandy beaches and scenic landscapes, to stunning historic architecture and a modern culture on the rise, there is not much that this city cannot offer. If you are planning to retire in Lisbon, you will most probably live comfortably, as the low costs still gets you a great, high quality life. The capital has already attracted the interest of investors and small companies, but it remains fairly hidden from the world, at least for now. So, take the chance to move while house prices are reasonably low.

You will definitely feel at home.

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Specialists at providing buy-to-let properties to the private investor market, Knight Knox has a wide range of developments available across the UK. Working alongside a team of experienced developers, solicitors and agents allows Knight Knox to provide expert advice and guidance on a range of investments.

Over the next 29 pages you will see a selection of the investment opportunities available through Knight Knox.

+44(0)161 772 1370 www.knightknox.com

PALATINE GARDENS Sheffield PRICES FROM :

ÂŁ69,950 > Circa 6.03% predicted NET returns Quality fixtures and fittings Fully-furnished* Great central location Within walking distance of local shops High rental demand in the area

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Palatine Gardens is located in Shalesmoor, a vibrant area of Sheffield which is only minutes from the city centre.

The development is close to the Supertram light rail network, via which residents can get around the city, and is also near to the city’s national rail station which allows convenient travel to cities as far apart as London, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, York and Newcastle. *furniture subject to an additional charge

95% SOLD OUT

X1 THE LANDMARK Salford PRICES FROM :

£130,000 > Circa 5.51% predicted NET returns Private communal facilities Beautiful balconies with dynamic city views Prime city centre location Within walking distance of local amenities Experienced management company in place

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The newest addition to the Manchester skyline, X1 The Landmark will provide 191 stunning apartments to the thriving Salford rental market.

Situated in a prime location between two thriving cities, X1 The Landmark will offer residents the best of both worlds—able to enjoy the picturesque waterfront destination found in Salford’s MediaCityUK, yet just a stone’s throw away from Manchester’s dynamic city centre.

COMING SOON

X1 THE CAMPUS Salford PRICES FROM :

ÂŁ89,995 > Circa 6% predicted NET returns Built by experienced developer; X1 Close to excellent public transport links Close to local shops, bars and restaurants On-site gym Private student accommodation is a booming investment class

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X1 The Campus will consist of 271 student studio apartments split over two blocks and eight floors within the University of Salford Frederick Road Campus.

Salford plays host to everything which a modern student could possibly want from a university city – not just a fantastic university which is a leader in its field, but also a range of pubs, restaurants and shops in the local area.

BARREL YARD Manchester PRICES FROM :

ÂŁ130,000 > Circa 5.76% predicted NET returns 1, 2, 3 & 4-bed apartments and Townhouses Lettings and management company in place Short distance to Manchester city centre Built by an experienced developer Great transport links

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Barrel Yard is located in South Manchester, just minutes away from the exciting city centre. The development benefits from local public transport as well as being a short drive from the city centre, where residents can enjoy all the retail, recreation and cultural amenities that Manchester has to offer.

Furthermore, trendy local areas such as Chorlton and Didsbury are only a short drive away from Barrel Yard.

LAST APARTMENT S REMAINING

THE TOWER AT X1 THE QUARTER Liverpool PRICES FROM :

ÂŁ89,995 > Circa 5% NET rental returns Highly sought-after location Lettings and management company in place Private communal facilities Great transport links and close to shopping Built by experienced developer

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The Tower is the fifth and final phase of X1 The Quarter, X1’s award-winning development near the beautiful Liverpool waterfront, with all previous phases sold out and fully tenanted.

The success of the previous phases demonstrates the huge demand for prime residential accommodation in Liverpool, and The Tower at X1 The Quarter is sure to prove popular with both investors and future tenants.

DE VELOPMENT

««««« BEST RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT MERSEYSIDE X1 The Quarter

by X1 Developments

SILKHOUSE COURT Liverpool PRICES FROM :

ÂŁ99,995 > Circa 5.9% predicted NET returns Unbeatable city centre location Liverpool rental market is booming Excellent city centre location Close to regional and national transport links Fully let and managed by an experienced letting agent

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Silkhouse Court provides the ultimate modern living experience. Each apartment comes complete with beautiful, top-of-the-range furnishing and fixtures, carefully selected by the development team to suit the dwellings.

Residents will be provided with a number of convenient on-site amenities. The private gymnasium on the ground floor is open for all residents, and the concierge service is there to make modern living simpler for the busy young professional.

X1 MEDIA CITY TOWER 3 Salford Quays PRICES FROM :

£114,995 > Circa 6% predicted NET returns Studios, 1, 2-bedroom apartments Lettings and management company in place Private communal facilities Great transport links and close to shopping Most exclusive development outside of London

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The penultimate tower in X1 Media City will follow in the footsteps of its predecessors, offering high-end residential living in a highly sought-after area.

This development’s stunning glass-fronted exterior perfectly epitomises the luxury within, and is just a stone’s throw away from the iconic MediaCityUK site on the picturesque Salford Quays waterfront.

LAST APARTMENT S REMAINING

X1 THE GATEWAY Salford Quays PRICES FROM :

ÂŁ100,000 > Circa 6% predicted NET returns Situated in a prime residential area Within easy walking distance of MediaCityUK Let and managed by X1 Lettings Great on-site facilities Waterfront views

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With a sleek, modern design, a luxurious finish and a desirable location, this new residential development raises the bar when it comes to providing future tenants with a first class cosmopolitan living experience.

Situated in the heart of the Quays, this prime residential development brings a mixture of 191 stunning 1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartments to market.

NOW SOLD OUT

BRIDGEWATER GATE Manchester PRICES FROM :

ÂŁ114,995 > Circa 6% predicted NET returns Local rental market is booming Private communal area Great transport links Built by an experienced developer On-site lettings and management company

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Bridgewater Gate is enviably located on the edge of Manchester city centre in the thriving area of Castlefield.

This luxurious development will have all the advantages of being a short walk away from the local parks and independent shops of suburbia, but also the vibrant bars and restaurants of the city.

It also sits within walking distance of MediaCityUK, the new home of the BBC.

NOW SOLD OUT

IN CONSTRUCTION

X1 AIRE Leeds PRICES FROM :

ÂŁ105,000 > 6% NET rental returns 1 and 2-bedroom apartments Lettings and management company in place Private communal facilities State-of-the-art apartments Prime location in the heart of Leeds

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X1 Aire is Knight Knox’s newest development in the heart of the thriving city of Leeds. This development is set to provide state-of-the-art living for a vastly undersupplied Leeds rental market, providing a stunning array of apartments ranging from bespoke studios to stunning penthouses.

X1 Aire will take boutique city centre living to the next level, providing state-of-the-art apartments to the private rental market.

NOW SOLD OUT

IN CONSTRUCTION

ADELPHI WHARF PHASE 3 Salford PRICES FROM :

£119,995 > Circa 6% predicted NET returns Excellent local infrastrucutre 10 minutes walk to central Manchester Experienced managing agent Great transport links and close to shopping Chronic undersupply of housing in Manchester and Salford

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The eagerly anticipated third phase of Knight Knox’s incredibly successful Adelphi Wharf project has arrived.

Located in one of the UK’s buy-to-let property hotspots, Greater Manchester’s popular region of Salford, Adelphi Wharf Phase 3 follows on from the two previous sold out phases. Investors were understandably enamoured with the development’s attractive modern apartments, superb location and the area’s ever-growing rental demand.

NOW SOLD OUT

SPECTRUM Manchester PRICES FROM :

ÂŁ172,950 > Circa 5.5% NET rental returns Completed and tenanted development Private landscaped gardens Great central location Built by experienced developer High quality fixtures and fittings

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Spectrum delivers the best of both worlds, combining chic, urban living with the tranquility of private landscaped gardens.

The studio, one, two and three-bedroom apartments are finished to the highest specification, with floor-to-ceiling windows and full-length balconies in most apartments.

Light floods into the living space and views across the city are a constant reminder of how close you are to everything you could want.

COMPLETED AND TENANTED

THE COURTYARD AT X1 THE QUARTER Liverpool PRICES FROM :

ÂŁ89,950 > 6% NET rental returns Finance options available Experienced management company in place Proven rental demand 5 minute walk to Liverpool ONE Opposite Liverpool Marina

Built by an experienced developer in the residential buy-to-let market, The Courtyard at X1 The Quarter presents a unique concept in luxury living for the residents of Liverpool.

Completed in September 2014, the development contains 77 modern 1, 2 and 3 bed apartments, in addition to 3 bed townhouses. Offered at an extremely competitive purchase price and with virtually no maintenance required due to the new-build status of the development.

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NOW SOLD OUT

MULBERRY PLACE Salford PRICES FROM :

£109,000 > Circa 6% predicted NET returns Highly sought-after location Lettings and management company in place Close to Salford and Manchester City Centres Excellent local transport links Salford named ‘UK Buy-to-Let Hotspot’ 2014 and 2015

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Located in the heart of Salford, Mulberry Place brings 38 chic apartments to the city’s thriving buy-to-let market in the form of spacious one and two bedroom apartments.

Residents of Mulberry Place will also benefit from excellent on-site facilities such as a beautifully landscaped communal courtyard, bicycle storage and off-street car parking spaces provided for selected apartments. Some apartments will also enjoy the benefit of having their own balcony.

COMPLETED AND TENANTED

THE TERRACE AT X1 THE QUARTER Liverpool PRICES FROM :

ÂŁ109,950 > 6% NET rental returns Assured 6% rental income for 5 years Fully managed and let by X1 lettings Great central location High-end fixtures and fittings Built by experienced developer

The Terrace is the fourth phase of the highly successful X1 The Quarter development. All four phases (including The Gallery, The Courtyard and The Studios) are completed and tenanted, with the fifth phase, The Tower, currently in construction.

This development is set to be a 101-unit new-build in the vastly popular city of Liverpool, launched as a direct response to the incredible demand for prime residential apartments in the region, shown by the incredible success of the previous phases.

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COMPLETED AND TENANTED

BELLS COURT Sheffield PRICES FROM :

ÂŁ69,995 > 7% NET rental returns Assured 7% rental income for 1 year Fully-furnished Excellent city centre location Luxury studio apartments High rental demand in Sheffield

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A brand-new residential project located in the heart of the highly popular student city of Sheffield. It supplies the burgeoning buy-to-let market in Sheffield with a total of 29 state-of-the-art studios apartments.

Bells Court provides a mix of luxury studio apartments, perfect for both students and young professionals alike.

Demand is high for prime accommodation in Sheffield, with its rising house prices and thriving rental market.

LOOKING FOR PROPERTY TO BUY? BE SURE TO VISIT THE

The UK’s largest and longest running property investment event is presented at ExCeL London every April and October.

The major names in UK and international property will be out in force with plenty of ‘off-market’ bargain deals and show exclusives to choose from.

E FREW

SHO Y ENTR

REGISTER ONLINE AT www.propertyinvestor.co.uk NOTE: Seminar booking opens approximately 6 weeks before show opening day

New-build buy-to-let opportunities Studios, 1, 2 & 3-bed apartments available Completed, in construction & tenanted developments available In prime locations across the North West

Enquire today Tel: 0161 772 1394 Web: www.knightknox.com