Asian House & Home 2020

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

PUBLISHERS OF

Asian

HOUSE&HOME SPRING 2020 ISSUE 10 £2.75

T H E U LT I M AT E R E A D F O R P R O P E R T Y

AUCTION UPDATEI

Buzz returns to commercial real estatei

DIVORCEI

And tax misconceptionsi

RENTAL MARKETI

More pressure on landlordsi

Spotlight on:

SLOUGH

Langley - Boom time for buyers

04

PLUS: PROPERTY PURCHASES: TAX RELIEF PAINS-YOUR OPTIONS

9 771354 205052

Asian

HOUSE&HOME Current trends point to scope for a lush landscape

Property market set to change

THE DUST FROM THE BREXIT bickering has thankfully settled, so has the political squabbling.

Having won a majority mandate from voters the government can now get on unhindered with the task ahead. A BBC report on housing states that demand for homes has increased, partially due to rising population, and construction work failing to keep up with demand. The report states 1.2 million new homes are needed to accommodate everyone who currently needs a home.

All things remaining the same, it would take about 15 years at current building rates to close the gap. Political stability and the predicted investor demand for real estate should provide new opportunities for international and domestic investors. The UK capital is already witnessing a surge in prices and transactions. An FT report dated 15th January 2020 states that Savills is predicting a 1 per cent growth

WELCOME TO OUR 10TH EDITION OF Asian House and Home.

I hope you enjoy this edition, and if you wish to contribute please do write in.

With the build up to the elections in December 2020, the property market had already started to heat up. It seemed as if it was working off a premonition.

I had heard from the ground that deals where already being agreed pre-election. There were of course several large profile deals agreed just after the election result.

There is a housing shortage in this country which will not be satisfied. London has only one borough where the property price is below £300,000. This is an important bench mark, as this number is within the reach of an ordinary working couple earning an ordinary wage. Pre- Brexit there was only one borough where the average property price was below this magic number.

Soon there will be none, and Londoners will be forced out of this city and will be compelled to

in UK house prices, Strutt & Parker 4 per cent and buying agents Black Brick thinks London’s top-end luxury homes could rise 10 per cent in 2020.

While London’s property market, including the luxury sector is bullish, elsewhere in the country plans are afoot to boost the availability of social and affordable homes. As part of its Innovative Housing Programme the Welsh government has announced a £45m investment in modular housing, in an attempt to create “next generation of social housing.

Property consultancy firm JLL has forecast a price-rise of 16.5% in Edinburgh and 13.7% rise in Glasgow by 2023.

A PwC report on East Midlands has estimated a house prices to rise from £190,000 in 2018 to around £214,000 by 2022.

These are good signs both for domestic and overseas investors. If the positive signs of early 2020 are precursors of things to come, investors can look atforward to a win-win situation in the months ahead.

PUBLISHER/EDITOR

PUBLISHER/EDITOR: CB PATEL CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER: L. GEORGE MANAGING EDITOR: KOKILA PATEL ASSOCIATE EDITOR: RUPANJANA DUTTA EDITORIAL EXECUTIVE: PRIYANKA MEHTA CONSULTING EDITOR: JYOTSNA SHAH ADVERTISING MANAGER: KISHOR PARMAR, SURENDRA PATEL

commute from the outskirts.

People is shelter and a requirement for survival in the same way food is. We often discuss property only in speculative terms and forget its fundamentals, as well as losing sight of the underlying housing shortage which will not be addressed regardless of what the geopolitical climate is.

There are many changes going on both in the commercial and residential sectors. Although, it does seem that it’s the residential sector which is being unfairly targeted by the government, both in terms of an increase in legislation and taxation.

Currently, we have a situation in the property market where the difference between the gross and net gains have never been wider.

Not only is expertise required to purchase property but the vehicle on how it is purchased requires careful planning and consultation as well.

We hope this edition of Asian House & Home magazine will serve to shed light on some of these issues, and bring them to the surface, so they can be addressed and planned for.

CONSULTING EDITOR

HEAD - NEW PROJECTS AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: CECIL SOANS ART DIRECTOR: LISA DUKE GRAPHIC DESIGNERS: HARISH DAHYA & AJAY KUMAR CUSTOMER SERVICE: RAGINI NAYAK

ASIAN BUSINESS PUBLICATIONS LTD KARMA YOGA HOUSE 12 HOXTON MARKET, LONDON N1 6HW Tel: 020 7749 4085 Fax: 020 7749 4081 www.abplgroup.com ©Asian Business Publications Ltd

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Asian

HOUSE&HOME

CONTENTS

SPRING

2020

upfront 7 9

NEWS Property update SOCIAL MEDIA Reorganise your home

22

35

features 12 LOOKING FLUSH New VitrA WC, built-in bidet 14 DIVORCE And tax misconceptions 16 NUMEROLOGY act or fiction 18 NO SPACE TO BE! n today’s dri en world we need space to gather oursel es together.

22 FUTUREBRICKS lternati e inance 24 RENTAL MARKET Landlords: More pressure 28 SPOTLIGHT ON SLOUGH Scaling new heights 35 NACROPOLIS Buy right, Sit tight!

38 HURRICANE COURT he ery best of Langley 42 TIME TO RESTRUCTURE Residential property 43 AUCTION UPDATE Buzz returns to commercial real estate 44 TAX Buy-to-let mortgage interest tax relief pains your options 46 Q&A Capital Gains Tax 50 OVER COFFEE Neel Shah

9 38

14

Rachel Dimond Principal Contributor achel imond ontributing ditor has brought her wealth of editorial experience to sian ouse and ome.

With her extensi e bac ground in publishing she has enjoyed guiding the team throughout the de elopment and rebranding of this publication.

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Harold Benjamin.qxp_A4 Temp 04/03/2020 14:25 Page 1

NEWS

PROPERTY DID

GAZUMP!

YOU

(RESEARCH: MARKET FINANCIAL SERVICES MFS)

31% of Homebuyers have been KNOW gazumped in the past decade.

However just under 50% say they would do the same back if it would lead them to successful completion, so potential buyers may want to keep this in mind!

(SIMPLY BUSINESS RESEARCH DEC 2019) SO THE SHORTAGE GROWS!

LEAP YEAR GAINS & LOSSES? The insatiable thirst for housing continues: England needs 340,000 new homes per year to stop the 8 million living in unsuitable accommodation! Last time these many were built was 1968 - maybe 2020 is the year?

However, 26 percent of landlords are planning to sell at least one buy-to-let property this year (2020). This is due to profits falling rental costs economic instability and wanting to cash in their investments, among other factors.

And 80 percent are apparently not looking to take on anymore buy-to-let properties.

26%

OF LANDLORDS ARE PLANNING TO SELL AT LEAST ONE BUY-TO-LET PROPERTY THIS YEAR

Maybe it’s because of Brexit.

Two year fixed rate mortgages are rising in popularity according to Paragon’s latest financial advisers’ confidence tracking (FACT) index. When it comes to predicting house prices post-Brexit, no one has a crystal ball, and the market is notoriously tough to predict.

Although price wise the general trend is down, it all depends on the buyer. confidence.

Consumers rule in this sense!

BUY TO LET MORTGAGE RATES PRODUCT 2 Year Rates 3 Year Rates 5 Year Rates 5 Year Rates 5 Year Rates 5 Year Rates 7 Year Rates 10 Year Rates

INTEREST RATE

ARRANGEMENT FEE

LTV

DESCRIPTION

1.19% 1.35% 1.63% 1.64% 1.79% 3.19% 3.34% 3.59% 3.30% 2.74%

2% of the loan amount £1,795 £1,995 2% of the loan amount £1,999 2% of the loan amount £1,995 1.5% of the loan amount 1.75% of the loan amount £1,995

65% 65% 65% 65% 65% 75% 75% 75% 65% 65%

Standard BTL Standard BTL Standard BTL Standard BTL Standard BTL LTD Company BTL Standard HMO Ltd Company HMO Standard BTL Standard BTL

QUICK GLANCE MORTGAGE TABLE SUPPLIED BY WWW.SOWANDREAP.CO.UK

SPRING 2020 I ASIAN HOUSE & HOME

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Godley and Co2016.qxp_A4 Temp 12/04/2016 11:34 Page 1

To olley ’s

FINALIST

Let’s discuss property

Whether you already have a UK proper t y por tfolio or are planning to invest in the UK proper t y

Advice on structuring the transaction Preparation & submission of UK T Ta ax Returns Inheritance T Ta ax planning Capital gains tax planning HMRC Investigations Commercial Properties Where clients hold commercial proper ties within their por t folio, we provide a range of ser vices including V VA AT and capital allowance advisor y ser vices.

Congress House, 14 Lyon Road, Harrow, HA1 2EN

Contact us on +44 (0)20 8515 1234 or at tax@godley.co.uk www.godley.co.uk @GodleyCo Godley & Co is the trading name of Godley & Co Ltd

God God dley ey P Property ro opertty Ad dA A4 vv05 05.indd indd 1

12/ 12/04/2016 2/04/2016 04 4/2016 /2016 2016 16 09:08

NEWS

WORDS: MAYA GUDKA

SOCIAL MEDIA Reorganise your home WE’VE ALL DONE IT, FOUND OURSELVES DOWN A RABBIT-HOLE ON OUR PHONES, WHETHER ON SOCIAL MEDIA OR OTHER APPS WHICH DEMAND OUR ATTENTION. RANDOMLY ENDED UP ON BOLLYWOOD ACTOR SITES ON INSTAGRAM? VIEWING SOMEONE’S HOLIDAY WITH A MIXTURE OF JOY AND SADNESS ABOUT YOUR OWN GREY SURROUNDS? NOT ONLY DOES THIS DRAIN OUR TIME, IT DOESN’T MAKE US FEEL GOOD.

SOCIAL MEDIA: THE UPSIDE! Today there is plenty of discussion about using our phones less and detoxing’ from social media. While this is important, I am here to talk about something more optimistic: how to make the time that you choose to spend on your phone, count.

Used well, social media has the power to do many things, from enhancing relationships to boosting our careers. It can connect us to our interests, or to those with shared interests, and help us collect our visual ideas in ways that are shareable and organised. But we need to be intentional rather than haphazard, mindful rather than

mindless in the way we use these platforms. o let’s oom into ways that you can use social media to supercharge your House and Home projects, whether these involve decoration, decluttering or DIY.

PINTEREST CAN BE YOUR BEST FRIEND HERE Here’s why: Whilst Pinterest doesn’t really need an

introduction, it functions slightly differently to the other main platforms so it’s worth clarifying.

Think of Pinterest as an online version of a pinboard, where you can store all your virtual clippings’ in one place. he beauty of Pinterest, as one of my dedicated Pinterest buddies put it, is that you can use Pinterest to store all references you like from all over the nternet in one place’. Let’s consider some of the benefits of using Pinterest for your home decoration projects:

1

Daydreaming!

You might not be planning to do your renovation for a while, but that doesn’t mean you need to stop the fun of researching it! All those beautiful images

DECORATING & RENOVATING FIRST THINGS FIRST, WHAT DO YOU WANT YOUR SPACE TO LOOK LIKE? WHAT’S THE OVERALL AESTHETIC, LAYOUT AND COLOUR PALETTE? THIS IS ABOUT PLANNING YOUR INTERIORS, POSSIBLY EVEN SOME RENOVATION WORK.

SPRING 2020 I ASIAN HOUSE & HOME

9

NEWS

that you find can be perfectly organised and ready for when you start your wor s. uring the busy design and build phase you won’t be faffing around searching for images you saw once upon a time you’ll ha e it all ready to share.

2

Room by room organisation!

n Pinterest you can create boards from your profile clic ’ create board’ then decide the name who you want to share it with and whether it is public or pri ate. ou can build up different boards for different rooms. ha e a different board for e ery single room in my house and we’re not planning to reno ate this year enjoy the process of collating and editing these boards to capture all the different elements of each room and it feels li e a more producti e way to spend time on the screen than mindless scrolling

3

A picture saves many hours.

Pinterest boards wor brilliantly if you’re wor ing with interior designers architects or builders. hey also sa e hours of time liaising with your partner or

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ASIAN HOUSE & HOME I SPRING 2020

whoe er else is important to your house projects. a ing been through one reno ation myself with images and lin s ying around o er email and text for my next reno ation e erything is being filed onto pri ate Pinterest boards from your profile clic ’ and then Pin’ and pin Photos lin s or things that you find in your Pinterest feed.

Pinterest is pretty smart at learning what you like and showing you that type of content.

Be patient. It will often update you with relevant content in the days after you search.

HOW TO MAKE IT WORK FOR YOU: Pinterest is pretty smart at learning what you li e and RABBIT-HOLE ALERT! showing you that type of If Pinterest has decided that you like pictures content. till sometimes of the Royal family, it might repeatedly send you it can be hard to get pictures of them – yep, I’ve been there! You can exactly what you are tap on the ‘…’ at the bottom of the image and loo ing for. e patient. select hide pin, and tell Pinterest why you are t will often update you not interested in this content. Be consistent with rele ant content in the about doing this and you’ll get more of days after you search. what you want and less distracting minimalist period styles or ou can personalise your nonsense! colour pop’ will gi e you ery Pinterest feed by searching different feeds. or extensions for specific interior styles or reno ations Pinterest can also gi e you great ideas for how these might loo simple open plan li ing room’ searches will get the Instagram ball rolling. spend some he other go-to platform time digging for interiors inspiration is out the styles nstagram. ou’ll need to spend you like some time digging out the styles you li e - start with the big start with the generic interiors’ hashtags and big generic then put in a few more specific interiors’ hashtags e.g. in my case hashtags dwardian’ as well as certain and then styles li e colour pop’. ome of put in a few my fa ourites are agi at more specific littlehouseinlondon as well as hashtags ow ome’ hashtag.

FAB IDEA!

TRY SOME OF THESE FANTASTIC GROUPS: ‘DIY ON A BUDGET OFFICIAL’ AND ‘DIY ON A BUDGET UK’.

GREAT EXAMPLES OF THE ‘HIVE MIND’ AT ITS BEST!

INSTA-PINTEREST CROSSOVER:

RABBIT-HOLE ALERT!

empower you to see that

Whilst you’re on Facebook, be mindful of others can do it and getting sucked into other mindless scrolling therefore so can you.

– just bookmark that group so you go to it directly rather than wading through the rest of DECLUTTERING the Facebook candy shop. And if you’re really o you’ e nailed the intentional about your time, look at this via no pun intended figured the laptop rather than your phone. Digital out your interior palettes, Minimalist Cal Newport advises this and now you want to thin as a way to detach from mindless about how to organise and eep phone scrolling habits.

nce you’ e found the accounts you like, you can pin pictures of these to your Pinterest boards just clic on the ’ at the top right of each nstagram post you want to eep clic copy lin ’ and then paste this onto the rele ant Pinterest board. s Pinterest registers these images it will start to show you similar images in your feed.

DIY – TAP INTO THE HIVE MIND! o you’ e figured out the loo you’re going for and this might in ol e a little . Let’s start with the nuts and bolts so to

spea ry some of the fantastic groups out there dedicated to this. on a udget fficial’ and on a udget ’ are great examples of the hi e mind’ at its best apping into this sort of special interest group can short circuit a lot of unnecessary googling and

it decluttered so that you can show it off in the best light. f this is something you want to wor on for your house there are some fantastic ways that social media can support you. part from the decluttering titans li e arie ondo and the thehomeedit there are lots of other accounts on nstagram such as the artofdecluttering and theorganisedlife gi ing

daily and specific inspiration on micro decluttering and before and after to eep you inspired and why not upload your own before and after for a little accountability

OVER TO YOU… his gi es you a taste of some of the fantastic personalised resources now a ailable to help with your home projects. What will you try first Let me now at mayagud a.

Our expert MAYA GUDKA IS AN EXECUTIVE COACH AND RESEARCHER AT LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL. SHE FOCUSES ON POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCH AND IS CURRENTLY RESEARCHING POSITIVE SOCIAL MEDIA.

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BATHROOM DESIGN

VitrA Vitrus glass concealed casing for wall hung or back to wall WCS £ 611. Shown in black glass. Sento wall-hung pan with Aquacare function £466.

LOOKING FLUSH! New VitrA WC with built-in bidet Unique design offers comfort and hygiene.

People who understand the benefits of washing with water after using the toilet, include a water closet (WC) with a builtin bidet function as an essential part of the bathroom design. The bidet function is recognised as offering superior hygiene and comfort and now this simple solution for enhanced personal care is available in the UK on selected WC’s from VitrA – Aquacare.

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ASIAN HOUSE & HOME I SPRING 2020

I

t’s all in the name - not only do itr uacare W s sa e aluable space in the ’s smaller bathrooms by eliminating the need for a separate bidet unit the system pro ides the ultimate in hygiene and user comfort. itr is one of the world’s leading bathroom companies and wor s with world renowned designers to manufacture inno ati e sanitaryware furniture brassware and accessories. itr ’s ento ntegra and -Line ranges all offer an uacare option. he -Line W designed by multi-award-winning erman design

house includes a thermostatic cartridge for a comfortable warmwater wash. itr ’s uacare is uni ue with a patent-pending and is explicitly designed to suit all water systems it is also ery easy to install.

TECHNOLOGY FOR THE USER uacare W s are wall-hung which adds to a feeling of space in the bathroom and ma es cleaning simple. nstalling a wall-hung W re uires an in-wall cistern frame which needs to be considered at the design stage. lternati ely

a pre-assembled and integrated air breaker, and a WC seat and cover.

The WC pan requires no additional equipment or preparation besides water installation. If maintenance is needed, a straightforward click removes the Aquacare cover below the WC seat. VitrA has designed, with a patent-pending, Aquacare to protect potable water against contamination from dirty water while saving time and money for the installer. Additionally, it represents an invisible solution for end-users but still offers extra hygiene and comfort in the bathroom. This highly engineered solution is available for Sento, Integra and M-Line wallhung WC pans and is automatically compatible with EN1717 as well as L and W certified.

LEFT: VitrA Sento wall-hung WC pan with Aquacare function £466 shown with VitrA Elegance mechanical flush plate in anti-fingerprint chrome £78.00 VitrA Nest Trendy bathroom furniture in high gloss white; 80cm washbasin unit with one drawer £861.washbasin with LED lighting £423. Basin mixer £113 Nest illuminated mirror £590. Nest Trendy laundry unit with wheels – top opening £523. Nest tall unit with one door £ 812.

BELOW: VitrA Integra WC with Aquacare function RRP £484. Shown with VitrA Loop R flush plate in matt chrome £47.

WWW.VITRA.CO.UK

and to avoid too much building work in an existing bathroom a Vitrus glass cistern and frame, by VitrA, like the one pictured right, allows an uacare W to be fitted as an upgrade. itr ’s extensi e range of in-wall cistern frames are easy to install, and there is a choice of sizes available allowing for installation under a window or where space is particularly tight. ual- ush mechanisms mean the user can choose as little as 2 litres to ush ma ing tangible sa ings to a household water bill. itr ’s Aquacare WCs also include Rim-ex

technology – there is no rim on the WC bowl whatsoever eliminating one of the most unhygienic aspects of a standard WC. In fact, in tests with deni ni ersity in ur ey itr ’s Rim-ex option has proved to be 95% more hygienic than WCs with a traditional rim that harbour germs and limescale.

TECHNOLOGY FOR THE INSTALLER Aquacare is an innovative solution that makes installation of a bidet WC both quick and easy. VitrA Aquacare comes as a complete set: a WC with

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TAX

WORDS: YOGESH PATEL AND DEVINA DODHIA

DIVORCE and tax misconceptions

Divorce is often a painful process.

But there are simple steps that can be taken in happier times to prevent HMRC being a significant beneficiary.

14

T

he last thing on a divorcing couple’s mind is taxation.

However, proactive individuals should consider the following key points earlier in their relationships to ensure HMRC does not become a significant beneficiary in any financial divorce settlement.

TIMING IS EVERYTHING Generally spouses (or civil partners) benefit from transferring assets between each other without paying any capital gains tax . owe er this does not apply after the tax year of a couple separating. hen both spouses will treated as connected parties’ and any transfer between each other will be treated as if made at mar et alue resulting in a potential bill e en if no cash is being transferred o a married couple thin ing of separating may consider waiting until after th pril. his effecti ely gi es them and their di orce lawyers one year to deal with all the processes to formalise a di orce. rucially this includes all the financial arrangements to reduce the tax liability gi en the fa ourable relief still a ailable for no on transfer during the tax year of separation. f course some complicated di orce proceedings ta e years to reach a successful conclusion but for

ASIAN HOUSE & HOME I SPRING 2020

many other di orcing couples it may concentrate minds to get proceedings resol ed within months.

FAMILY HOME or many couples the family home is their largest shared asset. he forthcoming changes to how is calculated will ha e an impact on many di orcing couples when splitting their home. rom pril the period of deemed occupation will be reduced from months to nine months and letting relief significantly restricted. his will impact couples who ha e li ed in a property together which is now rented reducing the amount of relief they can claim on any gain. n addition from pril the payment of if any is due will be payable within days of transfer. t an already difficult time for many di orcing couples this increases the stress yet further because they are li ely to be asset rich but cash poor. his could result in significant cash ow issues in terms of paying the tax due on the transfer of a property to their ex-spouse.

WILLS When you marry any existing will is cancelled howe er on any subse uent di orce a will does cancel. he importance of this is easy

to visualise when you consider how the assets of a recently di orced and deceased individual could be awarded to their former wife or husband Ensure you have a new will in place after you ha e separated especially if your spouse or ci il partner was a beneficiary or trustee.

SDLT ON TRANSFER t’s not all doom and gloom here will be no tamp uty Land ax L if the couple agree to split transfer their family home or other property under the terms of a court order. owe er a word of caution there is a potential tax trap’ if one of the parties buys another home before the marital home is sold in the form of a second home’ L surcharge.

CONCLUDING THOUGHT While di orce can be costly on many grounds being aware of these ey points around tax can help to reduce both the financial pain and the stress of separating from a partner and lo ed one.

DISCLAIMER THIS ARTICLE IS INTENDED TO BE A GENERAL GUIDE AND CANNOT BE A SUBSTITUTE FOR PROFESSIONAL ADVICE. NEITHER THE AUTHOR(S) OR GODLEY & CO LTD ACCEPT ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY LOSS OCCASIONED TO ANY PERSON ACTING OR REFRAINING FROM ACTING AS A RESULT OF MATERIAL CONTAINED IN THIS PUBLICATION.

Our expert

YOGESH PATEL AND DEVINA DODHIA, CHARTERED TAX ADVISERS AND ACCOUNTANTS WORKING AT GODLEY & CO, A HARROW BASED FIRM OF ACCOUNTANTS AND TAX SPECIALISTS, WITH A STRONG FOCUS ON UK PROPERTY AND PRIVATE CLIENT MATTERS.

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NUMEROLOGY

Fact or fiction?

Many believe numbers can help us learn more about ourselves and predict the future

S

cientific research into the workings of the universe uses the language of maths to explore and describe black holes, space, time, gravity and much more.

It is not such a big step to see how we may also be part of the equation; we can find out about ourselves by studying numbers connected to our date of birth, or our names.

Or is this a completely far-fetched idea?

Numerology is the study of numbers associated with either the name or birth date of the person. The former gives you a Master number and the latter a Destiny number. It is based on the belief that a person’s name and birth date have a significant effect on their purpose, character and talents. There are many variations in terms of the philosophical theory and practice of numerology. But very broadly this can be seen as an east-west difference.

SEARCH FOR MEANING We look for patterns in our lives and a sense of control over what happens, especially when life throws us a rough deal. We prefer to think there is a reason for everything, it brings a sense of comfort, and stability. In an unpredictable world it is no surprise that numerology is used as a way to create order, reveal secret truths and connect us to an ordered universe.

The Greek philosopher Pythagorus, c 500 B.C is considered to have developed Western numerology, based on his realisation that maths is connected to music.

This mystical aspect of numbers was taken up by esoteric traditions the world over, and is based on numbers’ inherent ibration. pecific numbers were used in rituals by Native Americans. Vedic ceremonies used specific numbers in their rituals.

Practices varied according to culture, traditions and beliefs, many of which are still alive today.

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DAY AND TIME WE WERE BORN DETERMINES OUR FATE. TRUE OR FALSE? Many philosophers and spiritual authorities from a wide range of traditions say this is not how things are. Their belief is that we determine when we are born, to whom and where. umerologists confirm that the precise day and time we arrive is a result, not a cause of our destiny. In this sense we are wiser than we think we are. Or, if your own circumstances have caused you much suffering, you might well say we’ e made some ery foolish decisions, or just not believe any of it! And of course, numerology is based on the numbering system we use in the western world but there have been and still are other ways to count, which could perhaps discredit much. Another issue is the use of given names, as these are traditionally used

EAST AND WEST Chinese Numerology is based on the sounds the numbers make when spoken.

And if a number sounds similar to a word that is considered negative or unlucky, that number, too, is considered negative or unlucky.

SIX is one of the two most auspicious numbers in Chinese numerology, the other being ‘eight.’ It is viewed as lucky due to its similarities with the word for ‘good fortune’.

VASTU

WORDS: SRI SUDEVI

Although SEVEN can be said to be a ubiquitous lucky number in the western world, luck is not seen as so important in Western numerology. Rather, each number carries both positive and negative qualities, and it is up to each individual to manifest the best energy possible from a number. It was said men were represented by odd numbers and women by even numbers, but it would be interesting to know whether this holds in 2020 in the same way

to calculate the personality and future of the person. However, in many cultures, people choose names that have an auspicious number for their children and many people change their names based on numerology.

ARITHMANCY n arry Potter’s world ermione ranger’s fa ourite subject is arithmancy and this involves the magical properties of numbers.

Hermione learns to use complex charts to perform numerical divination, or tell the future using numbers.

HOW IT WORKS The process of translating words to numbers is central to the practice of numerology and has roots in Greek, Latin and Hebrew gematria, the practice of turning words into numbers, for the purpose of divination.

People have used this method to study and interpret the Torah, the Bible and other religious texts.

Most of the time, numerologists will use people’s names and ta e the given birth name. Then a simple chart is used to change the letters into numbers. Different systems use different charts, but an easy one begins with “a” equaling 1, “b” equaling 2 and so on.

FOUR IS CONSIDERED AN UNLUCKY NUMBER IN CHINESE BECAUSE IT IS NEARLY HOMOPHONOUS TO THE WORD “DEATH”

1

NINE sounds like the words which mean “long lasting” and “eternity” in Chinese.

At birthday and wedding celebrations, the number 9 is welcome as it represents longevity. 9 was also traditionally associated with the Chinese emperor.

2

3

4

5 6

7

8

9

A B

C

D

E F

G H

I

J

K

L M N O

P

Q R

S

T

U

Y

Z

V W X

EXAMPLE 1 THE MASTER NUMBER Someone born on the 2.1.2002 2+1+2+2 = 7 The master number is 7

EXAMPLE 2 THE DESTINY NUMBER: Asian Home will have the numbers according to each letter. The numbers are added until one number remains: ASIAN 1 +1 +9 +1 +5 =17 = 8 HOME 8+ 6+ 4 +5 = 23 = 5 8 + 5 =12, 1+2 = 3 The destiny number is 3

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ASIAN HOUSE & HOME I SPRING 2020

LIFESTYLE

NO SPACE TO BE!

In today’s driven world, we need space to gather ourselves together. But how, where and when?

It’s easy to feel lonely in a crowd, and even in the best of families that same sense of being insignificant can come over us. In today’s world, whatever our age, we all need time to be with ourselves, to maintain a good relationship with who we are, have time to reflect, just be, or do nothing with no one watching, listening or asking us for something. But homes are not always big enough, and space is at a premium. For the young some privacy is essential, even if the adults worry themselves sick that the kids are on line and in danger.

For working adults, time to slow down is a must.

For those at home all day, seemingly alone, time to connect with yourself in meditation, for example, brings peace rather than more boredom or loneliness.

SO HOW AND WHERE? For those in private rentals or social housing, very space-challenged, the options are probably headphones or going outside, away from the busy home scene

THINK NATURE: Now prescribed by GPs to relieve anxiety, it’s always therapeutic to breathe in some fresh air and look up at the sky.

LIBRARIES: A invaluable but endangered resource, use them!

MUSEUMS, ART GALLERIES, BOOKSTORES: There may be folk around but find a topic of interest to lose yourself in for an hour or so.

STRETCH WITH YOGA: Even in a tight spot you will benefit.

SPRING 2020 I ASIAN HOUSE & HOME

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Our Services:

- Audit, Accounting and Tax Compliance - Management consultancy, advice and planning - Payroll and compliance - Accounts production and bookkeeping, including VAT - New company formation, business start-up and support - Forensic accounting and litigation support We provide you with financial and management expertise, practical advice and help whenever you need it Our ongoing promise is to provide you with exceptional service, regular contact and dedicated support We will help you adapt to changing marketing conditions by discussing your financial concerns and objectives and delivering the right advice with minimal fuss

Contact Us:

Email: kiran@alburyassociates.com Tel: 020 8051 5866 Fax: 020 7900 2210 Web: www.alburyassociates.com Director: Kiran D Patel BA (Hons) FCA 2nd Floor, One Hobbs House, Harrovian Business Village, Bessborough Road, Harrow, HA1 3EX Registered to carry on audit work in the UK and Ireland by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales Details about our audit registration can be viewed at www.auditregister.org.uk under reference number C004064860. “Albury Associates� is the trading name of Albury Associates Limited.

Albury Associates Limited is registered in England and Wales with registered number 9347218

Accountancy firm of the Year 2018

LIFESTYLE

For those in their own property, with time and money:

THINK MAN SHEDS AND CAVES: wired up and warm, no one can get you here!

SHE-SHEDS AND GARDEN ROOMS: Every woman’s answer to the dilemma of me-space. Get away from the kitchen, write that book!

THAT CONSERVATORY: You keep meaning to, so plan it!

RENOVATING THE ATTIC: Everyone is burrowing down, sideways and up in their properties to create more space in the home they love.

EXTENSIONS: This used to be for the grandparents but now many are building on for their teenage children who might stay at home for another 10 -15 years before buying their own place.

HEADPHONES: You can now buy the most amazing gear to drown out everyone else’s voices, demands and music. Listen in peace to your own favourite podcasts.

HOME TEMPLE: Meditation or home deities bring an extra dimension to your home. Make a sacred space, so anyone in the home can quietly reconnect with themselves here.

QUIET!

Listen in peace to your own favourite podcasts.

MOOD RS CE ENHAN time out

e Take somafter herbs k o to lo

WHEN? Now! Discover inner space and beauty by connecting with nature, whatever the season. Breathe deeply and appreciate the natural world, the wind rustling through the trees; these sounds bring harmony.

INDOOR PLANT: Have made a come back. These need attention but give joy.

THINK GREEN: This colour calms and restores the heart, physically and emotionally.

Plants love to be together, so group them attractively so you can easily spend time with them.

THINK HERBS: Window sills are the ideal place, and even a few minutes looking after them can change your mood and make you feel you have had some time out!

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FINANCIAL PLANNING

OFFERING ALTERNATIVE FINANCE I started working for a housebuilder after graduating from UCL and my job was to look for sites for development, make sure the numbers stacked up and also ensure that planning was in place. We would find a lot of similar sites but the developer could not find mainstream finance. That’s when I spotted a gap in the market for small and medium-sized housebuilders in the UK who aren’t able to get access to finance for development.

DIRE NEED FOR NEW HOMES Later on, I also worked in the planning department at Southwark Local Authority, where uic ly learned how the council’s bigger sites are sold to house builders and how planning permission is granted.

We need to build a minimum of 300,000 new homes per year in England to meet rising demand, yet in the year to June 2019 we built just 170,000. This has led to an increase in housing prices and a quarter of adults under the age of 35 are still living in their childhood bedroom, making the prospect of getting on the property ladder seem near to impossible for a lot of young people. 27% of 20-34-year-olds are still at home. riefing

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ASIAN HOUSE & HOME I SPRING 2020

n the other side of the mar et in ation is . which means we’re losing money in savings as we speak. I was fed up with my money sitting in the bank and not earning enough interest*. Stocks and shares are an option but they’re olatile. ertain laws and restrictions have made buy-to-let a less attractive investment option in the current climate.

SPOTTING A GAP IN THE MARKET I saw a gap in the market that enabled SME housebuilders to gain access to the finance they need whilst also enabling retail investors to target higher returns - which is why I started FutureBricks.

With the backing of 20 angel investors,

I managed to raise £1 million in equity and launched FutureBricks in 2018. I started my business from scratch, building the technology, core team and a strong board of industry experts. I have since achieved a £1.4 million loan book across 10 diverse projects. So far, we have given exit to 2 projects offering 12% and 18% in returns and have 1000 active lenders in our community.

OFFERING ALTERNATIVE FINANCE In a nutshell, FutureBricks is an online peer to peer lending platform for small and medium-si ed house builders who can’t get access to mainstream finance due to a number of restrictions from banks since

financial crisis. t the same time we are ma ing this exclusi e industry of in esting in property accessible to all because the minimum in estment starts at just offering up to gross interest per annum. ur projects are expertly chosen by a team of experienced property professionals and a scrupulous underwriting team. e elopments funded to date include Prime entral London properties in amberwell outhfields and ayes to name a few. y ision for the next . years is to achie e a million loan boo . here are so many house builders who don’t get access to mainstream finance and retail customers don’t get access to good deals. uture ric s is here to change that.

“My vision for the next 3.5 years is to achieve a £100 million loan book. There are so many house builders who don’t get access to mainstream finance, and retail customers don’t get access to good deals. FutureBricks is here to change that.” *Please note that money held in a savings account is protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) whilst P2P does not have FSCS protection and investors’ capital is at risk.*

The Brickwork Group Ltd trading as Futurebricks is an Appointed Representative of Resolution Compliance Ltd which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN. 574048).

WORDS: ARYA TAWARE, FOUNDER & MD, FUTUREBRICKS. FUTUREBRICKS IS A ONE-STOP PLATFORM FOR SME HOUSE BUILDERS IN THE UK.

SPRING 2020 I ASIAN HOUSE & HOME

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RENTAL MARKET

More PRESSURE o The private rental business is facing further challenges with the proposed Renters’ Reform Bill

L

ast year saw, potentially, the biggest announcement and shake up in the private rental sector in recent years. From July – October 2019 the government opened an official consultation with the aim of resetting the balance of “rights and responsibilities” between landlord and tenants. n the ueen’s speech this was referred to as The enters’ eform ill.

You may think that the current rights that tenants have weigh more in their favour. However, the consultation proposes the end of Assured Shorthold Tenancies (ASTs) and Section 21 (no fault eviction) from the Housing Act. The result of this would mean that assured tenancies would become the norm and the only way for landlords to end the agreement would be via Section 8, or the tenant leaving.

If the government proceeds with its plan it would mean all new tenancies will either be an assured periodic tenancy or an assured fixed term tenancy that would then revert, by default, to a periodic tenancy.

Tenants will be able to end a tenancy with two months’ notice howe er landlords will only be able to end a tenancy if they can prove they have legitimate grounds via serving a Section 8.

Landlords already have the option to serve a Section 8 and this offers several mandatory grounds to evict a tenant. Currently a S8 will not

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ASIAN HOUSE & HOME I SPRING 2020

Tenants will be able to end a tenancy with two months’ notice, however landlords will only be able to end a tenancy if they can prove they have legitimate grounds via serving a Section 8.

WORDS: RICHARD BOND

on landlords

permit a landlord to evict a tenant if the landlord wishes to move into the property for the ďŹ rst time or sell the property as a vacant possession. owe er there is consideration being given to update the S8 to allow this - this could just be another waiting game.

CURRENT MANDATORY GROUNDS FOR EVICTION

1

The landlord requires the property in order to use it as their main residence. This ground can only be used if the landlord used the property as their main residence prior to the tenancy beginning.

The mortgage lender on the property has served notice to foreclose.

The property was previously used as a holiday let and is required to return to the status of holiday let.

The property is being let by an educational institution and is now required by students of the educational institution.

The property is owned by a religious body and they require possession for a member of their church.

The landlord wants to demolish and reconstruct or redevelop all or part of the property. The tenant needs to have refused to live in all or part of the property while work is carried out for this ground to be feasible. If granted, the landlord is required to pay all reasonable moving costs to the tenant.

The current tenant is a tenant heir and is not named on the original tenancy agreement. The landlord must serve a Section 8 notice within 12 months of the death of the named tenant.

The tenant has failed to pay 2 months rent, in the case of monthly payments. If the tenant pays off part of

2 3 4 5 6

7 Could we see some investment landlords exit the market and offload their portfolios?

We might see a further increase in housing demand plus higher rents in and around the capital.

8

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RENTAL MARKET

“tenant from hell” “ If you have a good agent at hand and a “tenant from hell” that you wish to evict, it should be recommended that you serve notice based on several of these grounds, which should then result in a successful eviction through Section 8.” the arrears shortly before the hearing, this ground can no longer be proved, and possession proceedings will have to be abandoned.

either yourself or your agent will be needed.

If you have a good agent at hand and a “tenant from hell” that you wish to evict, it should be recommended that you serve notice based on several of these grounds, which should then result in a successful eviction through Section 8.

One very important factor to consider is the process you would need to follow if a tenant fails to leave at the end of the notice period. Currently, if you are using S21 or S8, you or your agent will need to make a court application for possession. Whilst landlords using S21 can follow an accelerated possession process avoiding a court hearing, landlords using S8 will not ha e this benefit and a court hearing will be required when attendance by

There was mention of improvements to the court process included in this proposed Bill, namely to make it quicker and easier for landlords to get possession, but there was no direct mention of a Housing Court that many campaigners have demanded.

Given the history of changes in legislation (eg the tenancy fees ban was first discussed bac in but did not become enforceable until this could mean that the end of the S21 eviction notices could be two years away.

A government spokesman said a timetable for the new enters’ Reform Bill will be released “in due course”. he go ernment has confirmed

PROGRESS OF THE RENTERS’REFORM BILL

that currently there are no plans to make these changes retrospectively, so any current tenancies with ASTs will continue and you will still be able to use a S21 for possession. When that tenancy ends, any new agreement will be an assured tenancy.

When the tenant fee ban was implemented last year there was a decrease in profits for agents.

This resulted in the large corporate companies closing offices and call centres, followed by many independents closing their doors for good. One opinion is that now these changes are impacting the tenants and landlords directly, will the same be said for them; could we see some investment landlords exit the mar et and of oad their portfolios If this is the case, we might see a further increase in housing demand plus higher rents in and around the capital. Only time will tell.

SPRING 2020 I ASIAN HOUSE & HOME

27

SPOTLIGHT

SCALING NEW HEIGHTS:

Slough’s £3bn regeneration project Slough Borough Council (SBC) has committed to a paradigmatic transformation of the borough’s landscape in it’s attempts to boost the economy and appeal. Through the £3bn regeneration project the Council is proposing to create a new town centre. How will this centre accommodate high quality housing, a range of job opportunities, retail, leisure and cultural centres alongside a sustainable transport system? s part of the fi e-year plan the ouncil has di ided infrastructure projects along four ey threads 1. Employment Centre (Future Works and Porter Building) 2. Cultural Centre (The Curve) 3. Hotel and Hospitality(Marriott branded hotels) and 4. Housing-led regeneration projects (North West Quadrant or the NWQ) ajor sta eholders dri ing the project forward include lough rban enewal a partnership between the ouncil and organ indall n estments ritish Land among others. We ta e a loo at some of the finished de elopments alongside those in the pipeline to gi e you a a our of what a regenerated lough will loo li e in the following few years’ time.

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ASIAN HOUSE & HOME I SPRING 2020

1

THE CURVE

2

THE CENTRE, FARNHAM ROAD

Slough’s iconic library and a cultural hub are spread over 4,500msq. Besides the library the centre also houses a café, Slough Museum, performance venue, community learning spaces, computer suites, exhibition space, and the registry office. It also includes a purpose-built wedding room.

The Curve is open and fully accessible for everyone, with public Wi-Fi throughout.

his new agship m leisure facility has been refurbished to deli er an eight-lane m swimming pool m m teaching pool poolside sauna and steam room court sports hall two spa treatment rooms a cafe -station gym and three exercise studios among others.

Left: The Curve, Slough Top right: Swiming pool at The Centre Bottom right: Clayton Primary School

4

3

LANGLEY LEISURE CENTRE

uilt in Langley Leisure entre has recently been refurbished to accommodate a -piece gym while the four-lane swimming pool offers a ariety of a uatic acti ities alongside a group cycling studio.

With new internal design and decoration it offers increased par ing pro isions and room for hosting birthday parties among other such celebrations.

ARBOUR PARK

he highlight of the rbour Par project is its stadium which boasts of the occupancy capacity of people. t also features a artificial oodlit pitch function rooms along with wor s at the adjacent t Joseph’s chool to pro ide them with a four-court sports hall and refurbished classrooms. he artificial pitch is one of in the country to be awarded the prestigious uality Pro certificate and the only one in the er s and uc s region.

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29

SPOTLIGHT

5

ICE ARENA

The old Montem Ice Arena was stripped to the original steel and completely rebuilt with a 1000msq extension fronting the Bath Road. New facilities include a fully refurbished ice rink, cafÊ, climbing wall with clip n’ climb feature, gym, party space, extensive landscaping, car parking, changing rooms and toilets. The Ice Arena is home to the Slough Jets ice hockey team.

WHAT TO WATCH OUT FOR

1

OLD LIBRARY TO MARRIOTT HOTELS

The Old Library site at 85 high street, Slough will also be converted into a blend of ultramodern high-street and community centre development. It will include two new Marriott hotels, as well as 64 apartments and 4,000 sq ft of restaurant and retail space along with off-site parking. Two new hotels,

Above: Slough Ice Arena Below: Berkeley Homes - Former Horlicks Factory

including 152 Moxy rooms and 92 Residence Inn rooms, will provide a total of 244 guest bedrooms. The hotels are scheduled to complete by the second quarter of 2021. The 64 residential units and ground oor commercial areas are being constructed concurrently and will complete by the end of December 2020. This is slated to facilitate corporate luncheons, meetings and conferences owing to close connectivity with the Heathrow airport.

2

The Council is also looking to introduce an incubation hub at the former Marks & Spencer store in the high street.

This building is expected to facilitate start-up businesses in the digital and creative sectors. Proposed partners include Heathrow Airport Limited, Royal Holloway University, Brunel University and an operator secured through a procurement exercise. The council hopes that the development will start sometime during this year. This project is predicated on an external funding

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ASIAN HOUSE & HOME I SPRING 2020

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SPOTLIGHT

application to the European Regional Development Fund (“EDRF”) and is expected to be delivered by the second quarter of 2020 with a view of operating from the third quarter of 2020. It is proposed that the companies will have access to a business support eco-system consisting of an operator, universities, and the wider business support network across Thames Valley and West London.

3

QUEENSMERE SHOPPING CENTRE

Above: Wexham Green Below: Stoke Wharf

OTHER MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS IN SLOUGH NAME

LOCATION

DEVELOPER

NUMBER OF FLATS

COMPLETION DATE

Wexham Green

Wexham Rd

Panattoni

104

Completed

Stoke Wharf

Stoke Road

Waterside Places

240

TBC

Former Horlicks Factory

Berkeley Homes

1300

Planning permission approved

Brunel Way

Aberdeen Standard Investments

180

Under design approvals

Berkeley Homes

Octagon Site

The council is believed to allocate between one and two million s uare feet of office space, as well as 500,000 sq ft of retail and food & drink units as part of development in the Queensmere Shopping Centre.

It will also contain between 1,000 and 1,200 new apartments.

A new food hall/market could also be introduced in the former home of Debenhams with the council hoping that Slough shopping centre “rediscovers the high street” for new retail and leisure business operators. o curb traffic congestion around the Wellington Street, a new pedestrian street will also be created which links the high street to the station via Mackenzie Square and Brunel Way. British Land is reportedly proposing the comprehensive redevelopment of the Queensmere and Observatory shopping centres and a planning application is expected to be submitted in early 2021 for a scheme comprising three phases of mixed-use development.

The Council aims for an updated masterplan for the NWQ and the “Town Centre Regeneration Framework” to be produced by the second quarter of 2020, which will also show the integration of the MRT route and car parking sites as per the emerging car parking strategy.

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ASIAN HOUSE & HOME I SPRING 2020

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INTERVIEW WORDS: PRIYANKA MEHTA

Buy right.

Sit tight!

T

he property market especially with regards to Ravi and Amar Pankhania has faced stunted securing the rights of the shed their insight into how growth across the European workforce in this their journey in the property country. It is imperative UK in the last ten market changed from years. Protracted political that the government uncertainties around Brexit, understands that the Central London to Greater an imbalance in the supplybulk of the workforce in London and the Home demand and marginal housethe construction industry Counties, over the price growth has worried is from Eastern Europe, last decade. investors and developers to prevent from any across the board. Now, Boris further turbulence in the Johnson’s resounding ictory in the recent construction market,” said Amar Pankhania, one general election appears to have relieved of the directors of the Nacropolis Group. some of these concerns for some property FROM FITZROVIA TO SLOUGH developers including those at the Nacropolis Nacropolis, an upscale group of property Group. Agents have now even coined a new developers, prides itself for its residentialphrase “the Boris Bounce”. led developments based primarily in Central “General elections are now done and London, Greater London and the Home dusted. This bodes very well for everyone Counties. Founded in 2003, the company is the because we now have certainty around Brexit; brainchild of Ravi Pankhania and is managed that it will be done in due course and we are by brother Amar. Ravi takes a stronger interest able to prepare ourselves accordingly”. in the construction aspect of the business, “We will now have our eyes on the kind liaising with the architects, suppliers, and of Brexit deal that is achieved with the EU

Seated, Ravi Pankhania and standing Amar Pankhania

SPRING 2020 I ASIAN HOUSE & HOME

35

INTERVIEW

1

3 4

2

1 Stanmore 2 Fitzrovia 3 Notting Hill 4 Hyde Park

consultants. mar o ersees the financial health of the business and super ises the core administrati e ser ices and belie es in strong relationships with agents ban s and local authorities. oth brothers’ rise to success stemmed from the solid foundations put in place by their father anoj Pan hania o er years ago with the inception of Par iew omes. anoj is now retired and acts on a consultancy basis guiding both brothers with his in aluable experience. oday acropolis is nown for con erting under-utili ed properties into bouti ue style prime residential projects. ollowing the financial crisis of and collapse of property prices in entral London the group carefully began forward planning in anticipation of what is now a completely different property mar et to that of a decade ago. dentifying the growing demand for affordable housing in reater London acropolis decided to position themsel es in up and coming areas lough being one. recent report by he imes states that property prices in lough recorded a per cent price growth in an area where acropolis is now on the erge of completing its recent project urricane ourt. ortunately we were well ersed in how the entral London mar et operated. he sales mar et completely tan ed to such an extent that capital alues were being written down by to . n estors and owneroccupiers ali e left the mar et and a otilla

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ASIAN HOUSE & HOME I SPRING 2020

of acant properties too up occupation on all entral London state agents’ windows.

We managed to ride out this collapse by aligning with the burgeoning rental mar et and capitalising in on people who needed to reside in London but were not prepared to buy. London’s attracti eness as a global business hub meant that rental demand grew exceptionally uic ly. Whilst riding out the storm using the aforementioned to our ad antage we were ma ing plans to change our modus operandi explains a i. n London mar is particularly optimistic about up and coming areas such as ottenham with the new stadium being an asset to the local community right from attracting the football and L fans to doubling up as a music enue. ne should not forget that there are plans for a rossrail which if gi en the go ahead would be hugely beneficial to ottenham and the surrounding area. n the meantime ayor of London’s initiati es in cton and the regeneration projects in the area ma e the West London catchment another in estment hotspot for urban housing. lthough the company today is rooted in residential-led de elopment e er since its inception in it has also explored the sector of mixed-use commercial de elopments. nd now the group is loo ing to expand its footprint into other areas such as student accommodation hospitality and re italised sectors such as the industrial asset class.

esearch across the spectrum has indicated that industrial prices per s uare foot ha e roc eted through the roof. t is an asset class and an area we are loo ing into as part of our portfolio mar says. owe er he eyes a bigger potential in the student accommodation mar et as a record number of students enter the country on a year-on-year basis. recent sur ey of the student accommodation mar et conducted by ushman Wa efield estimated that as of ctober there were nearly purpose built student accommodations across the a third more than .

Property companies ha e been swift to fill the gap in the mar et by building bloc s of ats mar eted at students with some offering impressi e-sounding returns to in estors ma ing it a competiti e mar et.

We ha e identified a number of cities where there has been a large increase in the number of students attending ni ersity howe er there is a lac of a ailability of good uality student accommodation - London Leicester and Li erpool among others . tudents from around the world want to come and study in the regardless of rexit and immigration rules. herefore it is a booming mar et that we are loo ing to test waters in. ut it is still early days for us he concludes. acropolis share a justifiable optimism for the forthcoming year and en isage a return to a healthy mar et in .

P37.qxp_A4 Temp 11/03/2020 14:19 Page 1

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DEVELOPMENTS

HURRICANE COURT

THE VERY BEST OF LANGLEY Nacropolis is a progressive property development company withI a combined 70 years’ experience in the real estate industry. TheI company specialises in developing and converting listed buildings,I from both commercial and residential, and undertaking new-buildI projects with a focus on London and the Home Counties.I

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ASIAN HOUSE & HOME I SPRING 2020

Breathing new life into a modern, iconic building

SPRING 2020 I ASIAN HOUSE & HOME

39

DEVELOPMENTS

A BLEND OF THE URBAN AND THE COUNTRY One of Nacropolis’ recent prestigious developments is Hurricane Court, taking its name from the famed British Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft which were built at the Hawker factory in Langley. Set in Langley, Berkshire, Hurricane Court offers a blend of the countryside and an urban lifestyle. It consists of 84 apartments built around a private communal courtyard and is located a stone’s throw away from Heathrow Airport and within walking distance from the new Langley Crossrail station.

BENEFITTING FROM LOCAL REGENERATION he location benefits from the megain estment regeneration project announced by lough orough ouncil. ome of the regeneration in estment schemes include more and better leisure facilities impro ed business and conference facilities high uality hotels and restaurants affordable homes additional schools and children’s facilities and state-of-the-art office buildings. acropolis anticipated an increase in the local property alue in line with the announcement of the regeneration project. recent report based on figures from the ffice for ational tatistics has shown that the a erage cost of a property in lough has risen by to in the last decade. he upcoming rossrail has pro en to be one of the ey spurs for the regeneration of lough and its surrounding areas. nce rossrail is fully-functional in estors and owneroccupiers ali e will be attracted to the fact that one can reach entral London in a mere half-an-hour. esidents can continue to wor in central London but li e in Langley for far lower prices. longside rossrail the Western ail ccess to eathrow is also scheduled to operate from . With the Prime inister now announcing that will be built

residents of Langley will hugely benefit from better connecti ity and reduced tra el times.

CORPORATE STRATEGY pea ing about acropolis its anaging irector a i Pan hania says - acropolis’ expertise lies in identifying locations in new growth areas and maximising returns both for the company and our in estors. ur corporate strategy is to loo for new opportunities as opposed to riding the current trends. When we purchase a project comprehensi e feasibility studies are underta en in order to gi e us an informed long-term iew not only in terms of profitability but also important long term prospects and iability.

ALL ROUND PACKAGE BELOW: Built around a private communal courtyard RIGHT, TOP ROW: Typical studio apartment MIDDLE ROW: Contemporary bathroom design.

Open plan lateral living spaces BOTTOM ROW: Well appointed luxury bedroom designs

a i comments - enants can rest assured from us that they will recei e a whole host of benefits not often offered by other de elopments. urricane ourt offers a wealth of local amenities including shopping centres leisure facilities and transport hubs to name but a few. dditionally the proximity of urricane ourt to large employment ones such as lough and the eathrow catchment area ma es this an attracti e option for the local wor force as well.

de elopment is eco-friendly is it smarthome ready proximity to transport connections lifestyle opportunities and so on. uyers come with different re uirements and therefore we stri e to deli er an all-round pac age’ that satisfies as many of these re uirements as possible.

LOW CHARGES, MINIMUM MAINTENANCE, HIGH QUALITY esearch has shown that s y-high ser ice charges deter in estors and owner occupiers ali e from buying new-build properties. ccording to a i er ice charges generally tend to be higher than usual when the performance of a building is below par and maintenance wor s are constantly ha ing to be carried out. t acropolis we ensure that buyers a oid paying e er-increasingly high ser ice charges almost at the onset of our design stage . e adds ll our de elopments are designed and built to the highest standard possible using high performance products so as to ensure that building performance remains at its optimum thereby enabling ser ice charges expenditure to be ept to a minimum. he acropolis roup ha e an in-house bloc management team who manage the entire portfolio. his has been successfully done for se eral years and we are consistently recei ing acclaim from all of our tenants who are ery content with our performance. urrently the largest and most luxurious de elopment in Langley urricane ourt has set a benchmar for uality. n estors can choose from a highly attracti e array of bespo e studios onebedroom and two-bedroom apartments to choose from with apartments starting from .

FOR THE SAVVY INVESTOR Whilst cost and returns are generally always the presiding factor in property in estment a new generation of sa y in estors are increasingly conscious of modern issues which are playing an increasingly important role in their in estment choices. a i says - ome of the main concerns now tend to focus on whether the

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ASIAN HOUSE & HOME I SPRING 2020

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SETTING THE BAR HIGH

Currently, the largest and most luxurious development in Langley, Hurricane Cour t has set a benchmark for quality.

BESPOKE STUDIOS, ONE-BEDROOM, AND TWO-BEDROOM APARTMENTS TO CHOOSE FROM, WITH APARTMENTS STARTING FROM

£160k SPRING 2020 I ASIAN HOUSE & HOME

41

TIME TO RESTRUCTURE Are residential portfolio landlords suffering from higher rate tax burden? Is it time to incorporate without Stamp Duty Land Tax. Recent changes in legislation mean that, in most cases, it is no longer attractive to acquire buy to let investments in a personal capacity.

Individuals holding buy to let properties will find that they are no longer able to offset 75% of their finance costs against rental income. That will rise to 100% in the upcoming tax year and be replaced by a 20% tax credit. This is far less generous for higher rate tax payers who previously received an aggregate 40% tax relief.

IS INCORPORATING THE ANSWER? Whilst an individual may be burdened with a higher tax bill, a company can still offset 100% of its funding costs against rental income.

It is not of surprise then that savvy investors are taking the incorporation route for the purpose of their buy to let investments.

WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE BUY TO LET INVESTORS WITH AN EXISTING PORTFOLIO HELD IN INDIVIDUAL NAMES? It is important to realise that a transfer from an individual to a company can attract stamp duty at the higher rate based on the market value of the property, regardless of the amount being paid. In addition, mortgage products tend to be less favourable to companies and, there are other tax consequences to consider.

Over the last 2 to 3 years, Harold enjamin’s property team ha e seen a rise in the number of clients

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ASIAN HOUSE & HOME I SPRING 2020

residential Property

taking advantage of partnership relief on incorporation. This allows 100% relief from SDLT and the ability to offset capital gains tax. With the right advice, clever investor clients we work with have put in place a structure to transfer their assets to a company thereby taking advantage of this relief.

PARTNERSHIPS When you are looking to incorporate a partnership for these purposes, it is crucial to have a good team of advisors behind you to help navigate the various legal, accounting and mortgage complexities involved. HMRC will be quick to unravel and scrutinise schemes which are not compliant with the relevant legislation.

One of the most crucial elements of this process is that you must be able to establish that a true partnership exists. Whilst this does not necessarily mean all properties need to be jointly owned by the partners, it also does not mean that joint ownership alone would qualify. You cannot simply add your spouse to the title ownership. All partners need to be actively involved with the letting business. You must also show there is a true business.

The passive income of 2 or 3 buy-to-let properties is not considered sufficient for these purposes.

Assuming that you are able to establish that partnership incorporation is a viable option, you will need to transfer all of the partnership assets to the company at the same time. This will have its own complexities, which include arranging new mortgages and

conveyancing to ensure simultaneous completions take place.

Whilst this may be easily managed when portfolio sizes are small, we have some clients with up to 100 properties in their portfolio. The funding options may also be limited.

We have seen an appetite for buy to let investor company funding with almost all lenders dispensing with their usual re uirement for oating charges for buy to let investments.

However, the availability and product range appears to be not as extensive as it is for private borrowers. Our hope is that more lenders pick up on the trend for company borrowing and more competitive deals begin to emerge in the market.

SO WHAT CAN BE DONE FOR THOSE WITH LARGE PORTFOLIOS AND/OR THOSE THAT DO NOT WANT TO SWITCH THEIR CURRENT MORTGAGE DEAL? Setting up a trust or selling the beneficial ownership of the assets simultaneously may be the answer. HMRC recognises that incorporation relief will still apply in these cases. This will a oid your need to refinance and transfer the legal titles of properties simultaneously. It will allow both to take place when it becomes commercially viable, or in some cases not at all.

Our expert

MILLI.JONES MILLI.JONES@ HAROLDBENJAMIN.COM HAROLD BENJAMIN SOLICITORS

CONCLUSION The government’s rationale behind the buy to let tax changes is that home-owners are unable to offset their funding costs against their income and so why should the buy to let investor be able to? That is something that many buy-to-let investors will disagree with but it is, nevertheless, here to stay for the foreseeable future.

Taking into account the above, incorporating may well be an attractive option for buy-to- let investors. But there are a number of issues to consider and instructing good advisors from the outset is essential to avoid being presented with a very large tax bill instead!

AUCTION UPDATE

BUZZ RETURNS WORDS: NILESH RAJ PATEL, PRINCIPAL, PRIDEVIEW GROUP

to commercial real estate After a difficult 2019 that will be remembered for colossal uncertainty and division, suddenly the UK has become an oasis of calm. This is thanks to the unbelievable twist to the Brexit plot - the Conservative government landing their largest majority since 1987.

M

eanwhile uncertainty prevails across many parts of the world, such as China, Australia and the Middle East. In changing times like these, Real Estate is where wealth is stored and preserved, and with the UK back on the map, we are seeing renewed interest in commercial property both from UK residents and overseas buyers.Many investors, armed with their 2020 resolutions, flocked to the first auction of the year held by Allsops, where it was reassuring to feel the buzz of competitive bidding return to the auction market after a quiet 2019.

HASSLE-FREE INCOME

HIGH-YIELD INVESTMENTS

We sold two c oll’s con enience store in estments in this auction with years term certain. he first included a at and was well-located in a mixeduse ward of Watford and sold prior to auction for o er . gross whilst the second included a Post ffice and ubway and occupied a town-centre location in uxton the Pea istrict pa town and sold in the room for . . nterestingly the buyer of uxton had come to bid on Watford but as it had sold prior he thought that it was better to go miles north to uxton where he got the same years of income and same uality tenant just at a better yield.

When it comes to long-term wealth preser ation and income generation it’s clear that not all classes of commercial property are e ual especially as we continue to adapt to the rise of e-commerce. ut local con enience stores remain a staple product and it’s no coincidence that in we did o er deals in this subsector.

hat said what attracts so many buyers to commercial real estate is the ariety of needs it can satisfy.

Whilst many nay-sayers continue to mourn the eath of etail our more opportunistic buyers are cashing in on the high yields on offer. We acted for an ast sian in estor who came to us ia an ntroducer on the purchase of an unbro en retail parade in shtonunder-Lyne a mar et town miles east of anchester for ca. . m gross . he parade has different tenants including a c onald’s and many of the rents ha e been rebased. his is a fantastic example of how bric s and mortar remains a globally attracti e commodity especially when it can offer a healthy income. n we did almost deals in e ery region of the for a range of pri ate in estors with re uirements ranging from hassle-free income to proper asset management. o if you or your clients ha e resol ed to cut loose in gi e us a call.

PRICE:

£605K GROSS YIE LD: 6.6%

BUXTONI Long leasehold convenience store let for 15 years (no breaks) DESCRIPTION: ca. 4,000 sq.ft. unit with parking let on a 15 year lease LOCATION: Town-centre location PRICE:

M ca.£2.4 D: YIEL GROSS

ca.17%

ASHTONI Freehold detached parade comprising 8 retail units with offices and ancillary above DESCRIPTION: ca. 30,000 sq.ft. multi-let building comprising 8 retail units with offices and ancillary above LOCATION: Pedestrianised town-centre location adjacent to the market

Our expert

IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A COMMERCIAL PROPERTY INVESTMENT IN 2020 VIA AUCTION OR PRIVATELY, DO CONTACT ME ON NILESH@ PRIDEVIEWGROUP.COM OR 0208 954 0878.

WE HAVE A NUMBER OF OFF-MARKET INVESTMENTS AVAILABLE NOW, AND WILL BE ACTIVELY BUYING AND SELLING IN THE UPCOMING AUCTIONS.

SPRING 2020 I ASIAN HOUSE & HOME

43

TAX

BUYTO-LET MORTGAGE INTEREST TAX RELIEF PAINS

Your options

Most of you who hold buy-to-let properties will have felt the pain of the restriction on tax relief given in the latest tax returns submitted for 2018/2019. You would be questioning the way you hold investment properties to reduce the pain.This article offers the most tax efficient option, given recent developments, between owning a buy-to-let property personally or through a company.

44

ASIAN HOUSE & HOME I SPRING 2020

CORPORATE MONEY BOX AND ALTERNATIVE TO PENSION property in estment company is a tax efficient ehicle to use as a personal money box’ or as an alternati e to a pri ate pension pot because

1

5

2

6

The money can be kept in the company until it is needed, without triggering further tax charges.

Corporation tax rates are decreasing and will be 17% by 2020.

3

As the rate of corporation tax is much lower than the top rates of income tax, undrawn profits retained in the company grow more quickly compared to holding and being taxed in your own name.

4

Retained profits can be reinvested in the company’s own name.

When the funds are required, for example, at retirement, you may be a nontaxpayer or basic rate taxpayer.

Amounts withdrawn can be planned and controlled to ensure maximum tax extraction efficiency. This could include a drawdown on a Directors loan account (if available) at no tax cost.

7

Dividend tax on extraction of profits from companies are subject to different endings and rules: A £2,000 dividend allowance (reduced from £5,000 from 2017/2018).

There is no longer a tax credit: no grossing up is required. Three dividend tax bands exist: 7.5%, 32.5% and 38.1%

BRINGING IN THE FAMILY A property investment company can also be used as a means to provide an income to other family members, in addition to providing an Inheritance Tax (IHT) planning structure. Key advantages are:

1

You may give shares to family members: this may be done gradually, using Capital Gains Tax (CGT) annual exemptions.

2

Use the company to maximise efficiency by using multiple personal allowances and basic rate bands.

3

Changes to dividend taxation including the new tax-free dividend band (ÂŁ2,000 for 2019/20) make it attractive to bring in family members as shareholders of investment companies.

4

Using the Potentially Exempt Transfers mechanism could reduce your taxable estate for IHT purposes.

This can be a powerful way of sheltering assets from IHT: Set the shareholding up in a way which gives you control, but only a minimal legal interest, taking the bulk of the value out of your estate after seven years.

8 9

Assets that do not form part of your estate are not subject to probate: this can help to simplify matters for your executors.

10

Provide for expenditure in a tax efficient way e.g, school or university fees.

Retain decision making power and direct the investment strategy.

5

11

Family members can be encouraged to take an active part in managing the company and the properties.

6 7

Control can gradually be passed down to children.

Gifts of shares to family members will be subject to Capital Gains Tax (CGT) and IHT.

Consider using the profits to make other investments, which are tax efficient in a company structure.

Some family investment company structures can become complex, and special attention is required in order to draft the company’s Articles and to fully document and register any changes in ownership.

NEW PROPERTY BUSINESS The options outlined below stipulate that it is important to give careful consideration to the structure when delving into property investments.

1

The choice of a suitable business structure from the outset is important as it is expensive to restructure any land and property based business due to, for example: High legal costs of transfer of property.

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) or Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT).

2

Joint property owners may avoid SDLT if they trade

through a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) or established partnership, however not without significant compliance costs and other factors that should also be considered, e.g. wills, elections, land registry.

3

Funding and using a company structure from the start, would avoid a second stamp duty charge and legal fees on a later transfer to a company without the need to use a LLP.

Our expert

KIRAN D PATEL BA (HONS) FCA, CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT, PRINCIPAL OF ALBURY ASSOCIATES, A BOUTIQUE CHARTERED ACCOUNTANCY PRACTICE. EXPERTISE IN MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY SERVICES TO DIVERSE BUSINESSES. OFFER AUDIT, ACCOUNTANCY AND TAXATION SERVICES. EMAIL: KIRAN@ALBURYASSOCIATES.COM TEL: 020 8051 5866

SPRING 2020 I ASIAN HOUSE & HOME

45

AGONY ‘UNCLE-JI’

WORDS: YOGESH PATEL

Q &A Capital gains tax

In this edition, we’re dealing with property tax, given the myriad of issues facing home owners…

Uncle-Ji will try and solve them!

What issues could I encounter with the shortened payment date for CGT and why has HMRC done this?

I hear that HMRC will be accelerating the payment of capital gains tax relating to buying or selling UK residential property.

What are these changes?

From 6 April 2020, you will only have 30 days from the date of selling your residential property to file your capital gains return and ma e payment current rules allow you to pay the tax by January following the tax year of disposal gi ing you almost months longer. his is li ely to ha e a big impact on taxpayers more than the tamp uty Land ax L payment acceleration that came into force from arch where the payment date was reduced from days to days from completion date.

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ASIAN HOUSE & HOME I SPRING 2020

People ha e been accustomed to paying January after the tax capital gains tax by year of sale. his mo e will force a change in mind-set’ and a greater focus on a separate one-off’ deadline. axpayers could be exposed to unnecessary penalties an initial and then if more than three penalty of per day penalties of daily late months for missing the -day deadline. or indi iduals whose tax affairs are not planning will so straightforward careful be re uired to minimise a adding another layer of compliance and b adding to their accountants’ costs. ou will also need to ha e your purchase costs ready and any subse uent capital expenditure wor s much earlier. f you don’t have this information within 30 days then calculation will need to be the expects to benefit estimated. from streamlining and accelerating the collection of such taxes resulting in a one-off additional yield of - bn.

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20 AWARDS th ASIAN ACHIEVERS The people’s choice awards

ÂŽ

Is there someone you know from the Asian community who deserves recognition for their unique contribution to the community or the nation?

CALL FOR

NOMINATIONS Deadline for submitting nominations: 10th July, 2020

Categories 1.

Professional of the Year

2.

Woman of the Year

3.

Sports Personality of the Year

4.

Business Person of the Year

5.

Lifetime Achievement Award

6.

Uniformed and Civil Services

7.

Entrepreneur of the Year

8.

Corporate Award for Diversity & Inclusion

9.

Achievement in Media, Arts and Culture

10. Achievement in Community Service

Email: aaa@abplgroup.com Apply online

www.asianachieversawards.com

Awards will be held at Grosvenor House, Park Lane

September 2020 Organised by www.abplgroup.com

AGONY ‘UNCLE-JI’

WORDS: YOGESH PATEL

PROPERTY RELI

Will I be impacted by the 3% SDLT surcharge if I purchase my first residential property in the UK but own another residential property overseas?

he surcharge on top of the normal L rates will apply if you own a property already, regardless of whether it is overseas or used as a holiday home. here are reliefs a ailable but as always in tax the de il is in the detail

How will HMRC know that I own another property overseas?

has a ery sophisticated artificial intelligence system called onnect which cross-references the tax records of indi iduals and businesses with other databases including social media platforms . his includes informat ion exchanged between the and other jurisdictions to establish fraudulent or undisclosed (misdirected) activity.

Do I have a reporting requirement in the UK if I sold and paid taxes for an overseas property?

As a UK resident you will have a reporting requirement in the UK. The deadline doesn’t apply to o erseas residential properties but -day the normal self-assessment deadline would apply. here may be foreign tax to pay particularly if o erseas taxes are low and there has been by imposed penalties that is here e differenc he ement. mo e exchang for intentional omissions on foreign assets could be a penal

48

ASIAN HOUSE & HOME I SPRING 2020

EF

generous From April 2020, this ble if la relief will only be avai living as the property owner w it le hi w in the property was rented.

How will the changes to the £40,000 lettings relief affect a taxpayer?

Lettings relief was introduced in 1980 with the intention of allowing people to let out spare rooms within their property on a casual basis without losing the benefit of principal pri ate residence relief. n practice the relief has been exploited by reducing capital gain on the sale of a property by up to £80,000 (if jointly held), where a property was let out and at some stage had been their main residence. rom pril this generous relief will only be a ailable if the property owner was li ing in the property while it was rented.

Our expert

YOGESH PATEL, A CHARTERED TAX ADVISER, SPECIALISING IN PRIVATE CLIENTS AND ENTREPRENEURS AFFAIRS ON VARIOUS TAXES AND ACCOUNTING MATTERS. FOR MORE INFO CONTACT YOGESH.PATEL@GODLEY.CO.UK / 0208 515 1234 DISCLAIMER THIS ARTICLE IS INTENDED TO BE A GENERAL GUIDE AND CANNOT BE A SUBSTITUTE FOR PROFESSIONAL ADVICE. NEITHER THE AUTHOR(S) OR GODLEY & CO LTD ACCEPT ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY LOSS OCCASIONED TO ANY PERSON ACTING OR REFRAINING FROM ACTING AS A RESULT OF MATERIAL CONTAINED IN THIS PUBLICATION.

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VIEWPOINT

COFFEE WITH ...

Neel Shah-Deekay Neel Shah is the Managing Director of Deekay Group. He has worked with the Big Four accountancy practices and has banking experience.

Neel leads a 10-strong team. He plays the Dhol and helps with local London-based charities.

Q

Neel, can you tell us a little bit about Deekay and how it serves its clients.

Deekay is a boutique real estate advisor, with an end-to-end service - from advice through to execution. We help clients source UK commercial properties of all shapes and sizes. Examples include warehouses, supermarkets, dark kitchens, shopping centres, high street shops or nursing homes.

We don’t just focus on auctions - we source investments from a wide network, built over fi e decades of being in the mar et. ecent sources of attractive property deals for our clients include receivership sales, private treaty sales, and local authority tenders.

Q

How can Deekay help clients and family offices purchase property through yourselves rather than directly?

Clients come to us for independent advice.

We are not sales agents and hence we are not biased. We don’t ha e a pool of property to sell, we source the property from the open mar et based on the client’s re uirements.

We have a view on price based on our market experience, development potential, etc. We are not afraid to say don’t buy this one” - for as many times as is required.

We also provide a complete management service to include rent reviews, lease negotiations and dilapidation claims. We actively manage properties ourselves that means we get our hands dirty. And of course we understand a client’s tax profile and legal structures, so that their post-tax returns are maximised.

Q

You’ve been in this industry for over 14 years, what keeps you ticking?

The property asset and client needs keep evolving - so I am always learning. I learn

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ASIAN HOUSE & HOME I SPRING 2020

the most from my clients - they are demanding but inspiring.

And I learn from my teams we have the sharpest surveyors, asset managers, architects, lawyers and financiers - and they teach me something new every day. In the last 5 days, I have dealt with Compulsory Purchase Orders, Rights of Light claims, stepping into the shoes of a tenant going bust, monitoring a borrower’s de elopment and dealing with a family gift and succession plan. t’s the variety and the challenge of solving clients’ problems that gets me out of bed in the morning. The industry is becoming more regulated - a good thing in my view.

Change brings new opportunities. With the large property funds exiting the market comes buying opportunities. We are seeing the low-interest rate environment lasting for longer. It is fascinating to see how a 5 year fixed rate on a ban loan is lower than the current variable rate.

Q

Tell us about your role in the Investment Property Forum what is your position what kind of things do you discuss and what is the forum for.

The IPF is a 2000 member organisation of agents, lawyers, actuaries and bankers who are passionate about property. I get involved in the investment appraisal panel and on commercial ground rents.

Q

The commercial market is going through massive change currently can you give us your insight into what these

changes are and where should investors focus now given that you can’t operate this market the way people have been over the last few decades.

The commercial property industry is going through a lot of change. Retail investments are going out of fashion, commercial leases are getting shorter. The impact of Creditors Voluntary Arrangement mean that the investment market that relied on the strength of the tenant is now changing. There is now focus on the environmental impact of property and how energy efficient the buildings are. For the right location, a property will always have a use, even as time goes by.

Take an example of a shop in a Zone 1 London underground station. It was once a card shop, then it became a mobile phone shop. It is now an Amazon locker.

Q

I understand Deekay offers bridging finance. London is awash with bridging companies, can you tell us what your USP is, with regards to providing bridging finance? In other words why do clients come to you. imberley apital pro ides bridging finance.

Our USP is that we are not brokers but are principal lenders. We make the credit decisions in house and don’t ha e a tic box process. We understand the property and base our lending on the property fundamentals first and the borrower second.

Clients come to us for the speed of the decision and transaction execution, and the transparent pricing model we offer. We lend against any property project not just commercial property.

Q

Finally tell us about the football team that you support in north London and how they been doing in the League It is safe to say that my team is squarely mid-table. I guess I have therefore given my team away!!

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