Global Property Scene Edition 23

GLOBAL

PROPERTY NO. SCENE ISSUE 023

The Investment Publication | www.globalpropertyscene.com

This issue: Investing in domain names | How to rebuild after a natural disaster | A guide through resilient cities The economic cost of piracy | Should I move to York?

FOCUS ON: NIGERIA

HAS ICELAND GOT INVESTMENT POTENTIAL?

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X1 Chatham Waters | X1 Manchester Waters | X1 The Campus | X1 Media City X1 The Landmark | X1 The Tower | X1 The Gateway | X1 The Plaza | X1 Aire X1 Eastbank | X1 The Exchange | X1 Arndale House | X1 The Terrace X1 The Studios | X1 The Courtyard | X1 The Gallery | X1 The Edge X1 Liverpool One | X1 Town Hall | X1 Salford Quays | X1 Chapel Street

INSIDE / ISSUE 023 FEATURES

51 23 The houses of parliment The economic cost of piracy refurbishment £3.5bn could buy a lot of things. A billion pounds will buy 147,000 state pensions or 300,000 jobseeker's allowances for a year, according to Department for Work and Pensions forecasts for 2015/16. Alternatively it could fund 2.3 million peoples’ disability living allowance per annum - three quarters of the total.

There has been a lot of news surrounding piracy in recent times, as criminal gangs across the globe look for more lucrative targets.

Global trade and the developing world have increased the demand on the shipping industry to deliver more product as quickly and as cost effectively as possible.

77 70 Should England boycott Could 3D printing save the world? the World Cup? Following the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury in March 2018, there was much soul searching about the UK’s relationship with Russia. Whilst it is still technically an allegation that the Russians were behind the poisoning, the international community seems convinced of the identity of the attackers.

3D printing has been billed as a potentially revolutionary technological breakthrough. The most enthusiastic backers believe that it could change the world thanks to its speed, affordability and how easily it can be scaled up. With major advances in fields as diverse as housing, healthcare and environmental technologies, they may just be right.

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11 Market in Focus Nigeria

94 UK

INVESTING IN ICELAND | 42

Nigeria, like so much of Africa, has an interesting past, but one which has been dominated in recent history by British colonial rule. Indeed, Nigeria wasn’t even a country until the British arrived, as vast swathes of Africa didn’t even have borders or sovereign states at the time.

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.

89 Should I move to York?

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?

Voted as the best place to live in the UK this year by the Times, York is a picturesque walled city located in North Yorkshire.

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MAY/JUN 2018

GLOBAL

PROPERTY NO. SCENE ISSUE 023

EDITOR’S NOTE Summer is fast approaching, and with temperatures in the UK at record highs I feel optimistic about what the rest of the year could hold. The property market continues to grow, with supply proving to be the only limiting factor as more young people struggle to try and climb the ladder.

The Investment Publication | www.globalpropertyscene.com

This issue: Investing in domain names | How to rebuild after a natural disaster | A guide through resilient cities The economic cost of piracy | Should I move to York?

FOCUS ON: NIGERIA

HAS ICELAND GOT INVESTMENT POTENTIAL?

A place where financial restrictions continue to limit investment is Europe’s distant member Iceland. Back in June 2016, overseas investors were left with a difficult decision: either sell their stakes at a below-market value, or find their capital locked indefinitely in local banks at the base rate of interest. This policy was implemented because the government, after the economic downturn, saw little purpose in attracting any foreign investment. Its primary aim is to keep the US$16.7bn economy of the island free from another boom and bust. With capital controls limiting activity, we discuss if Iceland’s reticence could prove to be a breath of fresh air for the seasoned investor.

Investment into international shipping continues to fly, with global trade and the developing world increasing the demand to deliver products as quickly and as cost effectively as possible. With the stakes running higher, the number of reported instances of piracy seem to be on the rise. With increasing governmental interest and support from private security we look at how the industry is grappling with this pressing issue.

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Here at GPS we’re always on the lookout for a great future investment. 3D printing has been billed as a potentially revolutionary technological breakthrough. The most enthusiastic backers believe that it could change the world thanks to its speed, affordability and how easily it can be scaled up. With major advances in fields as diverse as housing, healthcare and environmental technologies, they may just be right. In this edition we look at how investing in some of its future applications could deliver real returns.

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CREDITS Individual Samantha Edwards, Alex Timperley, Will Leyland, Emma Martin, Alistair McGovern, Michael Vickers, Mark Williams, Marica Bruschi, Richard Ellis, Alistair McGovern, John Power, Martin Copeland Commercial Knight Knox, X1, Fortis Developments, Forshaw Land & Property Group, INTUS Lettings, Gold Key Media, Shutterstock, Unsplash, Property Investor, Crossbow Investments Yieldit, Singapore Yacht Show

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And finally, we debate whether England should be attending this summer’s World Cup. Following the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury in March 2018 with a chemical agent called Novichok, there was much soul searching about the UK’s relationship with Russia. With the event fast approaching, we look at how politics can prove so influential on a major sporting event.

That’s it for now, we hope you enjoy edition 23.

Editor-in-chief Michael Smith

FACEBOOK & DATA COLLECTION WILL LEYLAND

S

hould we be concerned? We ask this because, according to recent news reports across the world, and thanks to some outstanding journalism by the Guardian, Facebook’s data policy may have allowed a company called Cambridge Analytica to swing the election for Donald Trump and the UK's EU referendum for Brexit.

It’s a bold claim. After all, we’re a democracy, so surely it shouldn’t be possible to use social media to sway people’s opinion with extremely effective targeted marketing? Yet this is apparently what’s happened over the, frankly, crazy year of 2016.

A year that saw such unforgettable images as Nigel Farage having a naval battle on the Thames with Bob Geldof, David Cameron resigning on the steps of Downing Street and Donald Trump winning the presidency in the US. In years to come we’ll all probably take a much greater interest in our children’s history homework for this precise reason - but where does Facebook come into this?

Christopher Wylie, who worked at Cambridge Analytica and helped to found the company with a University of Cambridge academic with the aim of exercising political influence online, came forward and spoke to the Observer earlier this year to reveal some of the company’s practices.

He revealed that the company had harvested the personal data of millions of Facebook users in order to build an incredibly accurate piece of software that could target information at people it deemed persuadable.

In his interview with the newspaper, Wylie said: “we exploited Facebook to harvest millions of peoples' profiles.

And built models to exploit what we knew about them and target their inner demons. That was the basis the entire company was built on.”

The specific number of users who had their data used for this purpose was put at about 50 million. The company allegedly targeted people’s ‘inner demons’ by using psychometric testing and a similar rating system to Netflix when it came to who they liked in politics.

According to a journalist at the Independent, who spoke to one of the software creators at Cambridge Analytica, it worked a little like this: “the most important factor in Funk’s early Netflix model was defined by users who loved films like Pearl Harbour and The Wedding Planner, while also hating movies like Lost in Translation or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. His model showed how machine learning can find correlations among groups of people, and groups of movies, that humans themselves would never spot.”

If we take that to its logical conclusion in politics then we might find, for example, people who were on the left of the political spectrum who harboured liberal approaches to social aspects of their life, but conservative opinions in the economy, and this software would recognise this through a person’s Facebook likes, shares and comments. Let’s say that this user was a big supporter of LGBTQ communities, but also felt that the military was underfunded by Obama.

These are exactly the kind of people that could be swayed to the Trump camp, and especially with an unpopular opponent such as Hillary Clinton.

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Regardless of the ingeniousness of the method, it was still morally outrageous, as we saw from the media coverage that followed across the political spectrum.

There’s often a tendency to believe that those perceived to be on the right care little for privacy invasion in the name of security, but given the repercussions and the fallout from this episode it’s clear that this isn’t always the case.

Ironically, perhaps, the body likely to be the champions of personal data security and the proponents of more stringent legislation will be the European Union with the introduction of their GDPR regulations.

Titled the General Data Protection Regulation, GDPR has been the bane of many companies' lives over recent months as they get to grips with what it means for the personal data that they store. It will supersede the Information Commissioner’s Office Data Protection Act of 1998, and introduces further rules to abide by when processing data.

In summary, the legislation will make it legally binding for any company that stores personal data to: > Process data for specific purposes > Process data only for legitimate purposes > Allow data subjects the right to have their information deleted > Allow data subjects free access to their data upon request > Be up to date and accurate > Not be kept for any longer than necessary The reason the legislation has caused issues across UK businesses is that Brexit is scheduled to begin in earnest in under a year and, with the rules being part of the EU framework, many wonder whether this will apply after we leave.

The chances are they will, as the UK is a large trading partner with the EU, and any businesses which wish to trade with the EU must adhere to these rules when dealing with any EU citizen’s data.

How this sits with Brexiteers is unclear, in the sense that this legislation from the EU will measurably improve people’s lives and, as we have seen with Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, business simply can’t be trusted to treat our data fairly or legitimately without state intervention.

As of the time of writing, Cambridge Analytica are in insolvency proceedings and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been forced to appear in front of a number of government investigations into the breach. This shows not only the severity of the situation, but also the laughable level of understanding US lawmakers have of the internet and how it works.

One congressman was heard to ask Zuckerberg how Facebook makes money, demonstrating a fundamental lack of understanding of what the company even does.

Whether GDPR will reign in this type of behaviour remains to be seen, but we can only hope that these companies feel under scrutiny when dealing with our personal information and especially when it is being used to undermine democracy.

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MARKET IN FOCUS NIGERIA Words : Will Leyland | View : Ariyo Olasunkanmi

W

hen we consider investment into the African continent, so often there is a tendency to imagine investment into small enterprises, or into charitable organisations, or even mining and materials.

ruled by the crown through chiefdoms until 1960 when Nigeria officially became an independent federal republic.

Following the 1960 declaration of independence, Nigeria followed the path so often trodden by its neighbours and descended into civil war from 1967 to 1970 falling in and out of democratic government all the way to 1999, with military dictatorships featuring sporadically in between. It wasn’t until the 2011 presidential election that international inspectors declared the Nigerian election process fair and legitimate.

Africa is also, so often, seen as a homogenous landmass struggling with war, famine and corruption, and with it being such a large and varied continent it often can be off-putting for foreign investors when looking for emerging opportunities.

Contrast can indeed be stark. Take, for example, Botswana or South Africa, countries which are relatively wealthy and have large economies. Compare them with the likes of Zimbabwe or Ethiopia and the picture is very different. If we go further than that, we can look at Somalia or Sierra Leone and see war ravaged lands rife with government corruption.

In popular discourse Nigeria is often referred to as the “Giant of Africa” owing to its enormous population of 186 million people, making it the most populous country in Africa and the seventh most populous globally.

Interestingly, specifically from an economic standpoint, Nigeria has the third largest youth population in the world after China and India, with 90 million young citizens. This, of course, gives the country a large advantage over its neighbours with a young and enthusiastic labour market.

Nigeria isn’t too much different from some of the tropes of African government. It often is the first example many think of when they think of poor governance and corruption. Industry is often dominated by monopolies, such as Mr Dangote, whose company dominates Nigeria’s - and much of Africa’s - cement industry.

It is also a giant in economic terms too, with an economy currently worth US$500bn, and US$1tr in terms of nominal GDP, making it the world’s 20th largest economy. It is considered an emerging economy by the World Bank, and is considered to be along the lines of Brazil in terms of economic potential.

Nigeria, like so much of Africa, has an interesting past, but one which has been dominated in recent history by British colonial rule.

Indeed, Nigeria wasn’t even a country until the British arrived, as vast swathes of Africa didn’t even have borders or sovereign states at the time.

Nigeria still lags badly in terms of human rights and the development of its population, with many lacking access to healthcare, education and a good level of clean accommodation.

British rule began in the 19th century, and Nigeria wasn’t formed into its modern day structure until 1914. The country was then indirectly

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The situation is getting marginally better, but Nigeria ranks very poorly for development.

One of the more interesting aspects of Nigeria’s economy is Nollywood, the Nigerian film industry. The term Nollywood, an amalgamation of ‘Nigerian Hollywood’, is said to have appeared in the early 2000s when describing the increasing popularity of its films in the Western press.

It’s not a small industry however, and is today worth billions.

According to Fortune: “by 2009, Nollywood had surpassed Hollywood as the world’s second largest movie industry by volume, right behind India’s Bollywood. And in 2014, the Nigerian government released data for the first time showing Nollywood is a US$3.3bn sector, with 1844 movies produced in 2013 alone. Earlier this year, Nollywood Producer Kunle Afolyan reached an exclusive Netflix distribution arrangement for his latest film, October 1. This adds to the 10 Nollywood related titles already on Netflix and the U.S. media company’s recent US$12m movie rights purchase of Nigerian novel Beasts of No Nation, to star Idris Elba”.

Art and culture across Africa is abundant and has always been some of the most interesting and awe-inspiring literature, film and art from across the world, but it’s possibly only recently that the world has started to sit up and take notice. It seems palpable, in the past five years or so, that institutional racism towards African actors and artists has started to evaporate and interest in their heritage is growing.

So what of investing in Nigeria? Does this diverse emerging economy warrant attention? Absolutely, as highlighted by the Financial Times special report into its potential.

It notes familiar structural issues, in terms of the difficulty in obtaining necessary licences and permits, often varying in difficulty depending on which region you visit and which regional government you deal with. But it goes on to say that these structural issues mask a vast dynamism within its economy.

In his book 23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism, Ha-Joon Chang, a renowned professor of economics in the US, devotes an entire chapter to dispelling the myth that Africa isn’t entrepreneurial. He argues that, rather than lacking in entrepreneurship, Africa is actually bustling with activity and that Africans are often more innovative than their European or American counterparts. This, it seems, would be supported by Nigeria’s thriving start-up industry.

Bosun Tijani, chief executive of Co-Creation Hub, an incubator for businesses and social enterprises in Yaba, was interviewed as part of the Financial Times' special report into Nigeria. When asked about the potential for a generation of tech industry leaders, he said: “there is now a critical mass of people who believe they can build a sustainable and successful business, serious money is beginning to hit the market.”

Venture capitalists appear to share Tijani’s sentiment, pumping money into African enterprises including cashless payment systems, social networks and retail ventures.

Nigeria’s GDP growth has been something of a rollercoaster ride since 2015. In 2015 it grew 3.96%, then 2.35% in 2016, before crashing by up to 2.6% later that year before eventually picking back up to an impressive 1.75% last year.

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Bustling markets in Lagos, Nigeria

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“In terms of a property market for investment, it has to be said that it’s practically non-existent, and the only real opportunities tend to be developments designed for the wealthy or powerful.”

The country does little in the way of tourism, and this has been an issue since the government has had to deal with a costly and energy sapping war against Islamic militant group Boko-Haram, most famous for kidnapping a group of schoolgirls back in 2015.

The British government advises against all but essential travel to the north of the country, although the capital and south coast are largely safe for visitors.

In terms of a property market for investment, it has to be said that it’s practically non-existent, and the only real opportunities tend to be developments designed for the wealthy or powerful. Nigeria has its own issues in terms of providing not just affordable housing but habitable housing for vast amounts of its population.

Sadly, as is the case in most developing countries, new-found economic wealth has failed to find its way into the hands of the poor, or indeed the average population. Many still live in poverty in difficult conditions, facing human rights abuses.

Nigeria is certainly a country that has its problems and, given its colonial history and the contemporary history of its neighbours, it's hardly surprising that its colonial rulers left crooked and corrupt institutions which were taken over and abused as soon as they left.

Despite that, this is a country which often displays the very best of the continent that it inhabits. Whether it’s the emerging and bustling film industry, or the new digital innovations being made, there is a level of gritty entrepreneurship across this country that we so often don’t see in the west.

Nobody here has easy or quick access to financial support in order to start a business and many who have provided it will only provide it to micro-startups. One such example of this was the “cellphone ladies” of remote villages in Africa, who would rent out their mobile phones to villagers to make calls. Financial institutions would invest in these micro-startups in the belief that it was the future of the African economy only for the market to be saturated more or less as soon as it had begun.

Known as the Cathedral Church of Christ Marina, it is the oldest Anglican cathedral in the Church of Nigeria.

Nigeria can, and should, be a blueprint for African success, but it remains to be seen whether it can overcome its structural problems in order to reach its potential.

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Commercial area in Lagos, Nigeria

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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.

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April 5th Stop throwing smartphones away One of the more puzzling features of modern smartphones and related industries is the idea of in-built obsolescence, where a piece of technology is designed to fail after a certain length of time so you have to buy a new version – the “puzzling” part of all this being why the practise is allowed in the first place.

Perhaps an answer can be found in the technology’s reach. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) enables the modern world to function through a global communication and computation network.

There isn’t really anything in modern society which isn’t on some level defined by ICT. If it were all to stop working tomorrow then we would be in a lot of trouble.

When a technology becomes so ubiquitous it is easy to forget it is there, and to thereby not take it into account when a problem arises. When the problem is climate change, things like pollution spewing factories or the cars choking our cities to death are much more visible, and softer, targets.

However, it is probably time to ignore the advice constantly pouring out of self-help guides and begin to pay more attention to our smartphones.

A recent study from McMaster University, Canada on the impact of ICT from 2010-2020 – including phones, computers, servers and everything else – has painted a stark picture of the challenge ahead of us. Even considering the move away from giant computers to tiny phones, the carbon footprint of ICT has tripled since 2007 and is set to make up 14% of all carbon emissions worldwide by 2020.

The issue with smartphones in particular concerns the previously mentioned in-built obsolescence. When you are encouraged, or forced, to discard your phone every two years the environmental consequences become outsized. 85%-95% of the CO2 produced over the average two year lifespan of a modern smartphone is created during the construction process; only between 15% and 5% is from the power it takes to charge over that time period. To illustrate the point further, making a brand new smartphone uses as much energy as operating an existing one for a decade.

Even if everyone kept their current phone for just another year it would make a big difference.

So what is the solution? As always, this isn’t an issue which can be fixed by any one designer or technology firm. Whilst governments continue to pursue economic growth over the long-term sustainability of the planet, the legislative route is closed. In the meantime, we as consumers can begin to force change, for instance by purchasing a cheap replacement battery for our existing handset rather than buying a new one. Phone companies will get the message sooner or later.

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April 23rd Another London skyscraper boom?

London is the tallest UK city by a long way. World famous landmarks such as the Shard and Canary Wharf dot its skyline, making it instantly recognisable. Whether this is a good thing or not is a matter of personal taste, but one group who seem almost universally in favour are the people on the planning committees.

The figures from the latest Tall Buildings Survey from New London Architecture indicate that a staggering 510 tall buildings are in the pipeline for London, with 115 currently in construction. This compares to figures of 455 and 115 respectively from the 2016 survey.

The research also revealed some interesting implications for skyscrapers in the realm of public opinion. The skyline of a city is always a touchy subject as it concerns more than just the physical buildings.

Skyscrapers have a bad reputation as towers for the global super-rich, which puts the average person off them. However, with 90% of these skyscrapers being fully residential, is it possible that opinions will begin to sway in favour?

“New London Architecture indicates that a staggering 510 tall buildings are in the pipeline for London, with 115 currently in construction.”

All but seven London Boroughs have new tall buildings in the pipeline. It seems from the plans and overviews that Greenwich – in particular the area around the O2 Arena – is set to be the most saturated, but overall the spread of new buildings seems to be fairly wide.

But do these remarkable figures suggest a return to form for the skyscraper in London? The answer is not so clear.

Hidden underneath the initial good news are a few items which suggest that the trend may have peaked. Lots of towers may be in construction, but the actual number completed year on year and the number approved by planning committees fell significantly.

It is never really possible to tell how many and which ones will actually end up being inhabited until they are finished. The significant cost of building a skyscraper is often a weight which ends up dragging a project down before it even starts. We are not recommending a “don’t believe the hype” stance, but it would be sensible to believe the evidence of your own eyes before judging whether skyscrapers are well and truly back in London.

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April 27th The coca leaf is the next big thing The coca leaf has picked up a bad reputation over the years. Its status as the key ingredient at the base of the global cocaine trade has led many to see it as a fundamentally bad thing to grow – but to allow cocaine to define the coca plant tells only half the story.

Cocaine is made from a particular alkaloid – a plant based organic compound – present in coca leaves, but it is only one of many. The rest of the alkaloids present in the leaf do not possess narcotic qualities and are widely believed to be beneficial.

It is these beneficial aspects which Bolivia is betting on to create a new industry. From its roots as an almost divine plant for the indigenous people and the mythical base of the ancient Andean cosmological theory, through its reinvention as a key part of the murderous international drug trade, coca is now ready to step into the spotlight again as a force for good.

Bolivia is the poorest country in South America and has been looking for an economic lifeline for many years. The USA’s Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) waged a multi-decade war on the nation’s coca farmers - the wonderfully named cocaleros - due to their role in the production of cocaine, but the policy was by no means a success. In response the current Bolivian president, Evo Morales, threw the DEA out of Bolivia almost a decade ago, opening the door for legal coca farming and industries.

The coca leaf – whether chewed, turned into flour or used to brew tea – is credited with having a remarkable ability to oxygenate blood as well as being packed with iron, protein, riboflavin, vitamins A and B, phosphorus and calcium. This is not to say that it is definitely the next ‘super food’ as it is hard to get the funding to test such a stigmatised plant, but the people who know it best all seem to be convinced. It is a key part of the diet for many indigenous people, including Carmelo Flores Laura, one of the oldest people in the world at the time of his deat, who claimed daily chewing of coca was one of the main reasons he lived so long.

This is the reputation that a budding class of Bolivian businessmen want to promote and tap into.

Entrepreneurs are busy getting the right permits and building the facilities to make liqueurs, energy drinks, tea, medicines and much more from the leaf.

As a product to invest in, the market is probably not mature enough yet for the vast majority of investors.

Most coca products are in a very early stage of development, and the industry as a whole is under a lot of international scrutiny. For instance, coverage of the nascent industry has noted that coca products are unlikely to ever be on sale in the USA due to political pressures.

However, the industry has the weight of a country behind it with a government investing heavily in research and marketing. This is certainly one of the riskier investment markets we have covered at Global Property Scene, but it is a genuine opportunity to get in on the ground floor of something with real potential, and is therefore surely worth a look.

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May 10th Kanye West announces architecture firm ‘Yeezy Home’ Global sensation Kanye West has this week announced that he is evolving his business venture Yeezy by adding an architecture branch which will be known as ‘Yeezy Home’.

The 21 times Grammy award-winning hip hop artist has traditionally been known for his career in the music sector but has more recently made a success out of the Yeezy fashion brand where his flair for design has been recognised throughout the industry at events like New York Fashion Week. West’s Yeezy brand has collaborated with huge names in fashion such as Nike and Louis Vuitton.

West announced the venture on Twitter where he stated: “we’re starting a Yeezy architecture arm called Yeezy home. We’re looking for architects and industrial designers who want to make the world better.”

The entertainer turned architect has also previously posted a number of ‘mood boards’ on the social platform which have been brought into context with the announcement of Yeezy Home.

However the new venture should not come as a surprise to fans of West as he has previously shown an interest in architecture, as stated in a 2013 interview with BBC Radio 1. Speaking to radio DJ Zane Lowe West explained: "I want to do product, I am a product person. Not just clothing but water bottle design, architecture... I make music but I shouldn't be limited to once place of creativity."

The interview offered a chance for West to speak about his other interests including his desire to work in architecture, he said: "I hang around architects mostly.

People that wanna make things as dope as possible."

He added: "I'm learning what I want. This is the reason why I'm working with five architects at a time. The time spent in a bad apartment, I can't get that back. But the education I can get from working on it is priceless."

May 11th Life advice from Google?

“Don’t be evil” Google’s original catchphrase from its code of conduct is probably one of the most well-known three word phrases in history. It was designed to sum up a simple philosophy where technology and devices would be used to improve our lives, rather than ruin them.

Unfortunately, the shine has somewhat come off Google in the years since. The tech giant has inserted itself into dozens of industries, shown a strong reluctance to pay tax, and gathered so much data that it is doubtful if any of us have as much privacy as we think. All of this was done in aid of making as much of the money in existence as they possibly could.

So when Google announced a new initiative this week aimed at making their technology less addictive, it was easy to be sceptical. After all, the company’s entire business model is predicated on getting us addicted to phones and apps so we give more money to Google.

However, look at the new proposals suggests that initial impressions may be a little harsh. Google’s claim that they are, “committed to giving everyone the tools they need to develop their own sense of digital wellbeing [,] so that life, not the technology in it, stays front and centre” does not seem quite as immediately ridiculous when you look at some of the most interesting features: Shush A feature of the next Android update which will silence your calls and notifications when the phone is flipped face down. This is a simple feature but arguably a genius one as it taps into something we all do automatically – put the phone down – in order to let us unplug for a while without having to go into the phone and find the right settings.

Gmail

It’s uncertain what the first projects from the new firm will be, or who they will be working alongside, however with West’s track record for disrupting the status quo we can be sure that it will be interesting to see what Yeezy Home will do.

A simple change will allow you to turn off notifications for all non-essential emails, as defined by the user. By cutting down on the number of notifications there will be fewer reasons to keep

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checking your phone. Given that we all do this an average of 100 times a day, it seems like a good idea Wind Down Another remarkably simple feature of the next Android update which seems so obvious in hindsight. We have all at one point or another checked our phone before bed and accidentally spent hours looking into a screen from only a few centimetres away, damaging our eyesight and not allowing our brain to switch off. Wind Down will simply turn off all the colours on your home screen at bedtime in order to remove the addictive, video game-style aspect of phones and let you switch off more easily.

YouTube The video streaming service is a true behemoth of the online world. It is estimated that 150 million hours of media are watched on the service every day, meaning that we could probably all do with watching a little less. Now, there will be a new feature which will prompt us to take a break at regular intervals to give ourselves a rest.

Family Link This might be the most important change of all in the long run. It is not a secret that many phone apps and games are aimed squarely at getting children addicted, with the hope that they will spend money. Family Link aims to stop this by making it easier to manage the apps children use, keep track of their screen time, and find online content recommended by teachers as good for young people.

None of these new features are likely to change the world, but they can only be a good thing in the long run. The majority of us definitely spend too much time in front of screens – thanks in part to Google – so anything that can help with this is to be welcomed. It is not often this gets said, but Google seems to have done something which is good for everyone, and they’ve done it for free.

Congratulations to Google on this achievement.

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THE PARLIMENT REFURBISHMENT Words : Will Leyland | View : Luis Alvarado Alvarado

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3.5bn could buy a lot of things. A billion pounds will buy 147,000 state pensions or 300,000 jobseeker's allowances for a year, according to Department for Work and Pensions forecasts for 2015/16. Alternatively it could fund 2.3 million peoples’ disability living allowance per annum - three quarters of the total.

consent. Most importantly, it outlawed the ability of the king to raise taxes without the consent of Parliament.

Parliament subsequently went through many transformations and became a centre of the developing western idea of democracy, with only the gentry and lords possessing either the vote or right to representation at first, but then giving way to property owning classes later, eventually beginning the process of granting universal suffrage in the 1920s.

Multiply this figure by three and a half, and that’s what is about to be spent updating and renovating the Houses of Parliament which are, admittedly, in a decrepit condition. Reports of exposed and faulty wiring, slow and damaged internet connections and serious fire hazards are common.

The building itself has been through famous rebuilding and refurbishment before, perhaps most famously following the great fire of 1834, after an overheated stove used to destroy the Exchequer's stockpile of tally sticks set fire to the House of Lords Chamber. The majority of the building was destroyed, but some key areas were salvaged thanks to firefighting efforts and a changing of the wind. The Jewel Tower, the Chapel of St Mary Undercroft, the Cloisters and St Stephen’s Chapter House were the only other parts of the Palace to survive.

Approximately 8,000 people work within the Palace of Westminster, and one million visit every year. It would be hard to argue against the fact that Parliament is one of our most treasured landmarks and a monument to our history.

The earliest records of building on the site of the palace date back to Anglo-Saxon times when, in the 8th century, a church dedicated to St Peter known as the West Minster was built (‘minster’ being Olde English for ‘monastery’). The church was expanded and adopted as a royal church and the burial site for Christian kings. The palace has been in continuous existence since the Danish King Cnut (1016-1035) began building there in the first half of the 11th century.

In an effort to come to a solution about where Parliament could be relocated to, King William IV offered the almost completed Buckingham Palace as an alternative location as he wasn’t particularly fond of the residence, but this offer was rejected as it was deemed unsuitable, as was St James’ Park.

Parliament had been meeting sporadically since the 13th century, but didn’t become the ‘Mother of Parliaments’ until much later.

It wasn’t until almost two years and 96 separate proposals later that the government of the time decided to rebuild the palace according to the architectural plans of Charles Barry, who imagined a Gothic inspired palace. The House of Lords took seven years to complete and the House of Commons took 12 years – all at a huge cost.

In 1640, the Long Parliament was convened and changed the nature of Parliament forever. It imposed a raft of reforms which meant that Parliament would meet more regularly, wouldn’t need the king’s permission to do so, and couldn’t be dissolved without its

With this remarkable and important history, many have declared

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it impossible to imagine the heart of British democracy being anywhere other than Westminster. However, there is a vocal group which argues that the cost of the latest refurbishment is too great and that an alternative location should be found; but how practical is that?

Accusations of being overly London-centric have dogged successive governments, and they mostly stand up under scrutiny.

For instance, the think tank IPPR North estimates that more than half of the UK’s total spending on transport networks is invested in London.

The research, quoted in the Guardian, found that £1,943 is spent per person in London on current or planned projects compared with just £427 in the north. To this end it has been argued that we should consider moving Parliament north of London to a new location which will address the wealth imbalance between the capital and the rest of England.

When income, opportunity, education and health are all taken into consideration, the entire top ten most deprived areas of the UK are in the midlands and the north. Ranking number one was Oldham in Greater Manchester, followed by West Bromwich, Liverpool, Walsall, Birmingham, Nottingham and Middlesbrough.

“The research, quoted in the Guardian, found that £1,943 is spent per person in London on current or planned projects compared with just £427 in the north.”

Tony Greaves, a House of Lords representative for the Liberal Democrats, wrote to the Guardian to articulate this argument, saying: “we must move both parliament and the seat of government out of London for good. There will be many advantages for both London and the rest of the country, but moving to an existing big city would be unnecessary, divisive and disruptive. Only by a decisive and permanent move northwards of the seat of power itself can we transform and rebalance the relationship between London and the rest of England and create a genuine economic and cultural counterweight to the south east.”

It is an interesting thought, but one that faces a raft of challenges.

If Parliament were to make this move up north, how do we decide where it will be located? Do we have a bidding process? How do

Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament

Westminster Palace members' terraces, part of the Houses of Lords and Commons

we reconcile the fact that the vast majority of MPs have relocated their families to London for their career?

After it has been decided where to relocate, what do we do with the current palace? All are questions that need answers and would, presumably, take a long time to agree upon.

The most coherent argument for the relocation so far has been one that imagines a new Parliament relocated to Manchester, Newcastle or Leeds, with the cost of a new build significantly less than the refurbishment of the current building. Under this plan, the Palace of Westminster would be handed to the National Trust to be refurbished with government funding and turned into a museum.

It all seems rather anti-traditional, though, doesn’t it? The seat of power that has been at the heart of democracy for hundreds of years being turned into a museum, whilst a new modern building is constructed in one of the great northern cities?

The fact remains that a refurbishment is enormously expensive and is unlikely to garner much enthusiasm from a British public still feeling the effects of a decade of austerity, simply to make things a little nicer for politicians who don’t have the best reputation anyway.

Neither are we going to get away from the fact that the north-south divide is growing; but is a relocation of power up north really the answer? Surely there are better ways to address the inequality rather than simply plonking the government north of the midlands?

The other question is whether the government is really going to get value for money with any company or contractors likely to squeeze every last penny out them. And who is to say that the cost won’t soar as the true magnitude of the job becomes clear?

With all that in mind, we can’t continue as we are, with reports of rat infestations and regular near misses with electrical fires. Leaks and piles of water languishing in dangerous areas are common, and a committee report concluded that the likelihood of a catastrophic fire due to the aging electrics in the building is almost inevitable.

For those who appreciate the grandeur and history of the old building, action will need to be taken soon to avoid the loss of one of our national treasures, whether that be relocating it, or simply biting the bullet and getting the job done.

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Big Ben was designed by Augustus Pugin using the neo-gothic style. At the time of its completion in 1859, the clock was the largest and most accurate four-faced striking and chiming clock in the world

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SINGAPORE YACHT SHOW 2018 Words : Michael Smith

ONE°15 Marina Sentosa Cove, Singapore

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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

“Standing as one of the principle events on the boating calendar, the Singapore Yacht Show is a place you must visit to see some of the latest and greatest launches.”

40 Open Sunreef Power, Sunreef Yachts The ultimate form of luxury, a yacht is seen as the perfect lifestyle toy allowing its user to tour the world in the comfort of their own personal floating home. Out of reach for most, few will get to ride aboard one, let alone own one. And yet the market continues to grow, with orders for new boats only increasing.

Standing as one of the principle events on the boating calendar, the Singapore Yacht Show is a place you must visit to see some of the latest and greatest launches. In just eight short years the event has gone from strength to strength as Asia continues to increase its interest in the sector. The region has become an increasingly important market for suppliers, looking to capitalise on the growing strength of local wealth. China now boasts the most homegrown billionaires, but still has very little investment in the yachting sector despite such a large population.

Speaking to local experts, it seems this can be accredited to a lack of knowledge and experience. Not much is known about owning and operating a yacht in Asia, which can make potential owners and indeed current owners nervous about bringing such valuable assets to the region. Will there be the right technical support available?

How accessible are the ports to larger vessels? How difficult will the procurement of fuel and supplies be?

To all these questions the answer is certainly yes, and the event organisers were quick to point out that a lot of hard work is going on behind the scenes to help promote and further establish the industry. Working closely with the ASEAN governments to help introduce the changes necessary to really open up the market is a real focus. More and more hubs are starting to spring up, creating better positioning possibilities as crews look to create some truly unique routes through the thousands of islands dotted around south east Asia.

There was much to see this year, with a whole host of the most well-known brands on hand to introduce some of their latest creations. The Singapore Yacht Show has become a major marketing platform for the industry as interest in Asia continues to develop. Hosting thousands of visitors over the event’s four days, it gives potential customers a real hands-on opportunity to sample the life style accustomed to yacht ownership. More and more brands are now holding the launch of exclusive products for this event as its popularity continues to grow.

The Singapore Yacht Show has become a real driver of tourism for Singapore with visitors travelling from all over the world to experience its products. The event’s expansion is a testament to its popularity with over 50,000 sqm of exhibition space open to the public. The new open-air precinct has introduced a whole host of nautical lifestyle accessories for those needing some retail therapy.

The Promenade stands at the heart of the event where visitors will find a wine and gin festival along with a variety of international cuisine.

Into the evening large cocktail parties are hosted aboard some of the larger vessels, along with fashion parades and the all-important supercar display. There is truly a great deal on offer for any visitor looking to sample something new, and if the event continues in this similar vein its sure to only grow into the future.

Over the page you can see three of the must-see yachts from this year’s event.

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LAGOON 50 ---

LAGOON --> Length overall: 4.75m > Beam: 8.10m > Draft: 1.40m Prices start from: £509,434 + VAT

PRINCESS 62 ---

PRINCESS YACHT --> Length overall: 19.34m > Beam: 5.03m > Draft: 1.48m Prices start from: £1.87m + VAT

Note: Prices to be used as a rough guide, and my only be accurate at

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date of press (May 2018)

SANLORENZO SL78 ---

SANLORENZO YACHTS --> Length overall: 24.64m > Beam: 5.74m > Draft: 1.80m Prices start from: £4.3m + VAT

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PEOPLE PLACE IDEA What we build shows what we value, how we think and what we are trying to achieve at a specific point in time. It is how we take the world of thoughts, ideas, fears and dreams and make it real – a time capsule by which future generations can know us, or by which we can look backwards and understand those who came before.

In this series, Global Property Scene examines the midpoint between architecture, history, culture and society in order to explore what the built environment can tell us about our past, present and future.

RESILIENT CITIES Words : Alex Timperley | View : Hanny Naibaho

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t seems likely that the 21st century will at least in part be defined by a historically unprecedented wave of urbanisation. This is a development which promises to be fascinating, because cities are at the heart of innovation, culture, art and everything else that makes life worth living. It turns out that if you get a lot of people in one place they tend to explore new ideas and invent new things at a rapid pace.

All of that means it is very exciting to see that more and more people are moving to cities. This is an especially pronounced trend in the developing world, and it is estimated that almost 70% of all people on earth will live an urban life by 2050.

It is hard to overstate what an incredible change this is. Human history spans hundreds of thousands of years and we have been a rural species for more than 99.99% of that time. Cities cover less than 1% of the surface of the earth and yet will soon be home to almost all of us. Contrast that with the remaining ‘native’ societies; they make up as little as 4-5% of the world’s total population, but are estimated to use a quarter of the land surface on earth.

Taking the above into account it is clear why cities are proliferating at such a remarkable speed. If we all still lived a rural life, the earth’s surface could only be occupied by a maximum of 20-25% of our current population – a rough estimate which does not consider different habitats, ecosystems or anything else. If we can’t all live a rural lifestyle then building more cities is non-negotiable.

And we certainly are building some incredible cities. There are currently 46 megacities – cities home to more than 10 million people – of which almost half can be found in China and India. Places such as Shanghai, Beijing, Kolkata and Delhi are more likely to represent the future for much of humanity rather than being anomalies. The biggest of all the megacities is Tokyo which is home to more than 38 million people who live across an area of 13,500 km2. It is almost impossible to imagine a city that large could exist in real life.

Oriental Pearl Radio & TV Tower in Shanighai features 11 mixed size spheres, its design is said to be based on a verse from the Tang Dynasty poem Pipa Song by Bai Juyi about the wonderful sprinkling sound of a pipa instrument, like pearls, big and small falling on a jade plate.

The problem with building so extensively is that getting cities right is supremely challenging. We have been trying for thousands of years and still can’t agree on what makes the perfect city. The world is

“Human history spans hundreds of thousands of years and we have been a rural species for more than 99.99% of that time. Cities cover less than 1% of the surface of the earth and yet will soon be home to almost all of us.” littered with the remains of places which failed for any one of dozens of reasons. Each one teaches us lessons about what not to do, but the process remains far from perfect.

Now, as we build bigger and faster than ever before, it has become vital that we get as close to perfect as we possibly can. If 70% of people on earth are going to live in urban environments then there is suddenly a lot more at stake than there used to be. Living in the age of the city is incredible in so many different ways, but the other side of that equation is that we don’t really have room to get it wrong anymore.

Many of the most urgent concerns centre on the idea of building ‘sustainable’ cities which are fit for purpose in an era where man-made climate change is set to alter our relationship with the planet. The most obvious example of the importance of building sustainably concerns cities located by the sea. All coastal cities should be prepared for the negative impact of rising sea levels which will severely test infrastructure, food chains, and everything else.

Research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) predicts that coastal cities will see the waters rise by anything up to a height of almost two metres. The rate of global sea level rise will be six millimetres per annum by 2040 if climate change mitigation strategies either fail or are not fully implemented in the first place – about twice as fast as the current rate. Even worse, the rate will be a full 14 millimetres a year by 2100, which will put many areas fully underwater. The increasing speed at which the seas will rise significantly cuts down the amount of time we will have to successfully adapt.

As always when it comes to these sorts of disasters, it is the global poor who will end up suffering the most. The World Bank estimates that at least 65% of the urban population on each continent live in low-elevation coastal zones, and the vast majority of them are poor.

In Asia, this figure is as high as 90%. The tragic irony of this state of affairs is that the people least equipped to deal with disasters will bear the brunt of them.

The poor lose out twice over when sea levels rise. The first problem is the obvious issues such as housing being washed away. If you don’t own the land you live on and are less well represented by your local government, then you might simply never get another house. There is a major risk that millions of the coastal poor will become economic refugees sooner rather than later, and that is a problem which tends to snowball rather quickly.

The second major issue is that these same people get an overwhelming amount of their income and food from industries related to the sea. The degradation of coastal ecosystems and the losses which come with that will leave millions of people with nothing. Globally, 90% of poor people depend on forests like the mangroves which are being washed away. More than 50 million people are employed exclusively by small scale fisheries which are going to disappear. 60% of the coral reefs which support half of all the marine life in the oceans are set to die in the next 30 years.

Rising sea levels will literally wash away livelihoods and food supplies.

Of course, it is worth reiterating here that rising sea levels are only

The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world.

Detroit, USA one aspect of ‘sustainability’ that we will have to combat. Other considerations include increasingly awful pollution and outdated infrastructure, both of which are problems which we are nowhere close to solving. Altogether, it is estimated by the World Bank that climate change related problems will cost cities US$314bn a year by 2030, and push 77 million more people into poverty.

However, as important as building sustainably is, it only represents one part of a larger overall problem and it leaves out too many important things. Community, culture and employment levels are abstract concepts, but they are no less important to a place than a sustainable supply of water and food. As the trailblazing Polish-American feminist and union leader Rose Schneiderman said: “the worker must have bread, but she must have roses, too.”

It is not enough to supply people with only the basics to ensure survival if we want to build places that will work for decades, or even centuries, to come.

With so many people in one place, we will have to consider how to create cities which allow people to truly live, rather than just scrape by. An answer which is gaining in popularity is the idea that we need to build cities that are not simply sustainable, but are resilient.

Luckily, we still have time to do this and get it right. As much as 60% of the area which will be urbanised by 2030 has yet to be built, meaning that the world as we know it now is unlikely to resemble the future in any way. What happens next is purely up to us.

Building a resilient city means preparing for much more than just the shocks which can shake a place. Earthquakes, fires or the aforementioned rising sea levels are obviously important, but there is so much more that a living city requires. We must also build to prepare for the day-to-day or cyclical stresses which can kill a city.

These stresses include problems like inefficient transport systems, quality of education, high unemployment, crime waves and non-functional waste disposal systems, among many others.

On the surface it is hard to make a case for these being as serious as an earthquake or forest fire, but the fabric of a place needs to be maintained or it is nothing but a long-term death sentence.

“With so many people in one place, we will have to consider how to create cities which allow people to truly live, rather than just scrape by. An answer which is gaining in popularity is the idea that we need to build cities that are not simply sustainable, but are resilient.”

Detroit, USA is the perfect example of this. The American city has been in decline for decades, but not because of a natural disaster.

Instead, a confluence of social and economic factors has been draining the life from Detroit, and the situation now looks to be terminal. Whether you blame corrupt civic leadership, lack of proper

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investment following ‘white flight’ from the city centre, riots in the 1960s, or the effects of global economic trends, it is hard to argue that Detroit doesn’t stand as a warning of the dangers of not taking care of the intangibles. It appears to be the opposite of a resilient city.

That description makes it easy to imagine a stereotypical industrial hellscape home to a miserable population beaten down by work. However, this could not be further from the truth. More than 50 years after the opening of the oil fields, Daqing is something of a wonder.

Interestingly, all of the problems which Detroit faces are likely to become more common elsewhere in the future as urban populations increase. The lesson we must learn is that ignoring societal and economic factors is likely to lead to an unpleasant end for the cities of the future. Building resilient places means building “everyday systems which can be scaled up,” according to Thomas Frieden, the former director of the US Centers for Disease Control.

Described as “an emerging ecological, natural, modern, liveable industrial city” by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Daqing is officially an “eco-city” which has thrown off its industrial mantle. Rather than decline with the Chinese oil industry, the city has instead reinvented itself for the 21st century.

The city is now a smart, environmentally friendly, resilient modern metropolitan area which provides an outstanding quality of life for the almost three million people who live there. Even the remaining oil wells have been converted into a ‘green oil field’ system which prioritises wetland recovery and grassland restoration.

The aim of this, according to the Rockefeller Center, is to build “institutions, businesses, and systems within a city to survive, adapt, and grow, no matter what kinds of chronic stresses and acute shocks they experience. [...] City resilience is about making a city better, in both good times and bad, for the benefit of all its citizens, particularly the poor and vulnerable”.

China’s urban expansion has been something of a concern over the last 50 years for many. Is the pace of growth too rapid for its own good? It is hard to tell, but China certainly seems to have learned a lot of lessons by studying the West. From a total of 193 cities in 1978, China has since added another 465 to that total, and plans another 200 ‘ordinary cities’, giant urban corridors between existing cities and a further 15 ‘super cities’ which are designed to be home to 25 million people each by 2025.

Lots of extremely smart people are doing their level best to get the message out there and encourage resilience around the world. The main benefit of using the term resilience, and the reason why it has become so popular with city governments around the world, is that it can be applied equally to issues as diverse as rebuilding war-torn areas of Syria, the way cities like Venice are sinking, the drug trade in Medellin, and falling birth rates in Japan.

By cramming hundreds of years of urban development into just over a quarter of a century, China runs the risk of building destructively fast, but if you look at the individual cases it becomes clear that the Chinese cities of the future are designed to be as resilient as possible. The standing committee of the Chinese Communist Party realised long ago that its new cities must be far better than the standard pollution-soaked industrial cities of old. To this end China became one of the first developing nations to introduce national frameworks to ensure that new cities are built for the benefit of residents, as well as ongoing serious efforts to clear up existing cities.

“From a total of 193 cities in 1978, China has since added another 465 to that total, and plans another 200 ‘ordinary cities’, giant urban corridors between existing cities and a further 15 ‘super cities’ which are designed to be home to 25 million people each by 2025.”

By pledging in 1982 to “protect the environment and natural resources by controlling pollution and its societal impact, ensure the sensible use of natural resources, and safeguarding rare animals and plants,” China got itself ahead of the game at a time when such concerns were barely on the radar of Western nations. By doing so, many modern Chinese cities are being designed as havens of green space, leisure facilities, modern smart technologies and culture which are both good for the current residents and also ready for the expected influx of rural citizens who are moving towards urban lifestyles.

One particularly interesting example comes to us courtesy of China. Daqing, in the frozen north eastern province of Heilongjiang near Mongolia, was once a small frontier destination – until the day oil was found. Now known as the ‘Oil Capital of China’, Daqing seemed to grow exponentially after the oil field was opened in 1958. The formerly small town became a city of millions at the heart of the Chinese industrial machine. It was so successful that Chairman Mao Zedong dictated in 1964 that everyone in China should “learn from Daqing in industry.” Oil was extracted aggressively and on a massive scale, turning Daqing into China’s largest oilfield.

It is fair to say that life in a modern Chinese city is likely to be of a far higher quality for the majority than life in an equivalent Western city. If we are serious about making cities resilient across the world, it may be time to look to China and see what we can learn. After all, they are getting on with things in a way which no other country seems to be.

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Pumpjacks on the Daqing oil field, China

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HAS ICELAND GOT INVESTMENT POTENTIAL? Words : Michael Smith | View : Jeremy Bishop

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here is certainly an air of caution surrounding investment into Iceland, in part to the well-publicised introduction of significant capital controls. Having spent much of the last 10 years trying to keep foreign investment from escaping their fragile economy, Iceland became intent on forcing overseas investors onto greener pastures. Back in June 2016, overseas investors were left with a difficult decision. Either sell their stakes at a below-market value, or find their capital locked indefinitely in local banks at base rate of interest.

managers became increasingly intent on trying to invest in Icelandic government bonds, despite the rumoured implementation of these capital controls. Iceland is one of the few markets globally that can offer a potent combination of high interest rates and strong economic growth prospects.

The government on the other hand saw little point in attracting any further foreign investment. Their primary aim is to keep the US$16.7bn economy of the island free from another boom and bust.

They simply don’t need the capital and have no intention of making the same financial mistakes. Implementing its financial security plan, the government begin its placement of proceeds into newly created Icelandic savings accounts, which pays investors a basic 0.50% rate of interest. That money will remain ringfenced until the grip of financial control is loosened.

Not an easy situation, but how did this scenario materialize?

Not so long ago the country was regarded as a resilient financial institution, as its banks grew off the back of a strong bonds market and an innate ability to attract foreign depositors with high interest rates. As with much of the global banking industry, this all came to an end in 2007 when many investors reacted to the economic downturn by pulling their capital out of Icelandic banks, seriously damaging the Krona almost overnight.

So how did the country create such strong financial foundations?

It all stems from a strong and industrious heritage, which benefits from a host of locational and geological benefits. Like many small island civilisations, Iceland experienced a range of occupiers, each

Despite the country experiencing this fairly recent turmoil, fund

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Black sand beach in Vik, Iceland

Iceland managed to cling onto this assembly, despite a union with Norway in 1262, and a 45-year interlude in the early 1800’s created by a Danish royal decree disbanding the Althing. The parliament picked up where it left off functioning today out of the purpose-built parliament building, the Alþingishús, constructed in 1881 from local Icelandic stone.

of which introduced their own forms of governance and policy. The historical islandic document known as the Landnámabók places Iceland’s first settlers at around 874 AD. Originating from Norway, the Norse chieftain Ingólfr Arnarson became the first permanent settler on the island.

Over the coming centuries Norwegian, Danish and Swedish settlers made the crossing to look for opportunity. These early settlers used slaves known locally as thralls to help establish the first colonies.

Most were of Gaelic heritage and had little choice but to make the most of the surroundings they were presented with. Conditions were difficult for these early occupiers, as the pressure to build suitable structures capable of surviving the strong winter storms generated by the Arctic Circle often proved too much.

For much of its early history, Iceland dipped in and out of Scandinavian influence, most significantly when the island followed Norway into the Kalmar Union in 1523. The union was designed to join the three kingdoms of Denmark, Sweden and Norway, together with Norway's overseas dependencies. It was seen as a simplification of trade and governance overlaps. Legally the countries remained separate sovereign states, but with their domestic and foreign policies receiving direction from a common monarch. Having joined the Union, the Danish Kingdom aggressively introduced Lutheranism, a major branch of Protestant Christianity to the island. Despite their clear intent, Denmark’s influence seemed to have little impact on already established local institutions and infrastructure. This left Iceland feeling more like a distant

One of the most significant developments during the first 100 years of civilisation was the founding of the Althing, the national parliament of Iceland. Established in 930 AD, it started as an outdoor assembly held on the plains of Þingvellir, an area known as "Thing Fields", which laid the foundation for a future independent Iceland. It is recognised as one the oldest parliaments in the world.

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Northern lights appear over Mount Kirkjufell in Iceland

“Conditions were difficult for these early occupiers, as the pressure to build suitable structures capable of surviving the strong winter storms generated by the Arctic Circle often proved too much.�

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A group of people standing in front of the Hallgrimskirkja Church, Iceland semi-colonial territory rather than an important union member.

Independence was always at the forefront of most Icelandic opinion, and a breakthrough was finally achieved in 1918 through the Danish-Icelandic Act of Union. The agreement recognized Iceland as a fully independent and sovereign state able to create policy and create its own national flag. Denmark did however continue to look after Iceland’s foreign affairs and defence interests. Iceland finally managed to make the break from Danish rule during Nazi Germany’s occupation of Denmark. With the armed forces of the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States stationed in Iceland, Germany was unable to take control of the island. The Icelandic parliament took the decision to host a referendum on severing ties with the monarchy. The overwhelming decision created the independent republic of Iceland on June 17th, 1944.

Despite having the backing of some of the world’s largest economies, Iceland had until independence relied largely on subsistence fishing and agriculture for much of its social and economic development. For many centuries it was considered to be among the poorest countries in Europe. Capitalising on new found independence, Iceland was able to take advantage of the Marshall Plan, a post-World War II project established by the United States to aid Western Europe. The goal was to rebuild war-torn regions, remove trade barriers, modernise industry, improve European prosperity, and prevent the spread of Communism.

Investing this money wisely allowed Iceland to become one of the most prosperous economies in Europe. With fish standing as one of the country’s most abundant resources, the move was made to industrialise as much of the industry as possible, turning Iceland into a major exporter of seafood globally. Building further on long term relationships with other European countries, Iceland joined the European Economic Area in 1994, opening up the country to a whole host of new industries. Biotechnology, manufacturing and finance in particular became major contributors to the Icelandic economic charge.

It’s this initiative that helped launch Iceland as a true economic power.

What makes the country so attractive from the outside is a well-balanced mix of low taxes and strong local social services.

Boasting some of the lowest taxes among other OECD countries, Iceland benefits from a Nordic social welfare system that provides universal health care and tertiary education for its citizens. Utilities are universally very cheap, as the country runs almost entirely on renewable energy. The thermal energy created by the island’s volcanic topography has been harnessed to generate completely clean energy through steam turbines.

Not only does Iceland boast some of the best living conditions globally, it also offers some of the most balanced working conditions in the world. Declared on International Women's Day 2016, a new Icelandic law came into effect as of the 1st January 2018 which requires companies with 25 or more employees to be able to prove that they adhere to equal pay for men and women. The Nordic nation, which has already been voted the most gender equal country for nine years in a row, is now the world’s first country to make it illegal to pay men more than women.

Dagny Osk Aradottir Pind, a board member of the Icelandic Women's Rights Association, commented to Al Jazeera News: "the legislation is

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The Blue Lagoon geothermal spa, one of the most visited attractions in Iceland.

basically a mechanism that companies and organisations... evaluate every job that's being done, and then they get a certification after they confirm the process if they are paying men and women equally."

She continued: "it's a mechanism to ensure women and men are being paid equally. We have had legislation saying that pay should be equal for men and women for decades now, but we still have a pay gap.”

Its increasingly clear that as a country Iceland really has its people’s needs as a real foundation. The government seems keen to learn from previous mistakes to safe guard the island’s long-term future.

So how strong is the housing market?

Again, it seems that the property market is another field in which Iceland seems to be showing real signs of growth. In 2016 Knight Frank rated Iceland as the hottest property market in the world, with annual price rises of 17.8%. The island’s property price growth proved stronger than even Hong Kong, a country often linked with

Reykjavík, capital of Iceland, has a population of 123,300 and is the heart of Iceland's cultural, economic and governmental activity

increasingly expensive property. To put that into perspective, the UK, which attracts a large amount of overseas investment, ranked just 35th.

Kate Everett-Allen, head of international residential research at Knight Frank, said that Iceland's increasing prices are a result of "a dearth of new supply".

"Iceland’s Housing Financing Fund suggests 9,000 new apartments need to be delivered over the next three years in Reykjavik alone to keep pace with demand," she added. The population of the capital sits at just over 123,000, but after the financial crash many contractors went out of business and building ground to a halt.

“There has been an increasing number of airlines linking Iceland to North America and Europe, boosting tourism numbers to well over 2,000,000 annually, representing 10% of Iceland’s GDP. Over 30% of the country’s exports have been linked to Tourism, as visitors look to bring their own piece of Iceland home.”

Airbnb has also been linked to the growth in housing prices, as residents try to capitalise on a fast-growing tourism market in Iceland. It has become so lucrative that the Icelandic Government passed new policy requiring any homeowner renting their property to be on the site for more than 90 days to obtain a licence. There has been an increasing number of airlines linking Iceland to North America and Europe, boosting tourism numbers to well over 2,000,000 annually, representing 10% of Iceland’s GDP. Over 30% of the country’s exports have been linked to tourism as visitors look to bring their own piece of Iceland home.

Buying property in Iceland is surprisingly straightforward, with much of the process relying on strong trust between both parties. It’s an approach that reduces the legal costs and difficulties one often faces in other countries, with accurate property details enabling an agreement to close on a simple shake of the hand. The average purchasing costs sit at around US$2,600, including stamp duty and agent fees. The government has set property tax at 0.2% of the properties valuation, which can be accurately established from the Icelandic Property Register.

Plans are in place for a whole host of new high-end developments in some of the more affluent areas of the city as interest continues to grow. Capital controls don’t seem to be dissuading overseas investors, particularly from America who, along with Icelanders living abroad, are purchasing much of this limited buy-to-let stock. For now, Iceland certainly makes a compelling case for investment, as former financial difficulties seem ever more distant. With tourism only going one way, now would seem the time to invest in Iceland.

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THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF PIRACY Words : Michael Smith | View : Denys Yelmanov

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geography offered the best results.

here has been a lot of news surrounding piracy in recent times, as criminal gangs across the globe look for more lucrative targets. Global trade and the developing world have increased the demand on the shipping industry to deliver more product as quickly and as cost effectively as possible. Much of the world’s manufacturing takes place across Asia, with the price of setup and delivery far overshadowing the costs a western company would expect to carry locally. This demand is creating larger ships carrying larger loads which offer lucrative gains for would be attackers.

Insurance for these vast vessels places their value in the tens of millions, making them very attractive targets.

Piracy proved to be such a disruptive process that its principles were applied by countries in dispute, or at war with one another.

Privateering was the term used to describe this official form of piracy, as non-state actors engaged in the capture of merchant ships belonging to an enemy nation. Orders would be sent through back channels thus hiding the real identity of the aggressor. Despite the moral issues this scenario creates, state authority would cover any legal binds created, should the privateer face capture.

It is likely that earlier seafaring civilizations have experienced similar issues, with some other examples suggesting Ancient Greece had experienced the theft of grain and olive oil as far back as the 4th Century BC. Motivations have changed over time, with politics, religion, greed and power all playing a part at some point in history.

As the size and reach of some of the world’s largest militaries have grown, the influence of pirates in politics or religion has all but disappeared, leaving the new face of today’s piracy.

With increased debate surrounding piracy, the rise in attacks on shipping feels like a new global issue. Defined as “an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable items or properties,” piracy has in fact been around for centuries.

The earliest documented instance of piracy dates back to the 14th Century BC, when a group of ocean raiders known simply as “Sea People” attacked a host of ships sailing in the Mediterranean.

Extracts of text from an Aegean civilisation speak of vessels being stalked by unknown persons with intent to halt progress through any means necessary. Once boarded, surviving crew members were forced into smaller boats and left to drift. Over time certain routes became synonyms with similar stories, as piracy started to become an increasing problem.

Theft, kidnapping and the mafia are now seen as the main arbiters of today’s piracy. Each has a differing agenda and target. For instance, the mafia organisations of both Asia and West Africa look for targets based solely on the cargo aboard. Crude oil tankers are a very popular target, as some of the world’s largest can carry around $6.5bn dollars per load. These ships are mostly automated carrying very few crew despite their vast size, giving the pirates little resistance. Once control of the ship has been achieved the oil will be siphoned off for sale on the black market. The ship and crew will then be released unharmed with the mafia hoping to target the same vessels multiple times.

Narrow channels and routes that can dictate the path of a vessel proved the most popular places for attacks. Historic examples including the waters of Madagascar, the Gulf of Aden, Gibraltar, the Strait of Malacca and the English Channel are places where the

Kidnapping pirates use a different approach, as the cargo aboard is

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generally not the main aim. They look to kidnap the crew and ship in a bid to force a ransom out of the ship’s owners. The experience can be quite brutal with hostages sometimes executed in a bid to illicit a response from stubborn organisations reluctant to meet demands.

Somalia stands as the main host of this form of piracy, with so much occurring over the last 10 years that most ships are under strict orders to go nowhere near the horn of Africa. Shipping insurance premiums have rocketed off the back of this increased activity, as more crews refuse to sale without full support.

Maritime thieves apply a smash and grab approach, often looking to board vessels as quickly as possible. Once aboard they mug the crew and collect whatever valuables they can before making a quick getaway. Not nearly as lucrative as the others, but it reduces the risk of a quick response from any official security in the area.

The rise in piracy would seem to be following the growth of shipping, with the number of incidents showing a similar upward curve. Since the year 2000, global shipping has grown by around 70% from 6.4 billion tonnes to 10.8 billion tonnes. At the same time, attacks have increased by at least 50%. Today around 90% of all trade is carried by sea, with demand only going one way, thereby generating the manufacture of even more sizable ships. The increasing congestion has created slow-moving traffic in geographic choke points like the Strait of Malacca, enabling more opportunities for attack.

A report published by Oceans Beyond Piracy in 2013 paints a good picture of the human costs of piracy in Western Africa: > 1,871 seafarers attacked > 1,209 seafarers on ships boarded by pirates > 73 kidnapped > Average length of hostage detainment: 22 days These figures don’t make for great reading, but what is the true cost of this conflict?

The simplest way to establish the cost is by looking at the price of protection. As the stakes go up, larger shipping organisations look to invest in security. The same can be said of governments who find themselves coming under increasing pressure to intervene in the problem. Sticking with Western Africa as an example, the costs have increased tenfold to over US$30,000 per trip past the Somalia coast.

Not an insignificant figure, which for some shipping organisations was enough to look at alternative routes.

The Cape of Good Hope had been suggested as a possible alternative until the new route’s costs were established. A shipping report published by an intelligence branch of the US Army points out: “a Norwegian company that recently stopped sending its fleet of 100 vessels through the Gulf of Aden reported that doing so was costing the company US$30,000 each day. The route adds an additional 2,700 shipping miles, generating US$3.5m more in annual fuel costs and reducing each vessel’s annual transits from six to five.

So changing route is out, but maybe increasing the speed of passing vessels could improve the odds? It’s true that no vessel has ever been boarded by pirates whilst travelling at speeds in excess of 21mph, but this turn of pace also offers its own problems. Cruising at 20mph in a super tanker, as compared to the typical 15mph, adds an extra US$88,000 in fuel expense per ship per day.

Again, not a solution, and with West African piracy costing an

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“Private security has also played a real role in reducing attacks, with the Telegraph describing their introduction as a risky prospect to the industry, but are now an essential part, with hundreds of armed guards at sea off the coast of Somalia on any one day" estimated $565-681m in 2013 a solution needed to be found.

An important first step was the introduction of the Best Management Practices issued by the International Maritime Organization to help ships avoid and defend against attack.

They include: > Reporting unknown ship movements in danger zones to provide better support > Daily check-ins help alert navies faster when ships are attacked > Wider use of security cameras, radar and lookouts > More secure ships that are harder to board using razor wire and water cannons > Better training to increase speed and manoeuvrability of vessels if pirates are spotted > Safe rooms to be introduced to prevent kidnapping or boat hijacking With these steps introduced, the number of instances of piracy over the last five years have dropped significantly. The United Nations has introduced a task force to increase the number of patrols in some of the worst hotspots, boosting response times and negating the chances of armed conflict. Private security has also played a real role in reducing attacks, with the Telegraph describing their introduction as a risky prospect to the industry; but it is now an essential part of the industry, with hundreds of armed guards at sea off the coast of Somalia on any one day.

Working closely with coastal African governments was the final major step to making real change. Overhauling the Somalian legal and prison systems has given the continent the tools needed to prosecute and imprison suspected pirates.

Barbed wire as anti-piracy measure on deck of a merchant ship

Piracy has been real cause for concern with the African Development Bank stating that “the additional costs due to piracy are passed on to consumers as shipping companies recoup most of their losses through their protection and indemnity clauses.� Today we see light at the end of the tunnel, as a closer international community have come together to reduce for the first time a century old problem.

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A Singapore navy patrol boat passes a cargo ship during a routine patrol along the Singapore Strait

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THE INSECTS ARE VANISHING Words : Alex Timperley | View : Zety Akhzar

W

hen it comes to earning the respect of humans, the animal kingdom generally has a hierarchy. At the very top are the global celebrities – your lions, tigers, gorillas, elephants, dolphins, eagles, blue whales and all the rest. They are the subject of dozens of stunning nature documentaries and people spend thousands of pounds on holiday to catch a glimpse of them.

mosquitoes spread deadly strains of malaria and ticks spread Lyme disease. Insects can infest houses, chew up gardens, and their bites and stings can kill people.

Next in line are the household pets. The likes of dogs, cats, hamsters, horses, budgies, tortoises and parrots are a beloved part of daily life for many. Pets provide companionship and have been an indispensable part of human life for thousands of years. Whilst not television stars in the same way as the celebrity animals, the privileged position held by pets is assured.

Unfairly maligned?

Particularly in Western societies, insects are the bottom of the barrel when it comes to the animal kingdom – but is this fair?

When one of the celebrity animals approaches extinction, we tend to have a bit of a global crisis. As an example, consider the death of the last male northern white rhino in March 2018. Its keepers took the decision to euthanise the animal after a combination of old age and illness had led to an unacceptable quality of life for the poor animal. We knew this was coming for a long time, and when it finally happened there were immediate calls for the invention of complex new cloning procedures to bring the species back.

After pets come the food animals. We have a strange relationship with edible livestock in our modern societies. They are currently an essential part of the global diet, and yet we treat these animals atrociously. We cram chickens, pigs and cows into cages, feed them steroids and hormones to encourage rapid growth, forcibly separate them from their young, generally make them miserable, and then kill them. Half of the world relies on fish as an essential source of protein, but we fill our oceans with chemicals and plastic, and then take an unsustainable number of what fish remain.

However, despite our rampant lack of regard for these animals they are too important for us to fully dismiss, and so they have their place.

Following the death of the rhino, named Sudan, there was a heartfelt remembrance ceremony attended by everyone from conservationists to members of the Kenyan government. The national anthem was played, a poem was read and there was a minute of silence. Sudan’s keeper shared memories of the rhino’s life, and a carrot – its favourite food – was placed on a ceremonial plaque to mark the occasion.

However, the loss of a blockbuster animal species isn’t a direct threat to the larger ecosystem. It is undoubtedly sad, and the fact that these large animals are disappearing on our watch is a source of eternal shame, but the consequences in the long term will be limited. The world can go on without Sudan the northern white rhino, even if it is a less interesting and spiritually poorer place for having to do so.

Last of all come the insects. Despite the fact that large parts of the world see insects as a vital food source, much more of the world sees them as pests. They are considered to be such a threat to crops that we have invented whole classes of chemical pesticides designed to kill them. Insects are also known to have an unfortunate relationship with diseases that kill humans – for instance, the way

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“A 2014 study published in Science by a team from Stanford University showed that 67% of monitored invertebrate species around the world showed an average 45% decline in overall abundance in the last 40 years.”

In contrast, the situation facing the world’s insects should worry us profoundly. The rate of extinction is massively more significant, and the total number of insects which have disappeared when compared to large mammals is orders of magnitude higher. If we had a similar ceremony for each type of insect which goes extinct we would all exclusively spend our days attending funerals.

Golden honeybee on flower pollen

Multiple studies carried out in recent years are not encouraging.

German research from 2017 brought the scale of this issue into the public consciousness, with data showing that up to 75% of flying insects have disappeared from the central European country in the last quarter of a century.

In itself this would be shocking, but the worst aspect of it all is that this data from Germany is not an isolated case. Instead, the results reflect similar studies from across Europe and the world. A 2014 study published in Science by a team from Stanford University showed that 67% of monitored invertebrate species around the world showed an average 45% decline in overall abundance in the last 40 years.

That is a staggeringly high number of disappearances. Imagine for a second that half of all dogs or dairy cows had mysteriously died in the last few decades. Every country on earth would come together to find and solve the problem.

Why should we care?

Really, this is the most important question: why should a decline in insects matter more to us than the death of the last male northern white rhino? After all, insects are generally considered to be pests in many parts of the world, and there are still far more of them than rhinos. Surely it makes sense to save the big, rare animals first?

Unfortunately, it does not; if insect populations continue to fall at this rate there will be far-reaching and possibly irreversible consequences for the natural world and for human society. They are the base of the food chain for millions of species – birds in particular. 40% of bird species around the world are in decline, and the decline in those that feed on insects is especially pronounced.

We do not want to see what happens when our food suddenly does not have food of its own.

Even more worrying than this is the effect on pollination rates. Whilst there are certainly some insects which destroy crops, overall they represent an enormous net positive. Research from Living with Environmental Change, a UK-based group, suggests that more than three quarters of wild flowering plants in temperate regions have insects to thank for their continued reproduction. In addition,

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the research emphasises that insects assist with the pollination and stabilisation of three quarters of all crop types across the world; by volume, insects are responsible for the growth of one third of global crops.

The best example of this is the increasingly-threatened honeybee which plays a vital role in pollinating more than two thirds of global crop plants around the world, according to a study in the journal Nature Communications. This makes it a present danger, as well as a great shame, that bee colonies are reported to be collapsing at increasing speeds. Over the last 15 years it has become clear that something is going badly wrong. We are losing our most important pollinators at the same time we need them to pollinate increasingly vast harvests.

We don’t eat rhinos, they don’t pollinate our crops, and they aren’t at the base of the food chain. Halting the mass decline of insect species simply must be the priority. If it isn’t, then it won’t matter how many northern white rhinos we can clone.

It is estimated that we have recorded around one million species of insect in the world, with a further four million species currently unknown to science. It is likely that many of these will disappear before we ever see them.

Why are they vanishing?

We cannot blame one thing in particular. Instead we must look at a combination of factors which blend together and make the whole situation worse. In addition, we really do not know how bad the situation is. The only thing we can be sure of is that it seems to keep getting worse with each new data set.

However, there is certainly one big culprit that we can point the finger at. Insecticides and pesticides have entered general use on farms around the world and they are working extremely well. The agriculture industry may like to deny that chemicals designed to kill insects are killing insects in extraordinary numbers, but the numbers do not support them.

Another factor is the rise of monoculture crops. Fields of soy beans or wheat as far as the eye can see are bad for insects, especially if they have replaced forests or meadows. Different types of insects need different types of food and habitat. If those are burned down and replaced with soy then the insects will die and we will have fewer pollinators for the crops we have planted.

As to what measures we can take, it seems obvious that we need to stop pumping the air and the food supply full of chemicals, but that isn’t a solution which is palatable. More insect friendly farming techniques are being developed and the press seems finally to be catching onto the importance of the issue. What is clear is that we desperately need to act or the great insect disappearance will continue apace.

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“It is estimated that we have recorded around one million species of insect in the world, with a further four million species currently unknown to science. It is likely that many of these will disappear before we ever see them.�

Meadow grasshopper --Long horn beetle

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SHOULD ENGLAND BOYCOTT THE RUSSIA WORLD CUP? Words : Alex Timperley | View : Mark Agnor

F

ollowing the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury in March 2018 with a chemical agent called Novichok, there was much soul searching about the UK’s relationship with Russia.

World Cup, which is being held in Russia. After all, something must be done!

Whilst it is still technically an allegation that the Russians were behind the poisoning, the international community seems convinced of the identity of the attackers, and the British government claims to have compelling evidence which has been confirmed by 28 other countries. Almost 350 Russian diplomats have currently been expelled by countries around the world in response. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has also confirmed the findings of the United Kingdom in response to the attack, indicating a solid consensus on the perpetrators.

The World Cup is being held in Qatar in 2022, and it has been reported by Human Rights Watch that slave labour is being used to build stadiums. Many people have already died purely so that the event can go ahead, which makes it a very different proposition.

But Russia is not doing that. Instead, this would be using football to make an unrelated political point; the Skripals weren’t attacked in Salisbury because Russia is scared England might win the trophy.

The reaction to such a wanton chemical attack is a tricky one to judge. Attacking Russia outright is obviously not a viable option as that would start a world war. On the other hand, strongly worded diplomatic letters have notoriously little effect on a country with a history of doing almost whatever it wants. Russia is not overly vulnerable to economic sanctions.

Politics in sport

However, this proposed course of action raises many questions.

Is it right to call off participation in a World Cup because Members of Parliament feel that they need to be seen taking action?

None of this is an attempt to argue that sport isn’t political – the two worlds are related on a fundamental level. The idea that sports should be a pure contest of athleticism with no politics involved is at best naïve, given that sport grew out of warfare. It isn’t a coincidence that the language of sport mimics the language of conflict, or that people get so invested in a team or player that they will dedicate large portions of their life to supporting them.

The total lack of realistic options left in its wake a feeling of ineffectual helplessness, and other ideas were thrown around.

Unsurprisingly, it didn’t take Members of Parliament from all sides long to suggest that the England team should boycott the 2018

For instance, one myth which has lasted for 1000 years is that the

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FIFA World Cup trophy with Moscow in the background

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Zenit Arena, St Petersburg

“Krestovsky Stadium, officially Saint-Petersburg Stadium, also called Zenit Arena, is a retractable roof stadium in the western portion of Krestovsky Island in Saint Petersburg, Russia.�

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original Olympic Games were suppressed by Theodosius I because he saw the adulation the athletes received as an organised threat to his campaign to make Christianity the state religion of Rome.

The games were then resurrected by a Frenchman called Pierre de Coubertin who believed sport could be used to promote global peace.

to Saudi Arabia which are being used to create what the United Nations has called “the worst humanitarian crisis in the world” in Yemen. Maybe the World Cup should boycott us?

Calling for a boycott of the World Cup but never speaking up on anything else is an inconsistent position which suggests a level of hypocrisy. The real question is: why is football the only arena where our politicians feel secure enough to stand up and be counted?

If that is not a political narrative then it is hard to say what is.

The World Cup is no different. Countries from around the world compete to host it because of the reputational benefits it brings, allowing them to show off their national pride and prove to everyone that they can throw the most impressive party. In return, FIFA, football’s governing body, demands significant political concessions over taxation and sponsorship. The President of FIFA’s cosy relationship with heads of state from dozens of countries on every continent tells its own story.

The joy of football Football is a global financial powerhouse, and never more so than when the World Cup is on. Multinational conglomerates fall over themselves to pay through the nose to have their logo emblazoned on a shirt, and players are handed millions of pounds to endorse products. Nothing that happens for the rest of the year will get as much press coverage as the World Cup will over the summer – and it is that level of attention which makes it such an easy target for political grandstanding. Indeed, as mentioned previously, this is the exact reason why Russia applied to host it in the first place.

The Russian experience will be no different, with Vladimir Putin seeing the month long football tournament as an opportunity to revive Russia’s foundering international reputation by showing dignitaries from around the world how amazing and powerful Russia is. Like many government figures, Putin is reportedly not even a football fan, but that stopped being a relevant factor long ago – if it ever was in the first place. Football is as political as it gets.

“Football, like all sport, is inherently political, but that isn’t an excuse for politicians to raise the idea of taking it away from people. Much like those who turn into the world’s biggest athletics fans once every four years at the Olympics, the people raising the idea of a boycott never seem to care much about football at any other time.”

A hypocrisy?

Bearing the above in mind, it is not surprising that British parliamentary figures did not hesitate to wade in and use the World Cup to make political hay. Why wouldn’t they? Everyone else does.

However, the timing is interesting. Russian interests have long since penetrated every aspect of British life, often to the detriment of Britain and its people. If the people calling for a boycott sincerely thought it was a worthwhile course of action which might alter Russian policy, rather than something which just popped into their heads recently, why have they not been calling for a boycott before now? We have known that Russia will be hosting this World Cup for a long time.

A non-exhaustive list of other recent Russian actions which could, or should, be considered scandals but didn’t inspire calls for a World Cup boycott is:

But at heart, this isn’t what football is about. It is easily the most popular sport in the world because it provides a simple joy which can be shared by anyone, anytime, anywhere. Football fans have gone through every emotion and shared it all with friends and complete strangers. In an increasingly divided world it is an antidote to disunity and builds communities which can’t be broken. As long as you've got a ball, your friends and a few yards of open space, you can be happy and dream.

> Transparency International identified £729m worth of UK properties bought by Russian individuals with suspicious wealth between 2008 and 2015. Using property in the UK’s capital city, London, to supposedly launder ill-gotten money is a big deal > £3m donated to members of the governing Conservative party since 2010 by Russian oligarch-linked figures – the year Russia won the right to host the 2018 World Cup. There is no suggestion that this money was traded for anything, but it is not a good look for a country where legislators are trying to assert a higher moral standing > The extensive, state-supported far-right wing Russian hooliganism in France at the 2016 European Championships left dozens of England fans seriously hurt. There have since been warnings that similar treatment is awaiting the same fans this summer i Russia, but there were no calls to boycott the tournament on safety grounds

Football, like all sport, is inherently political, but that isn’t an excuse for politicians to raise the idea of taking it away from people. Much like those who turn into the world’s biggest athletics fans once every four years at the Olympics, the people raising the idea of a boycott never seem to care much about football at any other time – and the chances are they will have nothing to say about Qatar over the next four years, until it becomes politically expedient to call for a boycott six months before the tournament kicks off in 2022.

And so, no, we probably shouldn’t boycott the World Cup. It allows people to escape from the worries of life, if only for a little while – and taking that away because a small number of people can’t think of any other way to make an unrelated political point doesn’t feel like the right way to go. Because it’s true that football is only a game, but it’s the best game in the world, and sometimes a game is all you need.

Frankly, we are all hypocrites when we want to be, and we pick and choose which battles we fight. We all make compromises, but let’s not try too hard to take the high ground. It is easy to forget, but the British government makes billions of pounds selling weapons

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3D PRINTING COULD CHANGE THE WORLD Words : Emma Martin | View : Dario Sabljak

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billion globally live in inadequate shelter, and the number of those living on the streets is rising alarmingly.

D printing has been billed as a potentially revolutionary technological breakthrough. The most enthusiastic backers believe that it could change the world thanks to its speed, affordability and how easily it can be scaled up. With major advances in fields as diverse as housing, healthcare and environmental technologies, they may just be right.

It is predicted that, by 2030, approximately 40% of the global population will require housing, equating to a demand for 96,150 new homes every day, or 4,000 every hour. Habitat for Humanity predicts that, by 2050, 70% of people will be living in urban areas, which will result in slums and unplanned settlements if change is not implemented. The need for affordable homes is a problem we cannot continue to ignore.

3D printing refers to a process which uses Computer Aided Design (CAD) software to make three dimensional objects. This happens through an additive manufacturing process which cuts thin slices of layered plastic from a digital file on top of one another to make an end solid product.

3D printing is one way that we can look to tackle homelessness, with 2018 seeing the first ever printed house constructed in Austin, Texas. The home, made from mortar, took under a day to complete and was the result of a collaborative project between housing charity New Story, and ICON, an innovative construction technologies firm.

But why is 3D printing important, and why do some people believe it has the power to change the world?

3D printing furnishes a host of new manufacturing opportunities from being able to print objects which are no longer in circulation, to countries being able to domestically create products without having them transported across the globe. It’s interesting to consider where the greatest impact of continued improvement to the 3D printing sector may lead us, and which large-scale issues it could tackle in the future.

The home was made by a super-sized 3D printer named the ‘Vulcan’ which created the shelter using traditional 3D printing techniques, using layers of mortar to build the walls. The end product was a 600-800 square foot home which cost around US$4,000 to make. New Story commented: “sustainable, 3D-printed homebuilding will allow for safe, more affordable homes for more families, faster than ever.”

With that in mind, Global Property Scene looks at three major areas where 3D printing is already starting to make change:

In addition the printer has been developed to withstand difficult environments, making it possible for the Vulcan to be taken to places such as Haiti and rural El Salvador which have suffered environmental or man-made disasters in order to provide cheap and fast accommodation.

Homelessness One of the biggest issues facing the world right now is poverty and homelessness. In 2015, Habitat for Humanity estimated that 1.6

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“With 3D printing, you not only have a continuous thermal envelope, high thermal mass, and near zero-waste, but you also have speed, a much broader design palette, next-level resiliency, and the possibility of a quantum leap in affordability. This isn’t 10% better, it’s 10 times better.”

The prototype, which is now fully functional, will be tested to make further improvements and when ready it will be transported to help build a community of 100 homes in El Salvador.

Jason Ballard, co-founder of ICON said: “conventional construction methods have many baked-in drawbacks and problems that we’ve taken for granted for so long that we forgot how to imagine any alternative.”

He added: “with 3D printing, you not only have a continuous thermal envelope, high thermal mass, and near zero-waste, but you also have speed, a much broader design palette, next-level resiliency, and the possibility of a quantum leap in affordability. This isn’t 10% better, it’s 10 times better.”

Medical From 3D printed teeth to prosthetic limbs, customised pharmaceuticals and research being done into the 3D printing of blood vessels which could eventually lead to fully functional 3D organs – there are lots of ways that additive manufacturing will revolutionise healthcare beyond being able to provide quick and cheap medical items like finger splits and casts.

Once such example is how a community of more than 7,000 at e-NABLE are helping hundreds of people live a better life by providing 3D printed prosthetic hands. The organisation describes itself as ‘a global network of passionate volunteers using 3D Printing to give the world a "helping hand"’, and is in place to help the 30 million people worldwide that require prosthetic limbs. With a great number of people in need living in areas where there is a severe lack of expert medical care, 3D printing offers a cheap and fully customisable alternative that can see lives transformed. e-NABLE provides a forum for people with 3D printers to work in partnership on ways to help improve open source 3D printable designs for hands and arms for those who were born missing fingers or who have lost them due to war, disease or natural disaster.

But prosthetics is just one part of the incredible journey for 3D printing in the medical sector. Stories like that of a nine-month baby boy from China who was suffering from heart failure and severe pneumonia have proven the value of developing additive manufacturing processes after his life was saved with the new technique.

The surgeon in charge of the crucial operation to save the baby said that the help of a 3D printed organ allowed them to plan the surgery carefully, and it took only half the normal time to actually carry out the procedure. The doctors managed to create an identical 3D printed version of the boy’s heart, in which they were able to precisely plan the surgery and test the results.

He added that if the surgery had not been able to be carried out immediately, the young baby would have only an 80% chance of

3D printing model of human foot bones

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Metal powder being poured into the chamber of a laser sintering machine, designed to print 3D print metal pieces.

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living. But, thanks to 3D printing technology, the 9-month old is expected to make a full recovery with no lasting side effects.

Mr Chuen, Director of Vascular Surgery at Austin Health and a Clinical Fellow at the University of Melbourne, said of 3D printing: “it is a revolutionary technology that will make medical care better and faster, and more personalised. But what we need is for more medical professionals to start exploring and experimenting with what this new technology can do, because many things that we thought of as impossible are now becoming possible.”

He added: “I think we are moving towards a world where if you can imagine it, you will be able to print it – so we need to start imagining.”

Environmental With the headlines rightly centred on the issue of environmental damage, popular culture has turned its attention to the state of our planet, with social groups in support of ditching straws, cleaning up our oceans and thinking about how we can live a sustainable future; and the 3D printing community is no exception.

It is argued that if 3D printing was rolled out on mass scale there would be reduced pollution, a smaller amount of plastic waste, and a decrease in excess produce and simpler ways of recycling. This is because products could be manufactured locally, to a limited number and the ability to reprint bespoke parts for existing items would reduce the amount we have to throw away, rather we could repair what we already have.

One of the greatest attractions of 3D printing for the environment though, is the ability to recycle more efficiently. 3D printed items are made only of one material, making it easier to recycle, a huge benefit when we think about the 600,000 square mile Great Pacific Garbage Patch (twice the size of Texas, USA) which is being added to daily.

However not everyone believes that 3D printing is good for the planet, especially in regard to plastics. By its very nature 3D printing relies on using plastic – a material we are trying to distance ourselves from, particularly in trade produce.

In addition to using plastic for production, 3D printing lets off potentially hazardous gases, of which we do not yet understand the long term effects. Research from Loughborough University has also highlighted the inefficiency of current 3D printing which uses approximately 50 to 100 times more electrical energy than an injection moulding machine to make a similar weighted product.

That being said, the 3D printing community is constantly striving to make the technique as sustainable and environmentally friendly as possible. Start ups like Filabot which have realised the opportunity of utilising waste plastic in order to turn it into filament for 3D printing have been supported, with the company securing over 300% of its funding goal on Kickstarter in 2012. If we could recycle existing waste (for example, plastic bottles) and turn this into filament for 3D printers we could potentially turn around much of the plastic damage that has already been done to the planet.

The question of whether or not 3D printing is good for the environment is not as clear cut as the other arguments in its favour, but additive manufacturing should not be written off just yet.

3D printing is still in its infancy and has a long way to go before it will be used on a global scale. But one thing is certain – its supporters are clear on the long-term benefits and are continuing to develop and evolve the process.

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Complex castings made simple by 3D printing

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WHAT’S THE ALTERNATIVE? DOMAIN NAMES Words : Emma Martin | View : Gts

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they can be notoriously hard to sell on.

big part of investing is a game of getting there first.

Some of the best investments and new markets have left people wondering ‘why didn’t I think of that?’ something that certainly rings true of buying and selling domain names.

Moreover the market for ‘expired’ domains, which refers to domains which have not been renewed by the original registrar, is a buoyant one as investors try and snap up rare and affordable second-hand names.

With a basic concept as simple as finding available names, buying them, and then selling them on for a higher price, it is a strategy which follows one of the oldest formats in the book.

The success of investing in domains, otherwise known as ‘domaining’, comes down to being ahead of the curve. Domain names, like most things, go through spikes in popularity. The art of trendspotting is crucial and over the last decade there have been some trends worth noticing, as well as some that are considered more of a ‘bubble’.

The golden age of domain name buying ran between the early 2000s and 2015 as savvy internet users realised that buying the right domains could yield big returns. In 1992 there were fewer than 15,000 .com domain names registered, but by the first quarter of 2015 alone there were over six million top-level domain (TLDs) registrations, taking the total number of registered TLDs to just under 300 million as investors piled into a new and exciting market.

Writer for domain investment website NamePros, James Iles, states that in 2016, the top niches to invest in were: > Chinese premiums (otherwise known as short domains of around two to three letters), > Brandables (anything that could be a company name), > New generic top-level domains such as .biz, as mentioned previously > Technology > Trends (things that are trending in the mainstream), > Geographical domains and keywords.

With record breaking transactions hitting the news, such as the sale of LasVegas.com for US$90m in 2005, and the sale of Carinsurance.com in 2017 to advertising firm QuinStreet for a whopping US$49.7m, it’s easy to see why investors get excited about domain names and the idea of becoming an ‘internet millionaire’.

Other high value sales include VacationRentals.com, PrivateJet. com, Internet.com, Hotels.com and 360.com – all of which sold for upwards of US$10m. The key sectors that perform well for domain investing are travel, finance, insurance and IT.

Finding out what these trends mean and the market that they appeal to is the first step in becoming a successful domain investor.

One of the biggest trends to have hit the domain market in the last decade that Iles mentions is the investment into short domains from the Chinese, a market that has flourished thanks to the thriving e-commerce sector in China. The 2015 Top 100 Sales Chart from DNJournal shows that in 2015 buyers from China were responsible for 75% of all short domain purchases, and further research indicates that the Chinese market powered almost half of the top 100 domain sales over the year. It is important to note that this data omits private sales, of which there are many when it comes

The market for domains is far from saturated though. As the internet continues to advance and grow, so does the need for new domain names. The fact that most domains have already been purchased is heating up the competition and pushing investors to get creative.

While .com domains have traditionally led the market, new generic top level domain (gTLD) extensions such as .design, .biz, .blog and even .pizza are all gaining popularity – although some experienced market investors would dissuade you from purchasing these as

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to high-profile domain trading. Digital news outlet Quartz points out that the private sale of porno.com, which carried a price tag of US$8,888,888, was likely a Chinese buyer as eight is a lucky number in Chinese culture, meaning good fortune.

However, investing in domains does not beat a clear path to success, and arguably the biggest pitfall for those new to the market is overvaluing. It’s easy to get excited about finding what looks to be a good domain name, available to hand-register for under US$5. Many early investors look for similar names to those that have sold for a high price tag previously, or search for gTLD versions of popular .com names as a way to make quick money (for example, car.insurance), but the truth is that this rarely results in a decent pay out.

The most recent data on domain sale prices from Sedo shows just how rare it is to hit a gold mine with domains, as 46% of domains are priced below 500 dollars, 40% priced between US$501 and US$2,500, and less than 1% valued above US$50,000.

If you’re thinking of investing in a domain name but are unsure of the value of the acquisition, online domain valuation tools which

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will give an appraisal for any domain can go some way to solving the problem, however they are not to be entirely trusted. Domain valuation tools use algorithms which cannot truly assess the value of each individual domain – although it can be a good starting point.

For those looking for a more trusted appraisal, the domaining community online has many forums where members and other investors can help with a true valuation – but make sure you own the domain first or your bright idea might be lost to someone else.

A rarer but equally concerning problem with domain investing is forfeiture. In reference to domains, this means to have your investment taken off you, often with no recompense. One famous example of this is from 2015 when a student (and prior employee of Google) managed to buy the Google domain for US$12. Sanmay Ved successfully owned google.com for around a minute before his purchase was cancelled and his money refunded. In this case he reported the fault to Google and was offered a ‘bug bait’ reward from the company, who often pay out people who point out flaws in their system. Whilst the implications of the forfeiture for Ved were non-existent, there have been cases that have seen investors lose out on huge amounts of money.

One such case that is currently in the press is that of Jean-Noël Frydman. Frydman is currently fighting the case of having had his domain France.com taken from under his feet. Frydman bought the domain in 1994 to run his business which sells to Francophiles in the United States and had been operating for over 20 years – that is before French authorities approached his provider stating that his domain was a direct violation of French trademark law. Following the ruling classes, his provider relinquished the domain to the French authorities on March 12, 2018 without any prior notification.

In an interview with Ars Technica, Frydman said: "I'm probably [one of Web.com's] oldest customers, I've been with them for 24 years...

There’s never been any case against France.com, and they just did that without any notice. I've never been treated like that by any company anywhere in the world. If it happened to me, it can happen to anyone."

So the question is: is domain investing a good alternative? With a low cost to enter the market for hand-registered domains, domaining can be an appealing investment for many. As explained, though, the problem comes in the small percentage of investors who actually make the ‘big time’. Some investors have thousands

of domains in their portfolio, many of which may never come to any value. Additionally concerns over trademark law are a grey area, with some high profile domains leaving their investors in court cases over ownership.

Like any investment, domaining has its risks, but it is also a fun 21st century strategy that can be lucrative if done properly. The real key to success here, as mentioned, is keeping your finger on the pulse of upcoming trends, products and events. The bottom line is that a domain is only worth what someone will pay for it, so if you register a domain that is worth something to a big company you could well be in line for a decent margin.

The main advice from domain investment specialists to those looking to dip a toe into the world of domaining?: This is not a get rich quick strategy, many have tried and failed to make a quick buck on domains. Do your research by looking online at the many digital domain auctions, and read up on the history of the industry before making a purchase.

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SHOULD I MOVE TO? YORK Words : Emma Martin | View : David Ionut

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But as well as being a fantastic place to visit, York also boasts accolades as one of the best places to live in the UK.

oted as the best place to live in the UK this year by the Times, York is a picturesque walled city located in North Yorkshire.

Bursting with character denoted by its winding cobbled streets, rivers and iconic architecture including the imposing York Minster, York is one of the UK’s most popular tourist traps and is even rumoured to smell like sweet chocolate when the wind blows in the right direction. But what is it really like to live in the so-called ‘chocolate city’?

The crowning of York as number one in the ‘Best Places to Live’ guide by the Sunday Times takes into account measures such as local schools, broadband speed, job opportunities, community spirt and local amenities and facilities – each of which are strong factors when deciding on where to lay your hat and potentially raise a family.

York, which has previously been named Eoforwic by the Saxons, and Jorvik by the invading Vikings, has a long and fascinating history which has been preserved within its walls where the story of its past can be still be lived. From the famous meandering snickelways of the Shambles to the medieval buildings which house the city’s vibrant café culture – York celebrates its unique past with every twist and turn.

Helen Davies, editor of The Sunday Times’ Home section, commented: “choosing the right location to put down roots is one of the most important decisions you'll ever make, which is why we're here to help - and what 'Best Places to Live in Britain' is all about.”

She continued: "we're championing York this year in honour of its bold approach to bringing the historic city into the 21st century without losing any character or community spirit."

It is no surprise then that the tourist industry in York is one of the pillars of its economy, with the latest Economic Impact Report from Visit York showing that York welcomes 6.9 million visitors per year, who spend £564m in the city, supporting over 19,000 jobs.

Described by the Times as “the perfect mix of heritage and hi‑tech”, York manages to hold on to its rich cultural history whilst also bolstering performance in key sectors including creative, digital and IT through provisions like having the fastest internet in Britain, making it the first ‘Gigabit City’. Connecting York said of its achievement: "As the UK's first Gigabit City, York's outstanding 'world-class' connectivity is helping to create jobs, attract investment and improving lives for people who live, learn, work in and visit the city.”

Attractions in the city that draw in tourists from around the globe include the York Minster, JORVIK Viking Centre, York Castle Museum, York Art Gallery and York’s Chocolate Story which celebrates the confectionary history of the city which is home to household names like Rowntree and Terry’s – the maker of the famous chocolate orange. Aside from the wealth of museums and built attractions, the York City Walls, Shambles and Castle Howard each have their own charm and allure.

York’s emergence as a tech city is perhaps unexpected as it

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York, UK

“It is no surprise then that the tourist industry in York is one of the pillars of its economy, with the latest Economic Impact Report from Visit York showing that York welcomes 6.9 million visitors per year, who spend £564m in the city, supporting over 19,000 jobs.”

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“It is no surprise that property prices have increased by a staggering 33.12% in the last five years, with the average property price in the area now just under ÂŁ300,000.â€?

The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe.

York cityscape from the city walls juxtaposes the historic atmosphere of the place – however the perfect balance between past and present has created something quite special.

Not just connected with fast internet, York is also well linked to the rest of the UK – making it an excellent place to set up. With a direct train taking you to London in under two hours, and Manchester in an hour and a quarter, York is a major railways nexus. Additionally it is well served by road, with a handful of major motorways connecting it to other UK towns and cities. For those looking to go further afield Leeds Bradford Airport is two hours away, which is one of the fastest-growing airports in the UK, with flights serving over 70 direct destinations in 25 countries; this really puts York on the map, not just nationally but globally.

Over the last decade, £800m has been invested in York’s science and technology industry, resulting in over 500 businesses in York operating in the sector. In addition, the budding creative sector in the city, the fastest-growing of all its industries, has benefitted from investment of over £100m. In recognition of York’s accomplishment within digital and creative it was awarded UNESCO City of Media Arts status in 2014 – an exclusive status in the UK, and just one of seven worldwide.

It is no surprise that so many young people and fledgling businesses are looking to settle in the city. York is now home to more than 7,500 individual businesses and is forecast to be the fastest-growing city in the Yorkshire Region in 2018 according to the latest UK Powerhouse Report from Irwin Mitchell. York’s economy is further enhanced by the award-winning University of York and York St John University, both helping to boost the area with over 24,000 students between them. An article from the Guardian also states that over 40% of the population is educated to degree level or higher and the unemployment rate is just 1.9%.

And it’s easy to see why so many students and high-achievers are drawn to York (aside from the award-winning education facilities).

The city boasts a thriving food and drink scene, a lively annual calendar of events and world class retail outlets.

For foodies the Shambles Food Court, positioned within the famous Shambles market, serves up a wide range of delicious street food options, with everything from North African and Levantine street food, to sweet crêpes and pork ribs slow cooked over burning oak. Unlike many markets, the Shambles market is open from early morning, seven days a week. As well as this, urban legend says that York has a pub for every day of the year – that’s 365 pubs which are sure to keep beer lovers busy! For those less partial to alcohol, York’s café culture is well catered for, with a number of superb coffee shops tucked away down cobbled side streets – not forgetting the quintessentially British institution Bettys, famed for its afternoon tea.

Unlike other cities such as London, Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds, York is a much smaller city which makes it the perfect place to live for those looking for the benefits of urban living, whilst also retaining a sense of community. Visit York cites the JORVIK Viking Festival, York Races, the Early Music Festival and the Aesthetica Short Film Festival as being key cultural points in the annual calendar, bringing locals and tourists together in vibrant celebrations across a range of interests to suit all.

prices. However with the economy performing as well as it is now, and prospects looking up, York presents a pocket of opportunity.

So what’s the verdict? Is a move to York for you?

On paper York makes sense for anyone who is looking for a comfortable midway between town and city, with residents able to enjoy the good transport and amenities on offer, whilst also managing to hold a small-town vibe.

With its café culture, excellent higher education facilities, unique history and modern business approach, it is clear that York is a fantastic option for young professionals, families and adults of all ages. With that in mind, it is no surprise that property prices have increased by a staggering 33.12% in the last five years, with the average property price in the area now just under £300,000.

Research from Hamptons International last year shows that the average rent in the city sits at £824 a month, which is under the national average rent of £912, but still puts the city as being quite expensive compared to some other places in the north.

The city particularly suits young professionals who are looking for an excellent place to settle down, with job opportunities prevalent in the flourishing digital and creative sectors. The city might also make the perfect home for previous visitors to the Yorkshire city who have been completely charmed by its unique history and beauty. I can certainly see myself wandering down the Shambles in search of pub number 365, or indulging in an afternoon tea after a long day exploring the city walls.

As the population continues to balloon it is likely that property prices and rents will carry on rising meaning that life in York city centre is likely to be reserved for those who can keep up with the staggering

It seems like York really might have it all… the Sunday Times seems to think so, and we are inclined to agree! Where do I sign up?

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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.

Contact us today to speak to one of our experienced property consultants. +44 (0)161 772 1394 info@knightknox.com www.knightknox.com

Top: Left cgi image: X1 Media City Tower 4 - available. Middle cgi image: X1 The Campus - sold out and in construction. Right image: X1 Manchester Waters Phase 2 - available.

Middle: Left image: X1 Eastbank - Completed & 100% occupied. Middle cgi image: X1 The Campus - sold out and in construction. Right image: X1 Town Hall - completed & 100% occupied.

Bottom: Knight Knox Investor Seminar Manchester 2017 - X1 The Landmark is the featured model and plan.

GREAT CENTRAL SHEFFIELD --FROM: £112,500

> 131 modern apartments > Next big UK market > Short walk to city centre > Great transport links > Lettings and management company in place

​Great Central is the latest new development from Knight Knox in Sheffield, one of the UK’s fastest-growing cities which is set to be the next big national property market. Comprised of 131 stunning apartments spread over eight storeys, Great Central is set to be an extremely popular addition to the busy Sheffield residential market.

With both rents and house prices in the city predicted to rise significantly over the next five years, this is the perfect time to get ahead of the game and invest in Sheffield.

NEW LAUNCH

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BRIDGEWATER WHARF GREATER MANCHESTER --FROM: ÂŁ132,495

> Local rental market is growing strongly > Superb public transport links > Lettings and management company in place > Within walking distance of MediaCityUK > Perfectly placed between Mancehster and Salford

Bridgewater Wharf is the new development from Fortis Developments and Knight Knox in Greater Manchester, close to both Manchester and Salford city centres. Comprising 376 apartments spread over eight storeys, the development is a premium opportunity for investors looking for their next property.

The studio, one bedroom, two bedroom and three bedroom residential apartments at Bridgewater Wharf are sure to prove popular in Salford which is suffering from a ongoing shortage of high quality rental accommodation.

NEW LAUNCH

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NORTHILL APARTMENTS SALFORD QUAYS --FROM: ÂŁ162,995

> 269 luxury apartments > Excellent transport links > Within walking distance of MediaCityUK > High rental demand in the area > Easy access to Manchester city centre

Northill Apartments is the latest addition to the flagship development, Fortis Quay and is sure to be popular amongst the thousands of young professionals looking to live and work in Salford Quays.

There will be a range of luxury apartments from studios to three beds, which will raise the bar in modern living. All apartments will be designed to the highest possible standard with state-of-the-art fixtures and fittings, making it the perfect addition to any property portfolio.

NEW LAUNCH

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X1 MANCHESTER WATERS MANCHESTER --FROM: £109,995

> Five minutes to Manchester city centre > Waterfront location > Good local transport and amenities > Private tenant amenities > Managed by award winning X1 Lettings

X1 Manchester Waters is the 28th joint venture development from Knight Knox and X1 and will deliver luxury waterfront apartments to the thriving buy-to-let market.

Located just five minutes away from Manchester City centre the location of this development is unrivalled, giving tenants the tranquillity of waterside living as well as everything that the UK’s ‘second city’ has to offer on the doorstep.

NEW LAUNCH

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X1 MEDIA CITY TOWER 4 SALFORD QUAYS --FROM: £139,995

> Studios, one and two-bedroom apartments > Lettings and management company in place > Private communal facilities > Great transport links and shopping > All three previous phases sold out

The fourth and final 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 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.

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X1 THE LANDMARK SALFORD --FROM: £151,000

> Private communal facilities > Beautiful balconies with dynamic city views > Prime city centre location > Within walking distance of local amenities > Experienced management company in place

The newest addition to the Greater 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.

IN CONSTRUCTION

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X1 THE CAMPUS SALFORD --FROM: ÂŁ89,995

> Built by experienced developer X1 > Close to excellent public transport links > Close to local shops, bars and restaurants > On-site gymnasium > Private student accommodation is a booming investment class

X1 The Campus is the latest student development from the award-winning X1. This newly-built development is well located on the university campus, and will offer students great on-site ammenities and facilities.

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.

IN CONSTRUCTION

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THE TOWER AT X1 THE QUARTER LIVERPOOL --FROM: ÂŁ124,995

> Highly sought-after location > Lettings and management company in place > Private communal facilities > Great transport links and close to shopping > Built by experienced developer

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.

IN CONSTRUCTION

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PALATINE GARDENS PHASE 2 SHEFFIELD --SOLD OUT

> In construction > Close to city centre > Public transport nearby > High rental demand in local area > Fully let and managed by an experienced letting agent

Palatine Gardens Phase 2 is the latest luxury residential development to arrive on the oversubscribed Sheffield rental market.

Situated in the Shalemoor area of Sheffield, Palatine Gardens Phase 2 is within walking distance of both the city centre and the trendy Kelham Island district.

These large luxury apartments will provide residents with high-end fixtures and furnishings, as well as a stunning enclosed garden and secure bicycle storage.

IN CONSTRUCTION

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BARREL YARD MANCHESTER --SOLD OUT

> One, two, three & four-bed apartments and townhouses > Lettings and management company in place > Short distance to Manchester city centre > Built by an experienced developer > Great transport links

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.

IN CONSTRUCTION

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BRIDGEWATER GATE SALFORD --SOLD OUT

> Local rental market is booming > Private rooftop terrace > Great transport links > Built by an experienced developer > On-site lettings and management company

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, home of the BBC and ITV.

COMPLETED & TENANTED

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BELLS COURT SHEFFIELD --SOLD OUT

> Assured 7% rental income for one year > Fully-furnished > Excellent city centre location > Luxury studio apartments > High rental demand in Sheffield

Located in the heart of the city centre Bells Court is a high-end residential conversion, bringing 29 luxury studio apartments to the ever growing rental market in Sheffield.

Ideal for both students and young professionals Bells Court answers the growing need for premium rental accommodation, and is perfectly located for tenants to enjoy all that the city has to offer.

COMPLETED & TENANTED

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Attracted by the largest advertising campaigns supporting any UK property investment events, the April and October editions of this show attract thousands of visitors – serious buyers seeking additions to their portfolios… …and why not enhance your return by emailing your proposition to 45,000 motivated buyers?

FOR FURTHER DETAILS ON EXHIBITING AT THESE EVENTS AND OUR EMAIL MARKETING SERVICE CONTACT US +44 (0)20 8877 0610

enquiries@propertyinvestor.co.uk

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