By Claire Regan

cregan@belfasttelegraph.co.uk

10 June 2004

The Northern Island selection for the RICS 2004 Awards, has short listed LISBURN S Lagan Valley Island. The City Council s building was recognised by judges for its contribution to regeneration in the area and described it as a "symbol of urban regeneration within the Lisburn area".

Lisburn Mayor Billy Bell said that the council appreciated the recognition is for regenerating a part of our city, providing long-term benefits to our residents and businesses, the more so when, "The fact that RICS have also measured us in terms of value for money and sustainability demonstrates our commitment to our ratepayers and in this aspect the council is particularly proud."

BERMUDA EXTENSION A STROKE OF GOOD LUCK FOR SURVEYORS

Chris Sutton, The Western Mail \ Jun 16 2004

WHAT is it like to be a lucky surveyor? Well, to answer that we will have to wait until the end of June when Helen Jones and Nick Corrigan of Lambert Smith Hampton return to the UK.Having a 12-week secondment in Bermuda extended to nine months constitutes a stroke of good fortune in my book, even if the job description was to assess storm damage following a hurricane last year.By all accounts Helen and Nick have also been fortunate to have the backing of the LSH Cardiff team in covering their existing work, which allowed them to extend their tenure overseas.Another piece of good fortune saw a Cardiff construction company recently pick up a substantial sum on the Lottery through five numbers and the bonus ball."Lucky Len", the on-site contractor, picked the numbers for a Lottery syndicate.The luckiest agent of all however will be the Birmingham agent, who will remain nameless, if he fulfils his latest client search.The circular seeks a modern industrial trade counter unit of 2,750 - 3,250 sq ft in Llandudlow any ideas?

Congratulations go to Elizabeth Iles of King Sturge and Will Creedon of LSH for both passing the Assessment of Professional Competence for membership of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.Elsewhere, Robert Chapman & Co is relocating to new premises in Cardiff - moving to the prominent Bush House in Cardiff Road, Llandaff.Finally, Cardiff s newest practice is settling down to business.Simon Lloyd of Atis Real Weatheralls was looking for an "early win" with his best bids informal tender for Brecon House, Cwmbran last week and we wait to see the result.Following this, Simon has just brought to the market industrial premises in Llwynypia, right in the heart of the Rhondda, a location to test the satellite navigation in his new car.

VISITORS TO SAMPLE PRECINCT SUCCESS

Jun 12 2004, By Barbara Goulden

The redevelopment of Coventry Lower Precinct has become a focus for European interest. A delegation to the £50 m scheme will include 30 architects, surveyors and retail centre managers from Austria and tour the Midlands looking at the best regeneration schemes.The shopping centre has recently scooped two prizes for renovation and environ-mental improvement in the Coventry Design Awards and further store openings are planned.

POSTCODES PROVIDE KEY TO AVOIDING STAMP DUTY LAND TAX

JIM DOW

UK land and building stamp duty was mainly replaced last year with stamp duty land tax, except for commercial property deals in “disadvantages areas” which would be exempt.

The definition for a designated area included indicators of dependent households, overcrowding, the permanent sick, unemployment, youth unemployment and single parent families is delineated in the postal codes. This has led to some surprises in areas designated as disadvantaged in the Scottish Area Deprivation Index. For example, Edinburgh’s Atholl Crescent, home to top lawyers Brodies and other prestigious companies, is a disadvantaged area. Chris Paterson, an associate in Edinburgh at CKD Galbraith, says that some of the smartest addresses in Scottish towns and cities have slipped on to the official list of disadvantaged areas. In addition to Atholl Crescent you will find, for example, the High Streets of Ayr and Perth. This means that deals done in these areas escape stamp duty.

Last week, Paterson dealing in Victoria Street, Glasgow, with a sale for over £160,000 in a shop let to Johnson the cleaners. No stamp duty was due as the postal code registers this as a disadvantaged area. Previously, three properties in Perth’s High Street, also escaped stamp duty. One property at No195 went at an auction in London for £820,000, well above the guide price of £780,000. No193 - asking price was £390,000 - sold to a Scottish buyer for £400,000 and let to RS McColl. The third, No189 - Laura Ashley the tenant - with an asking price of £1.35 million went to an Irish investor for £1.5m. The stamp duty on this deal of more than £50,000 was exempt. The predicted return on these investments, range from 6.5 per cent to 8.9 per cent.

Paterson also expects to see more property movement within the disadvantaged areas, with properties being re-sold quicker than normal because there is no stamp duty. However sellers could become more demanding – where they know the purchaser is escaping stamp duty, they will expect the price to go up.

The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors finds disadvantaged areas in the unlikeliest of places and thinks that the system for checking whether or not a property is in such a zone is a bit of a mess. The areas themselves are generally defined by reference to wards and electoral divisions as they were at 7 May, 1998. However, the only electronic search offered by the Inland Revenue is by reference to current postcodes, which does not always tie in clearly with the wards and electoral divisions.

Scotsman 1st June 2004

INVESTORS TURN TO COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

12 May 2004 News Item

It is claimed that investment in commercial property may be considered to be more secure than equities. In a report by the RICS it is claimed that the number of private individuals investing in factory, shop and office space has "rocketed from 2% in 2000 to more than 10" now. To maintain pension benefits the overseas and private investors have risen to a combined accounted for 40% of all investment in 2003, up from 31% in 2002.The RICS survey indicates that Commercial property has outperformed shares over the last decade, giving investors a 174% return against 81 % for equities, with a continuing bright future for the market. Low occupancy and falling rents has hit the sector, particularly during the post- dotcom period and in London and the south-east, but now signs of a turnaround are indicated.A strongly recovering office sector is indicated with decreasingly available space in office and industrial sectors and for the first time stabalised office rents in London since 2001. As a whole office rents are predicted to fall by 2.2% but rise 0.6% by 2005, capital values increase through 2004 by 3.2%, falling to 2.1% in 2005 and yields at 8% will decrease to 7.5% by 2005.Industrial rents are expected to rise by 0.9% during 2004 and continue to 1.6% increase by 2005. Here capital values are predicted to rise by 4.2% then slow to 0.5% next year. Yields reach 11.6% in 2004, but decrease to 7.5% in 2005. In the Retail sector values have held or increased 0.8% per quarter in 2003 and 0.96% in the first quarter of 2004. Predictions of a 2.6% rise in rents in 2004 with a 1.7% rise in 2005. Yield values may decrease from 6.6% during 2004 to 6.5% in 2005 and capital values could reduce from 6.3% this year to 3.1% in 2005. Rics conclude their report by noting that their figures provide proof that there will be a strong demand for the Government s proposed Property Investment Funds (Pifs) which will make it easier, and provide tax incentives, for private finance to invest in commercial and residential property.

HELPING TO GIVE THE CITY CENTRE NEW LIFE

By Scott Munro, The Journal. Jun 9 2004

Regeneration, sustainable development and better urban design were topics at the North-East Renaissance Awards, organised by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. These were the recognition for projects or buildings which have made significant contributions through regeneration, conservation, sustainability and community.The Building of the Year award was Newcastle University s Devonshire Building, in the Sustainability category. It is prominent in a view from the central motorway, and builds on the functional requirements by providing modern, efficient laboratory and office space also as a structure, it is predominantly lit by daylight and has natural ventilation. Renewable energy is harvested on site, reducing demands on the environment.The concept of good design and sustainable construction is enshrined in the planning system. With any application, all associated professionals are encouraged to promote quality in their projects. This is a material consideration in the determination of any application and can play a part in influencing a decision.

PROPERTY SECTOR SEEKS FLEXIBLE RULES FOR FUNDS

Thu 17 June, 2004 09:04

By Steve Hays, European Real Estate Correspondent

LONDON (Reuters) - The UK property industry has called on the government to provide a flexible and open structure in the proposed new property investment strategies that could lead to a big rise in stock market capitalisation for the industry. The hopes expressed in response to the consultation paper launched in April s budget, said the government s aim should be to produce tax-exempt structures yielding similar investment returns to the underlying physical property.

The deadline for responses to the consultation paper on the creation of Property Investment Funds (PIFs), which the industry refers to by the U.S. acronym REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) is set at 16th July. Under REIT structures, limited tax is paid at the trust level provided that a high proportion of income is redistributed to investors, where the tax liability occurs.

The average UK commercial property yield (rent as a proportion of capital value) was 6.39 percent at the end of the first quarter -- the lowest level since the tail end of the 1980s speculative development boom. This compares with 10-year gilts which were yielding about 5.2 percent and the FTSE-100 shares index at roughly 3.0 percent.

Analysts say real estate s high yields could attract big capital flows into tax-exempt listed REITs and unlisted REIT funds. Property s share of UK equity market capitalisation could triple in the five years after their introduction from about 1.5 percent now. REITs could be introduced into the UK from late 2005.

The British Property Federation, Investment Property Forum and Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, said in their response the REIT structure should be simple enough to encourage the growth of healthy and viable commercial and residential property businesses. This would provide the basis for attractive savings and investment products based on property, they said.