In recent times Columbia has experienced real difficulty, as the government combats the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. After much effort from both sides a ceasefire was brought into place, which marks the end of the last major armed conflict in the Americas. The agreement will require a referendum subject to public approval, but many will welcome this as a historic step as the country sees the end of half a century of conflict.
Local schools have always been a key consideration for savvy parents when buying a home—but recent Savills research has suggested that parents in the UK are paying a huge premium for the privilege of living in the catchment area of the region’s most desirable schools.
Housing contributes to up to 40% of the global Carbon Dioxide emissions which are currently causing severe climate change and threatening the planet’s ecosystem. Specifically, the heating and cooling of houses is a huge drain on resources and improving the efficiency of this is a vital task.
The Bishop of Grantham, Nicholas Chamberlain, has become the first bishop in The Church of England to admit that he is in an openly gay relationship. Amid controversy regarding the announcement the bishop revealed that he has made no secret of his sexuality to those involved in his appointment and that they were fully aware of his relationship status.
Every investor is looking for the right market to move capital. It’s simply a matter of getting into the right places at the correct time. Buenos Aires is one such market that can offer good returns at lower levels. With commercial property holding its prices, and residential property seeing decreased values of 2.5 percent it offers an interesting choice. You can expect stable but low returns from commercial, or alternatively look to hit the market at the right moment with a residential investment.
More than 3,500 churches across the UK have taken the initiative on climate change and are leading by example on the use of renewable technology and green energy. The majority of Salvation Army buildings as well as thousands of Quaker and Catholic religious centres have made the switch and it is anticipated that many more will follow suit in the future.
A European Commission court has ruled that the US tech giant Apple must pay £11 billion back to the Irish government in unpaid taxes. The ruling directly from the EU has been seen by many as an aggressive challenge to corporations raking in humungous profits in countries that offer little resistance to tax evasion.
NASA confirmed today that the Earth is warming at a faster pace than anything seen in the past 1000 years. Every year turns out to be hotter than the last and initial desperate predictions that we could keep climate change to a maximum of a 1.5 degrees centigrade rise now look absurdly optimistic. A rise of only 1.5 degrees would now come as a massive relief.
Bangladesh’s capital city is seeing significant development, as the populous looks to the developed world for economic inspiration. Goldman Sachs placing Bangladesh in the “next 11’” category after the Bric countries and its “Mint” (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey) group as an emerging economy. Despite the cities dense population, new property is being built on the land previously occupied by 1980s-era family houses, long considered obsolete.
As the population of Brazil continues to be rocked by political uncertainty, amid an unstable economy experiencing steep decline, overseas investors are looking to the country’s property investment opportunities in search of a quick win. Companies are keen to identify “stranded” properties from a surplus of stock and secure large discounts on them. By buying at a low in the country’s economic cycle investors hope to make a return on their purchases when the economy picks up in the future.
The housing market in China’s largest cities has shown signs of slowing down over the past few months. The first half of the year saw a rebound in housing prices which gave a timely boost to the economy at a time when exports were looking weaker than usual. However, Chinese analysts are now saying that the rebound looks to have reached its peak and prices are rising at a much reduced pace.
With many fearing a serious downturn in the price of UK houses, you will be surprised to find that it has been the opposite. Recent research from Zoopla’s index shows that prices continue to gather pace. The average price on June the 9th was £297,508 – that figure has now grown to £304,166.
As the US presidential election draws ever nearer there has been fierce debate from both sides on a range of issues. It has sometimes had the feel of a conflict of views that has threatened to bubble over in to outright warfare but fortunately it hasn’t quite come to that yet.
The city of Manchester, often referred to as the UK's ”Second City” (behind London) has come out on top in a recent survey by Economist Intelligence Unit, which has named Manchester as the UK's most liveable city. The Global Liveability Survey scored 140 global cities out of 100 in areas like healthcare, education, environment, infrastructure, stability and culture.
In some of the most bizarre news to land on our desk recently it has been revealed that a quirky home owner in Oxford is renting his house out with a peculiar decorative feature – there’s a 25 foot shark in the roof.
Somalia, a country whose landscape used to be awash with beautiful colonial villas, has been decimated by two decades of civil war between the state and warlords desperate to take complete control. The conflict has titled the capital, Mogadishu, the most dangerous city in the world.
