If you are a first time buyer looking to get on the property ladder but the prospect of Kingston upon hull in East Yorkshire with some of the UK’s cheapest housing on offer at an average price of ₤79,500 doesn’t float your boat, there is an alternative. With the UK government facing a shortfall in new homes year on year and an increasing trend of single owner occupiers, the demand for affordable housing continues unabated.

In response to market needs Manchester-based developer Abito have successfully rolled out their city pod concept offering first time city buyers affordable, modern apartments in prime city locations. With the first Manchester city centre project due to complete in July 2006, in just 3 months over 150 of its 347 square foot “intelligent-living” units sold when it launched in November 2004 with a starting price of under ₤90,000.

There are 256 one bedroom flats over 7 floors, each equipped with fold-away bed and a central pod containing a bathroom with shower, a utility space for washer/dryer and a kitchen to enable a ‘clutter-free lifestyle’. Featuring private balconies, 10-foot ceilings, and one floor-to-ceiling window “to allow maximum use of light.” It has also recently launched 292 waterfront apartments in Salford Quays and 2 sites have been identified in Liverpool and Nottingham.

This compact living concept has also been successful in Leeds where the Citispace Group are using off-site modular housing construction to create 285 cost-effective, functionable apartments. Within walking distance to the city centre and with prices around ₤98,950 for a 336 sq foot 1 bedroom apartment, the first rung of the ladder doesn’t seem quite so far away.

This exclusive enclave within the extensive and luxurious Mediterrania Saidia resort will undoubtedly become one of Morocco’s most prestigious destinations, and is an ideal opportunity to purchase in this up-and-coming area whose popularity and accessibility are growing rapidly.

The Oasis Beach and Golf Resort offers first class resort facilities on the beautiful, undiscovered Mediterranean coast of northern Morocco. Surrounded by rolling hills, natural woodlands and bird sanctuaries, it has the potential to become the most prestigious holiday resorts in Morocco.

The resort itself comprises of beautifully designed apartments, penthouses, townhomes and villas set amidst golf courses and landscaped gardens, with communal swimming pools and clubhouse. Residents will also enjoy exclusive access to the luxurious beachside Oasis Beach Club. Continue reading ‘The Oasis Beach & Golf Resort Morocco’

 

Le Jardin de Fleur Beach & Golf Resort is situated within Phase 2 of the Government sponsored Plan Azur Mediterrania Saidia Resort. Le Jardin de Fleur resort development offers modern living standards and a range of beautifully designed apartments, penthouses and villas.

The apartments and penthouses are walking distance of the new harbour, beach and shopping centres amidst a landscaped park with a clubhouse and numerous swimming pools. The villas are located on an island, which will be surrounded by a golf course, so all properties will have a golf view. All the properties at le Jardin de Fleur Beach and Golf resort will be built to European standards and will have a 10 year construction guarantee. Continue reading ‘Le Jardin de Fleur Beach & Golf Resort Morocco’

First under the Moroccan property spotlight, Mediterrania-Saidia is a flagship off plan project covering a 6km beachfront stretch at Saidia, building on an established seaside town favoured by Moroccan families as a quiet holiday spot, though not for much longer I fear.

The Place: Saidia - Directly facing Spain’s Almeria coastline at the far east of Northern Morocco’s Mediterranean Coastline bordering Algeria.

The Travel Time: Saidia is 40km (30 mins) from 2 international airports (Oujda and Nador). UK flights - Currently London - Casablanca – Oudja/Nador = 6 hours
Paris - 2 hrs direct flight
Ferry access points from mainland Spain at Ceuta & Melilla (the equivalents Gibraltar to Spain) equates to a 6hr drive or 1½ hr drive respectively and involves some eye-opening border crossings.
 

The Project: Launched in late 2005, prominent Spanish property developer Fadesa, is integral to the construction of this €1.6 billion, 7,000,000 sqm real estate project, earmarked for completion in 2009.
Central Feature - a 850-mooring, brand new marina to attract sailing enthusiasts
11 luxury, waterfront and golf resort hotels,
22 plots for a total of 3000 apartments and villas to encourage foreign property investment
3 designed 18 hole golf courses
Medina-style commercial centre with restaurants, bars, shops, fitness, beauty and medical centres.
Tourist attractions – amusement & aquapark, sports facilities and even 97.6 acres of designated parkland incorporating a wild bird conservation area,
Business – exhibition centre, 1,000-seater conference centre, heliport.
Fadesa has had a presence in Morocco since 2000, developing 2 social housing projects in Rabat and Agadir and a 4 star hotel in Casablanca. After embarking on the Saidia project is has recently been awarded in partnership with property group Anjoca, Tánger City Center, a large residential, holiday and shopping development in Tangiers. It is aiming for first phase completion of Mediterrania-Saidia’s 244 apartments and 50 villas and 18-hole “El Palmeral” the first of its 3 golf courses for June 2006 and work is also underway on the seafront promenade and the first of its 2 hotels, the 5-star Barceló Saïdia due to be finished at the start of 2007.

We have recently featured two of the developments in this development; Le Jardin de Fleur Development and the Oasis Beach and Golf Resort.

Last weekend I took a short break to the Dorset and Devon countryside in the UK. On the way down you have to drive by the English Heritage site of Stonehenge. Whilst walking around the impressive configuration of rocks, I wondered whether this was one of the UK’s first grand design mega structures.

The trip took me right down to Plymouth where I saw the site for the Lunar Rise development adjacent to the harbour by Barrett Homes. Situated in a central location this development could be attractive to younger buyers from students (as it is close to the university) to young professionals.

In Ridge, Dorset I drove past a small development of 4 houses called “The Meerings” being designed by the architects at Harry J. Palmer. It is being built in the “Arts and Crafts” style.

Updated 11/04/2006

I forgot to mention the wonderful Bed and Breakfast that we stayed in. Great breakfast, brand new refurbished rooms and impeccable service. If you are looking for a b & b in dorset contact tina.

Travel writers have been touting Morocco as the nearest place to get your ‘somewhere completely foreign’ fix for sometime now and with visitor numbers now rising, a selection of international developers are busy creating a new property buzz in places like Marina Smir on the back of the 2002 Moroccan Governments’ ambitious Plan Azure Vision (Blue Plan). Championed by Morocco’s King Mohammed VI, the aim is to increase tourism into Morocco from 2 million to 10 million by the year 2010 through the launch of 6 major government backed new development property projects to be built in key resorts along Morocco’s 1500km of dual coastline in conjunction with a series of enhancements to basic infrastructures to increase travel to and within the country.

FACT FILE:

Location: Northwest Africa, lies 13 km from the Southern Tip of the Spanish mainland, at the entrance to the Mediterranean sea. Borders Algeria to east and Western Sahara to the south.
Flights: UK flights to Casablanca, Fez, Agadir & Marrakesh. Connect to Nador, Oudja & Tangiers. Direct flights from Paris, Brussels. Flying time: 2-3 hrs
Ferry: From Spanish Mainland – Algeciras, Gibraltar, Almeria
Talk: Arabic, French, English and Spanish
Buying Costs: 5-6% of purchase price for land registry, notary, stamp duty and misc. expenses
Tax: Capital Gains (TPI) 20% profit, min, 3% of sales price. Sell after 5yrs 10% on gains over €65k, 10 years TPI exempt.
Money: Currency is Dirhams (Dhm). A closed currency meaning you cannot buy Dhms outside of Morocco.
Weather: Hot Summers, Mild Winter. Colder in regions closer to the Atlas Mountains.

Living in Southern Spain gives you a perfect opportunity to hop across to Africa. What instantly hits you is the distance between places, travel is usually by bus, car and Morocco’s highly efficient railways, a clue as to its French past and a superb way for visitors to see the country. With the reality of travel between Morocco’s key resorts being so lengthy, the fear is that its new ‘resorts’ aim to be self-contained, eliminating the need for visitors to venture further afield and get to grips with the true Morocco and benefit local economies.

Following on from Fridays post on newly launched Quay 27 in Gibraltar, I feel a profile is in order. Not the first place to come to mind when plotting the property hotspot map, but a marina redevelopment program similar to London docklands is paying dividends as The Rock as it is locally known, enjoys a property boom. Add into the mix, limited land upon which to build, 7 square km to be exact and a thriving tourism and financial services economy thanks in part to its status as an offshore jurisdiction but more recently to the online gaming industry who’ve set up shop attracted by a favourable tax regime, and its clear why property may also prove a good bet.

Luxury apartment living is the order of the day with mammoth projects such as Royal Ocean Village (sold out) already onto its second phase, Grand Ocean Village and Taylor Woodrow’s three-tower Tradewinds project on schedule for a 2007 completion. As land continues to be reclaimed from the Ministry of Defence there are calls for the Government to approve more ‘affordable housing’ projects for first-time buyers whose only real alternative is to buy in Spain bordering town La Linea where prices are significantly lower and commute across. With starting prices of apartments slightly lower than that of the UK, initial investment required is quite high when compared to say Spain but the market is inherently residential so rental yields remain strong supported by a continued growth in the local economy.

FACT FILE:
Status: British Colony – in 2004 27,800 Gibraltarians voted overwhelmingly to remain a British dependency
Location: Southwest Europe, The Rock of Gibraltar lies on the Southern Tip of the Spanish Peninsular, at the entrance to the Mediterranean sea.
Flights: Daily flights from London Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton and Manchester by British Airways and Monarch Airlines. Flying time: 2.5 hrs
Talk: English and Spanish which often intermingles to create Gibberish!
Money: Currency is Gibraltar Pound (GIP) which equates to Pounds Sterling (GBP) but Euros widely accepted at a pitiful rate naturally.
Tax: Capital Gains Exempt
Buying Costs: Stamp Duty 1.26% & 0.13% on Mortgage, land registry approx £300 and legal fees approx 0.5% of purchase price.
Weather: Hot Summers, Mild Winter – prone to fogginess which can cause landing problems in winter and a diversion to Tangiers airport in Morocco.

Having lived in Spain for over 4 years and visited for the odd necessity, Gibraltar doesn’t strike you as a particularly attractive or interesting place to live especially for somewhere you have to queuing to drive into and out of. Dolphin watching, vista points, Barbary apes and old military sites are the main tourist attractions. The newly restored Casemates Square has an air of Olde Worlde England and is a pleasant enough place to enjoy a coffee but the Main Street shopping area is smaller than some shopping malls I’ve visited and cheap designer perfume, electronics or rock bottom cigarettes and alcohol seem to take precedence over a limited selection of your standard British high street names.

 

It occurred to me last night that in our quest to blog about international property developments that, those of you not immersed daily in the happenings of the overseas property market, may be a bit rusty on the geography front and would benefit from a map accompanied with a no-frills location profile instead of the usual overstated ‘why X is THE hottest property location’ sales pitch.

World Atlas is a quick and simple info/map resource I came across and of course with the advent of downloadable google earth or the more simplistic online google maps and it has never been easier to find a country and its location, relative of course, to the U.S.A.