Posts Tagged ‘Property’

Expat Investor

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009

Never can say goodbye to St Lucia

Early on this year, in February, St Lucians were celebrating 30 years of independence from Britain. The anniversary is always an opportuinty for islanders to let their hair down, enjoy calypso and live music and say goodbye to the colonial days.

But increasing numbers of Brits are there to celebrate with them. Today, there are over 1,500 Brits out of a population of 166,000 on this mountainous Caribbean island.

Despite independence, St Lucia still makes Brits and other foreigners feel extremely welcome. The St Lucian Government provides generous tax concessions to attract foreign investors. If they want to buy a property, non-citizens require only to buy a one-off Alien’s Landholding Licence (costing US$500) to purchase real estate. What’s more, the list of documentation required is simple and straightforward. Alternatively, property purchasers can form a local company to purchase property which provides tax efficiency (although all directors of such companies still require the Alien’s Landholding Licence). A Vendor’s Tax on the selling price of a property at a rate of 5% for locals and 10% for foreigners is payable. However, if a company originally purchases the property and it is the only asset belonging to it, there is a share transfer tax of only 0.5% at the time of sale. Soon investors may be able to buy residency with the price of a property, as they can on some other islands.

There is no doubt that the expat influence has contributed to St Lucia retaining its ‘colonial charm’. There is also an exclusivity that the island of Barbados does not possess. The government is taking a proactive approach and is vetting new development proposals to avoid the high density and saturation levels experienced on other islands, such as Barbados.

Of course, St Lucia attracts celebrities, and a good number of them have invested in real estate there, including Carol Vorderman and Trevor Nelson, who own property on The Landings.

Recent visitors to the island, both to holiday and look for property, include Denise Van Outen, Kelly Brook and Amy Winehouse. Lord Glenconnor, aka Colin Tennant, who bought the island of Mustique in 1959 and gave plots of land to his friends, including Princess Margaret, to create a hideaway for the elite, now lives full time in St Lucia, making his home between the volcanic Pitons of the southwest.

St Lucia also attracts wealthy yacht owners who are enjoying the recent multi-million dollar upgrade of its Rodney Bay Marina with 248 fully reconstructed slips and a new mega yacht pier with 32 berths for yachts of up to 250ft in length. St Lucia now claims to be the top mega yacht destination in the region, with the finest marina in the Southern Caribbean for yachts of all sizes.

Over the last two years, the Island has seen a growth in its property house and land prices of between 11% and 21%, and whilst not unaffected by the international credit crisis, the market remains stable. St Lucia has not had to discount its real estate as has happened on other islands, such as Barbados. Barbados’ explosion of tourism has put prices of properties up to 60% higher, but some secondary properties there have not proved to keep their value. Property prices in St Lucia start from around US$230 per sq ft for a two bedroom apartment, approx $464 for apartments at resorts such as Cap Maison or $597 at The Landings near Rodney Bay in the north of the island. In the more exclusive south-west corner of St Lucia, where the much loved Jalousie Plantation is being redeveloped into The Tides Sugar Beach, one of the best five-star world class resorts in the Caribbean, prices per sq ft are $781.

The Tides Sugar Beach is the dream of another Brit who has fallen in love with St Lucia. Roger Myers, founder of the Café Rouge and Punch Tavern chains has made St Lucia his home, and, with Myers’ support, Sugar Beach is investing $100 million to rebuild the world-renowned and much-loved Jalousie Plantation, which is nestled between the Pitons on arguably the best beach on the west coast.

The new resort will comprise a range of luxury privately owned buy-to-let villas, world-class spa, restaurants and beach club when it is completed in 2011. It will be managed by Los Angeles-based Kor Hotel Group, operator of The Tides, an elite brand with resorts in the world’s most desirable locations and re-branded as The Tides Sugar Beach. The name refers not only to the crystal white sand along its shore, but to the fact that an historic Sugar Mill is still sited there.

Sugar Beach will comprise 85 luxurious state-of-the-art one and two bedroom villas with prices from $700,000 to $2.1 million. Each freehold villa is fully furnished and comes with its own private plunge pool and sensational views of the ocean and the iconic St Lucian Piton Mountains – a protected UNESCO world heritage site, which will ensure that there is no risk of over-development.

Villas at Sugar Beach are a great investment, as owners may use the property for a maximum of four weeks of the year with their villa forming part of the rental pool for the remainder of the year. The developer then guarantees the owner a minimum 5% pa return immediately and for the whole of the first year of operation. This is definitely an ‘invest without the worries’ option.

The initial outlay at Sugar Beach may be slightly higher than for other developments, but because of the high standard of facilities, maintenance and management and its fantastic location, rental yields are likely to be 50–60% higher.

These measures should help property buyers protect their investment and ensure that St Lucia still looks as beautiful and enticing to foreigners in another 30 years time as it does today.

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The Telegraph

Saturday, May 9th, 2009

The best waterside homes

Even just a glimpse of the big blue can add significant value to a property. Graham Norwood scours the globe for houses with the most stunning views.

Whether it is a roaring sea, a fast-changing estuary or a calming canal, a glimpse of water still adds a premium to the price of a home, according to new research.

“Even in a slower market, houses with ’something extra’ such as a sea view or a meandering river outside their front door can add to the price an average of 40 per cent,” says Jonathan Haward of the County Homesearch buying agency, which conducted a survey of homes with a view in 24 locations in Britain over the winter.

The research showed that when it comes to water, there is a clear pecking order of premiums. Distant River views attracted premiums of under 10 per cent, but houses in exceptional locations could have over 100 per cent added to their value, as happened with a house in the picturesque fishing village of Cellardyke in Fife. It sold last year for £400,000, yet was almost identical to a home close by, without the views, which was on the market for £195,000.

It’s the same story overseas: in the French Riviera, properties close to the sea can command, on average, 30 per cent more than properties in the same position without a sea view, says Stuart Baldock of Property Vision.

Sea views are more popular with British people buying homes abroad than lake or river outlooks. This is because popular summer holiday areas in France, Spain and Portugal are on the coast. “They choose the location then search for a property with a sea view,” says Paddy Dring. “In a hot country a cracking sea view is your chill out factor.”

At the bottom of the pack, for premiums at least, comes those gentle water views on the banks of streams and canals. Premiums only exist, of course, because demand is consistently high.

A survey by the Halifax Bank of Scotland shows that in the 10 years to 2008, most internal migration involved shifting to coastal areas. Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Carmarthenshire, the Isle of Wight and Suffolk are the biggest recipients of those who move from inland and the big cities.

A separate Halifax survey shows that in the 10 years to late 2006 – so before the market fell – house prices rose far more on the coast than inland. Falmouth in Cornwall was up 316 per cent in a decade compared to 186 per cent across Britain as a whole, while the other big gains were in tiny south-west ports such as Mevagissey and Brixham, and larger south-coast havens of Brighton, Whitstable and Hythe.

10 SUGAR BEACH, ST LUCIA

Villas built at this designated UNESCO World Heritage site will enjoy views over the ocean and the Pitons. Building work is yet to be started but once finished the houses will be fully furnished and have private plunge pools. The white sand beach is a few steps from the door, and there will be three restaurants on site, plus a spa and a beach club.
020 8812 4773; www.sugarbeachvillas.com

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Independent

Sunday, March 8th, 2009

An island of prosperity as storms ravage world housing
As property investors and people hoping to retire abroad struggle to find a safe haven in the slump, St Lucia could offer a solution.
By Julian Knight

The credit crunch has put paid to property booms around the globe, right? No, not quite. While the US, UK and European property markets are in price freefall, the Caribbean, and in particular the holiday island of St Lucia, seems to be holding its own – for the time being at least.
“Property prices have remained robust throughout the financial crisis,” says Allen Chastanet, St Lucia’s minister for tourism. “The key is we didn’t have a boom to begin with, so building levels were at sustainable levels. Therefore, we’re not having a bust.
“The only price softening that has taken place has been reflective of the pound weakening against the dollar,” he adds, with reference to the fact that St Lucian property is priced in dollars. “Sellers have been willing to bend prices a bit for British buyers to reflect this currency shift.”
St Lucia’s profile is high at the moment, with singer Amy Winehouse pictured holidaying there. The island is small, no bigger than a medium-sized English county and with a similar population to Peterborough. It is mountainous, with dense rainforest vegetation and lots of inlets and sandy beaches. And property, while not as affordable as hotspots such as Spain or Florida, ranges in price from around $300,000 right up to $4m. Most developments tend to be gated, with on-site shops, boutiques and restaurants. Access to a beach and pool area is normally a given.

Some homes are sold as owner-occupier, perhaps to people looking to retire to a hot climate, with direct flights from the UK through Virgin and BA. However, most of the properties on the island are pitched as an investment.
“What generally happens is that the buyer has the right to use the property for a calendar month each year, say, and the rest of the time it is rented out to holidaymakers,” says Naomi Cambridge from the Sugar Beach resort, a 190-acre development. “The rent then provides an income for the owner.”

Ms Cambridge reckons that investors can expect an annual return of 7 to 8 per cent. However, the Sugar Beach resort is top-end, reflecting its location in the middle of a world heritage site. Prices start at $705,000 for a one-bed villa with a pool, but in high season tourists fork out up to $1,200 a night to stay there.
Even in these recession-haunted times, it seems that visitors from America, Canada and the UK are willing to pay such prices. Ms Cambridge says average occupancy rates at Sugar Beach are 80 per cent over the past two years, and similar statistics are claimed by The Landings resort for the high season, which runs from January to April.
Properties at The Landings can be either owner-occupied or rented out. Prices start at $550,000 for a one-bed home and $750,000 for two bedrooms and direct access to the beach and boat moorings, as well as other resort facilities such as a spa, gym and restaurant. “We find that our owners want to stay here for a while and then rent out the rest of the time,” says Oliver Gobat, director of sales. “What we do is put the profits made across the resort into a big pot and then the owners get paid an income according to their square footage and how many nights it’s available to rent.”

In the case of The Landings therefore, investor income relies on the resort as a whole making a profit. At some other resorts, investors receive a cut of the total revenue instead.

The property-buying process is similar to in the UK, except you have to obtain the rather ominous-sounding “aliens landholding licence”, arranged through a local lawyer at a cost of $1,500. If the property is part of a resort development, and the overwhelming majority are, then service charges may apply, based on square footage. If the home is rented out, expect service charges to be higher as regular cleaning has to take place.

The biggest bugbear, though for Britons looking to buy in the Caribbean or America is the collapse in the value of sterling. A year ago, the pound was worth two dollars; now it buys around one dollar forty cents, and it may sink further. Against this backdrop, Britons looking to purchase property in dollars could consider taking out what is in effect a futures option contract. Put simply, you purchase an option to buy a set amount of dollars at a specific date in the future at a set price, so insuring yourself against any adverse currency moves between making an offer on a home and having to find the cash to pay for it.

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