ADZUNA HOMEBUYERS' FACEBOOK MAP

Get stalking....

Now here's something a bit bonkers. Adzuna, a social search engine for British property listings, was launched yesterday by the founders of Gumtree and Zoopla. It features a Friends Map which shows the places where your Facebook friends have "checked in" - this means that if you are thinking of buying or renting a home in the surrounding area, you could ask them questions about it, because obviously they have local knowledge, right? That's the theory.

The reality is much more hit and miss - I tried the map - yes, it did show my friends visiting Zizzi or whatever in the area where they live, but mostly it showed them visiting bars, nightclubs and restaurants in the West End (I never knew some of them led such glamorous lives) or the Westfield shopping centre or, better still, Luton Airport. This makes the map an invaluable snooping tool. However, just because my friends or I go to the Odeon, Leicester Square, occasionally does not make us an expert on what it is like to live there. We just know that we hate the crowds, tourist trap "restaurants" and general tat. Thinking about it, as I write this, I wonder if I am wrong - maybe we could offer useful advice - for anyone thinking of living around Leicester Square - don't do it, it is truly horrible. Yes, get this Adzuna app - it is indepensible, even if only to help you stalk friends as they go about their daily lives - fantastic! If one of them can help you select a good area to live-in as well, doubly fantastic!

http://property.adzuna.co.uk/

WILL CHINA BUY IRELAND?

Last week, China's vice president visited Ireland to discuss how it could become Beijing's "springboard" into Europe. Is fact following fiction? Last April Fool's Day I wrote something suitably stupid, but now it seems less so.....you decide......here it is again below.....



CHINA BUYS NORTHERN IRELAND

Following several months of secret negotiations, China has bought a 100 year lease on Northern Ireland from the British government. The GBP70 billion deal wipes out Britain's national debt and gives China trading and political benefits, including membership of the European Union.

The transfer of power is expected to take place on May 1st, 2011.

The Republic of Ireland has guaranteed not to challenge China's annexation of Northern Ireland in exchange for China agreeing to pay off the Irish national debt. All Ireland's nationalised and part nationalised banks will be transferred to the Bank of China as part of the deal. This will enable the Chinese to develop banking operations in Europe.

Sources close to Beijing say the Chinese will develop Northern Ireland into a low tax manufacturing, logistics and trading centre.

The Northern Ireland assembly will go into emergency session today to discuss the plans. In an unusual show of unity all of Northern Ireland's parties are said to be against the deal.

A spokesman for the British government said "this historic agreement will ensure Britain enjoys a bright economic future. There will be benefits for the people of Northern Ireland and for all of the people of the British Isles from having China invest its national surplus on our shores. It will secure jobs, bring peace and create economic growth for years to come."

A spokesman for Northern Ireland's biggest politcal party, the Democratic Unionists, described the deal as "utter foolishness".

(first published on April 1, 2011)

THE WORLD'S EMPTY HOMES

.....and how to fill them

The world is being taken over by ghosts. The other day a London estate agent spoke about “ghost areas” in Knightsbridge which were empty much of the time, because most property owners were foreigners who only spend a few weeks of the year in the British capital. China has “ghost districts”, entire neighbourhoods of brand new empty apartment blocks bought up by investors who refuse to let them out, because a lived-in home has less value than a “virgin” property.

These London and Chinese examples of ghost area are caused by people with wealth buying additional homes, sometimes three, four or more. There is another type of ghost area in the world caused by an opposite, but equally powerful force in housing markets – loss of wealth. An example of this can be found in Ireland, where “ghost estates”, completed or half-completed housing developments from the noughties housing boom, ring the capital, Dublin. These lie empty, because an insufficient number of people in Ireland can afford to buy one home, let alone two, three or more. There are examples of this in California, home of the original “ghost towns” that were once the boom-towns of nineteenth century westward expansion, and in Spain where one million homes lie empty, mainly because foreigners can't or won't buy property in a debt-laden, economic disaster zone.

Isn't it odd how boom and bust housing markets can share a common characteristic – empty homes? And isn't it interesting how we label all these empty homes, estates, areas, districts and towns with the word “ghost”? Irrespective of how and where these empty homes appear, a common desire among those concerned with homelessness, community-building and economics is to see them filled with people.

A rebalancing of the global economy, wealth and perspectives would seem to be the way to fill empty homes. There would be fewer “virgin” flats in China if owners let them out, because they needed income. There would be fewer absentee home-owners in London if they were taxed more heavily. There would be more occupied homes in Ireland and USA if people could afford to buy or rent them. There would be more occupied holiday homes in Spain if austerity wasn't eating into European budgets.

Of course, the march of time means a rebalancing of global trends would not be enough in some cases – the ghost towns of nineteenth century America became empty, because they became obsolete. Time will tell how many early twenty-first century ghost areas are obsolete. Knightsbridge is likely to survive for a long while yet, because it is at the heart of a global financial capital. The future looks less promising for some of those empty, Spanish housing estates however.

LONDON'S UNPOPULAR LANDLORDS

The city's private rented sector is a political battleground

News that some London landlords want to evict tenants, so they can re-let to Olympics visitors at many-times-the-usual rent, will surely feature in next May's London mayoral election. Several mayoral candidates are gunning for landlords.

Liberal Democrat candidate, Brian Paddick, says property investors have priced-out first-time-buyers from the sales market, and Labour's, Ken Livingstone, currently leading in the polls, has challenging policies for landlords - he wants rent controls introduced - no Londoner should pay more than one-third of their salary in rent he says. At the moment, it is 50 per cent in two-thirds of London boroughs. Even sitting Conservative mayor, Boris Johnson, wants reform – he supports an accreditation system for landlords that will distinguish the good from the bad.

The politicisation of London's private lettings market has been stoked by the London Assembly, the body that monitors the mayor and champions causes of concern to Londoners. Its report Bleak Houses states one-in-three landlords are "rogues" and that one-third of private rented housing is below standards considered acceptable in the social housing sector.

Conditions suffered by some private tenants are Dickensian – noise, overcrowding, insanitary conditions and landlord harassment. Piled on top of that are high rents - they remain close to the record high achieved in 2011, and yet incomes are being squeezed, jobs lost and taxes raised. Meanwhile, many landlords benefit from tax allowances and low mortgage rates. Such discrepancies fuel tenants' resentment and their desire for revenge or, at least, reform.

Some landlords play down the politics. Yes, a Parliamentary vote may be needed for Livingstone to introduce rent controls and he is unlikely to get that, but that is not the point. Landlords will not be let off the hook in May - one-quarter of Londoners are private tenants – that is a lot of voters, so politicians will want them on their side.

To help save landlords from being pilloried by Londoners, the National Landlords Association ought to take the initiative by calling for all landlords to be licensed (much stronger than accreditation), so only responsible investors are allowed to let-out property. Removing rogues from the scene has two advantages for competent landlords – less competition and an improved public image. A landlords licensing system is being piloted in Newham. The NLA ought to do more to help it succeed.