Average housing rents in Abu Dhabi have fallen for the first time in three years, driven by thousands of job cuts and an increase in the cost of living. The first signs of long expected falls in housing rents in Abu Dhabi started to appear in the second quarter, according to new reports from property brokers JLL and CBRE. Residential property rents in Abu Dhabi have fallen for the first time in three years at a time when jobs are being cut and the cost of living is increasing. The average rental price of a prime two bedroom apartment fell by 2% in the second quarter of 2016 compared with the first quarter, according to the latest report from real estate services firm JLL. The latest report from property firm CBRE also shows that there was a 2% fall in apartment rents in the second quarter of the year while it adds that villa rents fell by an average of 1%. ‘While supply remains stable, the reduction in demand has now started to cause vacancy rates to nudge upwards, indicating we have now reached a tipping point with rents declining for the first time in three years,’ said David Dudley, head of JLL’s Abu Dhabi office. The firm believes that plans by the state owned oil company Adnoc to cut 5,000 jobs by the end of the year, and staff cuts at other government companies, means fewer people are attracted to the emirate and apartments are left empty. JLL is forecasting that rents will fall further this year as more expats and their families are expected to leave as their tenancies expire at the end of the academic year.  ‘We expect the impact of these job cuts and reduced incomes to become more pronounced over the summer, as some people look to either leave or downsize. This will push vacancy rates up further and cause rents to decline,’ explained Dudley. The CBRE report also points to a drop in incomes as being behind demand falling for rental apartments with tenants looking for cheaper lets due to a combination of falling wages, a reduction in allowances and benefits, the removal of fuel and water subsidies and a new 3% municipality fee on Abu Dhabi expat rentals. ‘With economic challenges expected to continue in the short term, we anticipate further deflation of high end luxury rates as reduced corporate demand creates a more tenant led market,’ said Matthew Green, head of research in CBRE’s office. He believes that with just 14,500 new homes expected to come to the market over the next two and a half years, around 5% of the current housing stock most of which will be aimed at the upper end of the market, rents for more afford¬able homes are likely to remain fairly flat. ‘With limited stock against current requirements, rental rates for affordable units have remained steady with minimal fluctuation recorded against the general slowdown observed in the upper segments,’ he added. But Dudley does not think there will be a sharp decline in rents, rather a soft correction due to economic factors. However, he warned that while the Abu Dhabi government’s prudent approach to re-prioritising spending in the current period of low oil prices if it continues the market could enter a more damaging downward spiral. ‘The extent to which a down turn can be mitigated depends on the return of domestic government spending in spite of a reduction in oil revenues,’ he added. Source link

Browser does not support script. Contact us Prime Minister David Cameron has announced that some of the country’s most run-down housing estates will be replaced with attractive and safe homes. country’s worst housing estates to be removed and replaced with safe and attractive homes for residents comprehensive approach to estate regeneration to be created new £140 million fund to jump-start regeneration projects Prime Minister: Time to end ‘decades of neglect’ to aid social reform RIBA President Jane Duncan said: “We welcome the Government’s decision to look at improving the built environment in the most deprived communities in our country. We believe passionately that everyone has a right to enjoy and benefit from well-designed architecture. These community improvements, however, can’t come at the expense of existing residents and see further reductions in the number of social rented homes at a time where there is already a desperate shortage.” ENDS   Posted on Monday 11th January 2016 Source link

24 June 2016 | Jamie Harris A number of environmental associations are calling for the industry to come together to ensure that the green agenda continues to be a priority in the wake of the UK’s decision to leave the European Union (EU). Julie Hirigoyen, CEO of the UK Green Building Council (UK GBC), said: “Both economic and political uncertainty will have some people asking whether the green agenda needs to be de-prioritised while business goes into firefighting mode. This must and need not happen.  “The incentives remain strong for business to address climate change and other urgent sustainability challenges. Arguably now more than ever we need to minimise future risk, reduce costs, add value for clients, generate new commercial opportunities and ensure we have the best people working as productively as possible. A sustainable built environment is fundamental to these objectives.” The UK GBC said it would explore more deeply the commercial drivers for sustainability, while encouraging an unprecedented collaboration between progressive businesses, green groups and other trade bodies. “We will take the argument to government that a low-carbon, sustainable built environment is good for UK plc, and that this requires a clear and consistent policy landscape – in or out of the EU.” Melanie Kendall-Reid, compliance director at Carbon 2018, said the UK now needed to decide if it is to remain a part of the European Economic Area (EEA) or to cut all ties with Europe. She said that a total withdrawal from the EU and the EEA could bring an “erosion of environmental policy”, citing non-EU members of the EEA such as Norway and Iceland as examples of how countries can continue to follow EU climate policy. Kendall-Reid said: “European environmental policies provide business opportunities to UK firms to become market leaders in the development of new technologies. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) suggested that green business accounted for 8 per cent of GDP, a third of UK growth in 2011-2012 and could add a further £20 billion to the UK economy.” Steve Lee, CEO of the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM), said: “As far as this institution is concerned, there has never been a more important time for our industry to work together and to use our body of knowledge and expertise to help influence and deliver a new environmental vision for our country. “There is no hiding from the fact that EU membership has been a strong positive force for the quality of our environment and the associated benefits for our health, wellbeing, jobs, skills, growth and general sustainability.” Source link

©Bloomberg China stands to waste Rmb900bn ($134.6bn) of capital expenditure on power plants that have been given the green light despite adding to over-capacity, Greenpeace warned in its latest report tracking the country’s coal fired plants. An economic slowdown combined with intensive investment in coal, hydro wind and solar power capacity in the past few years has depressed utilisation rates in China, especially for coal-fired power plants and wind farms. More On this topic IN Energy New targets for renewable energy and nuclear power as well as plans for further development of large coal deposits in the north and northwest mean that power generators face even greater competition in the future. According to Greenpeace, the environmental activists, plants either approved or already under construction suggest an additional coal-fired power plant per week will come on stream for at least the next four years. Overcapacity is dogging swathes of Chinese industry, including steel and petrochemicals, stifling profitability and damaging the environment. “That’s going the wrong direction in terms of economic and financial reform,” said Lauri Myllyvirta, Beijing-based coal campaigner for Greenpeace. The glut will likely worsen competition between provinces, which will all fight to keep their own plants running. Many of China’s plans for expanded power generation are in Xinjiang and southwestern China, designed to serve industrial centres and cities along the more prosperous coast. Some of their generation capacity is expected to be retired to meet air quality standards as well as China’s commitments on reining in its emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Local media have also reported that Beijing could halt all new power plant approvals. Unusually public lobbying by China’s wind industry has already succeeded in a rare victory in the form of higher mandated use of wind power a development that could further stress thermal generators and lead to new, behind-the-scenes struggles for preferential policies. In addition to power generators competing with each other, China’s growing excess of power could lead to water strains and ultimately, more tensions with ethnic groups along the frontier. In Inner Mongolia, where large coal developments are planned for the Ordos and Xilingol basins, there has been a marked rise in protests and other disputes with displaced Mongolian herders. Xinjiang, targeted for extensive coal development, is also home to the Uighur people, a Muslim ethnic group that already chafes under Chinese rule. Water use there is dominated by Han Chinese paramilitary settlements dating to the 1950s. “The western coal bases are also among the most water-stressed areas in the country,” Greenpeace wrote in its report. Twitter: @HornbyLucy Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2016. You may share using our article tools. Please don’t cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web. Source link