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Current legislation states that foreign citizens may only purchase property in Turkey if the country from which the procurer originates grants Turkish citizens the same rights. It is this enforced reciprocity that is being alleviated from the Turkish law.

It is believed that many foreign investors are dissuaded from purchasing property in Turkey due to the elevated cost of doing so. The only way to get around the current law is to set up a company. This, however, requires the employment of an agent or developer, which is costly, and can take a long time. The average setup cost for buying a Turkish property is £2,000 and it is proving to be a barrier to sale that is seriously hindering the growth of the real estate market.

Speculation indicates that opening up the real estate market will draw major opportunities from the Arab and Russian markets. Potential buyers in these markets currently have no access to Turkish property as their markets are closed to Turkish buyers.

Investors from Arab nations would be keen to invest as they consider Turkey to be a safe-haven with no prevalent hostility towards them. Russian buyers are particularly discouraged by the lengthy processes and bureaucracy involved in buying Turkish property so removing these deterrents will entice them to invest.

Buyers from countries such as the UK, the US and Germany will be less affected by the relaxing of this legislation as these countries are open to investment from Turkish nationals, thus are already able to purchase Turkish property without too much hassle.

Such policies can take a while to be enforced in Turkey. However, the economic need for direct investment to relieve the nation’s current account deficit is likely to encourage a quicker reaction.

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The opportunity comes as part of the nationwide French movement to implement a direct debit payment system for tolls, in place of the current widely-used option to pay by debit or credit card at the point of sale. French toll road operators hope to have completed this transition by the end of 2012, where payments will be automatically debited from French bank accounts.

UK residents who make frequent trips to France are invited to opt for this automated monthly debit service via Sanef’s wholly-owned British subsidiary, Sanef Tolling, which will accept payments solely from UK bank accounts.

The service is based on the use of a small electronic transponder (Tag) that should be attached to the interior of the windscreen, behind the rear-view mirror. Upon reaching the toll barriers, the unique reference will be read by a device which will recognise the car owner as being a carrier of the Liber-t Tag and will open the barrier automatically, allowing them to pass without having to make payment there and then. At the end of the month, an invoice will be sent to the Tag holder comprising of all toll fees collated in that month and payment will be automatically taken via direct debit from a UK bank account.

More information about Sanef Tolling and the automated toll system can be found on the organisation’s website.

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Of the 35 site nominations being reviewed by the Committee, whose 35th session ran from 19-29 June 2011 at their Paris Headquarters, the six that are confirmed to appear on the World Heritage list are the following:

1) Ancient villages of Northern Syria (Syrian Arab Republic). This site encompasses eight parks comprising of 40 well-preserved villages, dating from the 1st to the 7th centuries, depicting life in times of the ancient Romans and early Byzantine Christians. Features of this site include a beautifully preserved landscape and architectural remains such as pagan temples, churches, cisterns, bathhouses etc.

2) The cultural sites of Al Ain (United Arab Emirates). These sites are a testament to human occupation of a desert region and contain traces of prehistoric cultures such as circular stone tombs from as early as 2500 B.C., wells and various primitive constructions. An ancient example of the aflaj irrigation system, dating back to the Iron Age, can be found at Hili, one of the sites.

3) The Persian Garden (Iran). Nine gardens in nine different provinces collectively form this site. They demonstrate the evolution and adaptation of garden designs dating back to the 6th century B.C. to varying climates. The gardens, which have influenced garden design in other countries such as India and Spain, also feature ancient buildings, pavillions and walls.

4) The Cultural Landscape of the Serra de Tramuntana (Spain). An unexpected array of vegetation and agricultural terraces can be found on this steep mountain range that runs along the north-west contour of the Spanish island of Mallorca. A network of water management devices has been established, taking advantage of the unusually high precipitation levels to provide for the farms of Middle Age origin.

5) Pile Dwellings around the Alps (Switzerland, Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Slovenia). 111 separate sites, found on the fringes of lakes, rivers and wetlands in and around the Alps, constitute these stilt house (pile-dwelling) settlements which were built between 5000 and 500 B.C. The sites offer a window into the prehistoric eras of the Neolithic and Bronze Age. Fifty six of these well-preserved archaeological sites are found in the Swiss Alps.

6) Selimiye Mosque and its Social Complex (Turkey). This square monument, characterised by its single great dome, is a prominent feature of Edirne, the former Ottoman capital. The Mosque’s creator, Sinan (the most famous 16th century Ottoman architect) deemed the monument to be his greatest creation. The complex as a whole is managed as a single institution, comprising the Mosque and the buildings surrounding it.

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Digg This! | Save to del.icio.us]]>http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/travel-resources/industry-news/general-travel/unesco-adds-six-sites-to-its-world-heritage-list/a-3-143-2637/Industry NewsFri, 15 Jul 2011 16:11:19 GMThttp://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/travel-resources/industry-news/general-travel/unesco-adds-six-sites-to-its-world-heritage-list/a-3-143-2637/Cyprus holiday home owners as the current system has created problems due to the lack of clarity over who is liable for the land.

Previously, the bank would own the land until the loan or mortgage agreement had been settled in full. This lead to further bureaucratic issues with the land registry where on occasion, some owners were not able to complete their title deed request even if they had fully paid for their property to the developer or seller.

One of the new laws that has been passed is the Immovable Property Sales Law. This will help those holiday home owners to have the law on their side if the ownership of the land on which they own the property is called into question. They will have the land contract and will therefore not be liable for any bad debt bought about by the landowner. Other changes will include planning permission on co-owned land. Until now land that was co-owned would require the signatures of both parties to apply to build on the land. Under the new laws, the only signature needed will be that of the person who owns the particular part of the land which is to be built on.

As reported on cypruspropertynews.net, the Chairman of the House Legal Affairs Committee, DISY’s (Democratic Rally) Ionas Nicolaou, said that laws are reflective of the changes that are required to better protect buyers rights in an open market based on European laws. “The new law will allow the buyer to have Title Deeds, independent of whether the seller owes money on that property...It is a very important bill as it will help reactivate the property market in Cyprus.” Currently, there are around 130,000 title deeds applications currently pending. It is thought that this is manly due to developers failing to pay their mortgages on the land and properties that buyers have already purchased.

The new laws passed will help legalise property that currently lacks a title deed due to what is termed “town planning irregularities” creating a simpler system for home owners.

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Users need simply to register and link bank details to the app, before hitting the streets and tapping in their destination. Kabbee will then list details of local taxi ranks, an estimated time of arrival and respective fares. The firm with the best quote can then be selected and a driver is then quickly dispatched to collect the passenger. Those lacking loose change can charge the fair to their bank account.

Android and BlackBerry versions of the app are also in the pipeline. A similar app with a less catchy name but more advanced functionality will even show you the taxi’s progress as it navigates to the target passenger. LDNtaxiApp uses an interactive map that tracks the location of the vehicle summoned using GPS technology.

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UNWTO Secretary General, Taleb Rifai, identified continued political turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa as well as the events at Fukushima, Japan as posing the sternest challenges to global tourism with numerous travel flows being disrupted. Growth has been strong in spite of these issues and UNWTO foresees that even destinations currently experiencing a tail-off in tourism should notice a tangible revival toward the end of 2011. Europe deceived forecasts by recording the highest growth of 6% in the first quarter of 2011 with April proving particularly successful especially when seen in the context of the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud of April 2010.

The UNWTO Confidence Index, a short term forecast based on the consultations of more than 350 global tourism experts, gives an optimistic outlook on tourism for the period between March and August 2011; a prediction fuelled in part by the arrival of the peak tourism season in the northern hemisphere.

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The scheme aims to reduce the intrusive nature of current airport security processes by focusing the most stringent security systems on what are deemed to be higher risk passengers whilst granting less resistance for the 'trusted traveler'. According to Bisignani, the new incentive seeks to offer trusted travellers a no fuss experience "without stopping, stripping or unpacking, and certainly not groping.”

Logistically, it is proposed that passenger traffic would approach the checkpoint and filter into one of three lanes: “known traveler”, “normal”, and “enhanced security" with a biometric identifier in the passport being the divisive mechanism that is to decide which passengers are to file into which lanes. The biometric information loaded into passports is to consist of a governmental risk assessment appraisal. Through the International Civil Aviation Organization, 19 governments are in alliance to iron out the finer details of these proposed checkpoints of the future.

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This speculation follows the introduction of new flight paths direct from Heathrow and Manchester airports to the European Airport at Basle/Mulhouse with BMI (British Midland International) and Swiss airlines.

Ddirect flight paths to the same destination already exist from Gatwick and Edinburgh with Easyjet, and from Heathrow with British Airways.

Holidaymakers heading to Alsace also have the option of getting there by train via the Eurostar (from London to Paris) and High Speed Train (from Paris to Strasbourg, Colmar and Mulhouse) services.

Calm, scenic and reasonably-priced golf courses may now be added to the list of popular reasons for visiting the French region of Alsace, which include the beautiful scenery, the reputed food and wine culture, and the friendly local residents. Alsace is, in fact, the region with the most Michelin-starred restaurants in France, after Paris.

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The annual €200 tax, payable to local authorities by owners on their second homes, has yielded €180m in revenue, an excess of €80m, since its introduction in September 2009. The Department of the Environment says that owners of 320,000 properties (of which one fifth were located within Dublin) have paid. This is equivalent to average revenue of €68m a year – 70% above the expected level. The tax is payable to local authorities according to the property’s location and help fund services directly.

In 2009 the tax was paid on 323,365 properties, giving a yield of €68.7m. In 2010, the tax was paid on 320,766 homes, yielding €66.9m. This year, €47.7m has been paid on 238,720 homes. The total has now far outstripped expectations of the likely revenue when the tax was first introduced, which was set at just €100m. An astonished spokesman freely admitted to underestimating the number of second homes that would be eligible.

The Department’s own figures show that the majority of the homes are located in Dublin, which accounts for 43,397 or 18.18%, followed by County Cork at 7.86%, Fingal at 4.87%, Kerry at 4.91%, and Donegal at 4.61%.The lowest number of second home payments originated from Monaghan, with 1,683 or 0.71%, followed by Longford at 0.83%, Offaly at 0.89%, Laois at 0.90%, and Leitrim at 1.01%. An online payment facility at nppr.ie encourages owners to make a timely payment and avoid a monthly late payment surcharge of 10%. An owner who misses their annual payment will owe €200 for their current year, plus an accumulated €240 in fines, leading to a total of €440. Worse off still are those who fail to comply with the tax, who will incur a fine of €2000. Owners whose properties are leased to tenants under the local authority’s Rental Accommodation Scheme are exempt from this tax.

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Spain’s recent drive to build more homes has resulted in a surplus of 800,000 properties (as of 2010), 85% of which, or 722,500, are Spanish holiday homes, according to savings bank Catalunya Caixa which commissioned the report. The overwhelming majority were in coastal resorts but a minority were in inland areas such as Madrid and its surrounding area of Castilla y Leon and the North of Spain.

The construction boom shows no sign of slowing; the addition of another 150,000 new homes this year and a projected 125,000 next year contradict Spanish government predictions of just 200,000 homes available for sale by 2013. Although formation of new households is set to reach an average of 138,000 per year between 2011-2015, this is far less than the numbers of new households that were formed in the boom years between 2000 and 2008, which reached an average of 430,000. This means slower uptake for the new housing over the next few years.

The demand for holiday homes in Spain is less affected by the formation of new households in Spain, although this can change according to country across Europe. However it indicated that this demand is unlikely to return to its previous levels.

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