FEBRUARY 2011 |www.opp.org.uk


OPP AWARDS AWARDS for Excellence 2010 | 57


to the new investor who is then contractually bound to maintain the mortgage payments going forwards. The deal cleverly avoids the need for a large deposit or a new mortgage to be underwritten and secured.


Eco-friendly | villa designs do not need to look diff erent in any way at AlmaVerde


0.17kW air-handling unit to provide some 2.5kW of cooling energy. In winter fresh incoming ventilation air is pre-warmed and monitoring shows that up to 8ºC can be added to outside air temperatures. Thermal mass at Alma Verde is provided by wall construction from adobe bricks and clay render, both of which are made on site.


Coolhouse also exploits the ability of adobe to entrain airborne water vapour when levels of humidity are high, releasing it when humidity levels fall. Together with the breathing external wall construction and mild pressurisation effect from Coolhouse, this promotes reductions in relative humidity of up to 30%, which amounts to a 40% reduction in everyday terms, and brings down averages to the healthy 40-60%RH range. This eliminates condensation and black mould, and the energy consumed by the usual widespread use of dehumidifi ers. Independent performance monitoring of the system by Faber Maunsell, London, has proved Coolhouse extremely successful in achieving thermal comfort, and has important implications for the reduction of CO2 emissions from conventional air conditioning of residential buildings.


12°C reductions in internal


temperature were recorded in the hot summer of 2003. Here, 38°C was recorded outside compared with a constant 26°C inside, representing stable and comfortable internal conditions, brought about by the combination of ground cooling and adobe thermal mass.


Faber Maunsell’s Final Monitoring Report concludes that ‘the use of the Coolhouse system will produce...(for three houses) in the region of 810 kg CO2 per cooling season as opposed to the 15200 kg CO2 that would be produced using conventional air conditioning’, an improvement of around 95%. Coolhouse’s potential for reducing CO2 emissions from air conditioning is considerable. And beyond the technology,


AV’s streetscape and landscaping combine with a consistency of colour, detail and ambience to achieve a calming and cohesive atmosphere in the village. Extensive shelter belt and tree


planting provides wildlife corridors and contribute to AlmaVerde’s breadth of vision … a vision which has led to eighteen major international awards already. And now they have won the OPP Gold Medal for Innovation.


Innovation: Silver medal winner: Marcus James Recovery Marcus James Recovery (a service offered by the Marcus James Group of independent fi nancial advisors) is a scheme designed to help owners of overseas properties who are having diffi culty funding their monthly mortgage payments to legally walk away from their liability. It does this by allowing a new investor to take over the property and purchase a completed and fully furnished home for a fee of just £5,250.


This seemingly impossible task is achieved by transferring all the rights and responsibilities of the property


The scheme is the brainchild of MJR managing director Tony Barker as a result of his own personal experience of buying a property abroad. The scheme has already been launched in Cyprus, and Spain and Croatia will follow soon. The scheme, he says, “offers a practical way out for overseas property owners who fi nd themselves in diffi culty. It also simultaneously offers a low-capital investment opportunity, with a guaranteed fi nance option, to new investors. We enable owners to walk away from their fi nancial liabilities and property-owning responsibilities, legally, while still preserving some potential for profi t from a future sale.” To do this, MJR matches owners


in trouble with investors looking for a simple, low-cost investment opportunity. Before coming to the overseas


property industry, Barker worked for 30 years in the music industry as a publicist. Having bought a property off plan in Cyprus in 2006, he watched his investment become, he says, “a nightmare.” He completed on the property in the


Autumn of 2008 just as tourist numbers crashed and rental yield plummeted. Delays in the build of the development, a decline in the value of sterling, and a decline in the music business due to the recession combined to leave Barker unable to afford the mortgage payments. And further research brought him


to the conclusion that he was not alone. He took the outline of his idea to the Marcus James Group. And, after many months of careful research and planning, the recovery scheme was devised. “We sourced a very reputable lawyer in Cyprus,” says Barker, “to put together the legal contracts, ensuring they were watertight.” Today, the recovery scheme has been


given “the green light to launch in Spain by our international law fi rm” says Barker, “and we are planning to launch in other markets including Croatia, Bulgaria, Turkey, and hopefully the U.S.A (Florida primarily).” And even though the recovery scheme was designed primarily to benefi t buyers and sellers, it is also “helping developers and banks,” says


“We enable owners to walk away from their fi nancial liabilities & property responsibilities legally”


Barker, “who are loath to repossess and become agents of distressed stock.” Barker hopes that his scheme will grow and prevent an even bigger flood of below market value properties from further eroding the market. It is early days he says, and the business is determined “to look at new ways to enable distressed owners leave their nightmare behind them, and strive to offer the best and most cost effective means of securing a property for new investors.”


Thinking | laterally helped Tony Barker (right) to create a very useful new product


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