FEBRUARY 2011 |
www.opp.org.uk
INDUSTRY High court win for Harlequin By Geoff Hadwick
HARLEQUIN Property won more than £90,000 in general damages and costs in London’s High Court last month after a three-year libel battle with the overseas property forum Singing Pig Limited and its owner, Philip Martin. The developer sued in relation to
a series of “defamatory statements” published on the Singing Pig website. Harlequin boss Dave Ames, speaking
exclusively to OPP, said “I am really pleased with the verdict. I found some of the articles didn’t just criticise my company, they were personally abusive. After two or three years I just got fed up and decided that legal action was the only way to resolve the issue.” Posts had been taken down in the
past at Harlequin’s request, says Ames, “and then we found similar posts being published on the site again.” Harlequin was represented at the
hearing by London solicitors, Carter Ruck and by Barrister Jacob Dean of 5 Raymond Buildings. During his judgment, the Judge made several
Harlequin | The globa developer won a libel judgement in the High Court
observations about Philip Martin’s attitude leading up to the proceedings. The judge stated that one of Martin’s
emails displayed a “cynical response and suggests an underlying purpose”. He went on to state that both the
gravity of the libel and the extent of the publication on the Singing Pig website were serious and, for that reason, he had chosen to award damages at the higher end of the scale. The judge also commented in his
judgment that there were no mitigating factors to justify a reduction in the
damages and that the conduct of the defendants was regarded as an aggravating factor. “A key factor for me, at the end of
the day,” Ames told OPP, “was that Singing Pig were not concerned about my own personal well-being or that of the company. It went too far and it just wasn’t funny.” Mr Martin has fi led for bankruptcy
and applied to have Singing Pig Limited struck off the register despite owing thousands and continuing to operate the Singing Pig website.
550 new agents for Savills in Asia
SAVILLS Singapore has massively expanded its residential sales business by recruiting a new 550-strong sales team. The sales force will focus on new
launch, sub-sales and re-sales of prime Singapore property. Chris Marriott, CEO of Savills South
East Asia, told OPP: “This recruitment drive has seen the Savills Singapore residential team expand from about 35 to over 550 brokers in just 10 weeks and it will be the springboard for further
growth in 2011.” Jeremy Helsby, CEO of Savills, added:
“We have the best residential brand in the world and are keen to expand our residential business globally, but particularly in Asia where we have a very strong presence and where we will see further residential recruitment and offi ce openings in the future.” “Our clients have been demanding
an internationally branded team of experienced brokers. That’s why we
CYPRUS STARTS RECOVERY
THE number of properties sold in Cyprus rose 5% in 2010, recovering from a 44% fall in 2009 according to fi gures released by the island’s Department of Lands and Surveys this week … despite a continuing decline in prices. The number of transactions last year increased to 8,598, encouraged by a 14% rise in sales in Nicosia.
have established this new team,” said Phylicia Ang, Executive Director, Savills Residential said.
INDUSTRY News | 09
NEWS IN BRIEF Investors welcome in FLA
MIAMI is seeing an “upward trend in international investor activity because of the value represented by the current market conditions”, according to Eddy Martinez, chief broker at Worldwide Development Services, which has just closed two bulk condominium deals on behalf of a Brazilian investor this week ... with 15 units going for a combined price of US $5.2 million.
Stamp duty should stay
THE OECD’s call for Stamp Duty to be abolished in Europe is not necessarily a good idea says Nicholas Leeming, commercial director at
Zoopla.co.uk. According to Leeming: “Instead of abolishing stamp duty completely, an increase in the thresholds would provide more of an incentive for buyers without the need for an all embracing tax that would aff ect everyone.”
Oz is the top destination
NEW research launched this week by exchange specialists Moneycorp reveals that 72% of Britons would like to move abroad with Australia coming out on top as “the favoured destination for people longing for a new start, with 27% of those surveyed” keen to buy an overseas property there.
New Egypt state body Singapore | sales push for Savills Asia DUBAI DECLINE ONGOING
PROPERTY prices in Dubai are “likely to continue declining in the fi rst quarter of 2011,” consultancy group Landmark Advisory said last month. Jesse Downs said: “there is a high degree of oversupply in the Dubai market, and with new supply due to come online shortly, this will only have an adverse aff ect, putting downward pressure on sale prices.”
THE Egyptian cabinet has approved the draft of a new property law designed to create a nationwide body that will handle the distribution and sale of all state land. According to Egyptian news agency Mena, the country’s political leaders agreed this week that the new body will act as a land bank for all state land, and will set the price at which the land will be sold.
UK HOUSE PRICES FALL
UK house prices have continued their decline, falling by 1.3% in December according to a report from mortgage lender the Halifax. This means that the average British property was 1.6% cheaper at the end of last year than at the start, with the average price now standing at £162,435.
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