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MAY 2012 |www.opp.org.uk


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EDITORIAL Editorial Director Geoff Hadwick ✆ +44 (0)208 734 3970 geoff .hadwick@richmondgreengroup.com


International property reporter Sean Lightbown ✆ +44 (0)208 734 3973 sean.lightbown@richmondgreengroup.com


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IN THIS MONTH’S OPP ...


Thinking positively The Last Word (p64-65) Bob Weston Weston Homes chairman and CEO Bob Weston acknowledges the power of overseas property buyers. They have “far exceeded our expectations,” he says, and he will go on “marketing existing and new prestigious developments to the Far East market in the coming year.” How does he go about it?


Letter from Beijing OPP China (p26) If you still question China’s place as the breakaway market for overseas property investment, read our report from last month’s Beijing International Property Expo.


Eastern promise Agent profi le (p42) While mainland Thailand’s property market has suff ered recently due to devastating fl oods, the island of Phuket has performed well. Why has Phuket bucked the trend?


Island resurgence Malta Report (p44) Malta may be the European Union’s smallest independent country, both in terms of population and size, but it is doing really well. What’s going on?


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New opportunities The OPP Deal Zone (p63) This month in the OPP Deal Zone, we have another set of global opportunities, including a villa on the Italian lakes and a big housing project in Spain ... all looking for new investors.


Group editor Geoff Hadwick


Editor’s letter • Geoff Hadwick ✆ +44 (0)208 734 3970 geoff .hadwick@richmondgreengroup.com | 7


Malta is the place to look and learn


have a GDP growth rate of 2.7% and a net national budget surplus of €25 million, up by €181.7 million in the past couple of years? How did its current account defi cit with the EU improve by €33.1 million last year as well ... and what drove its net positive balance of trade of €148.6 million with the rest of the world? A resurgence … that’s what. Malta is suddenly fashionable again, attracting crowds of young and wealthy ex-pat overseas property buyers. And they are all coming to set up home on Malta because of its tax- friendly “Permanent Residents Scheme.” It hasn’t happened overnight, though. The


W


benefi ts offered by the Maltese Permanent Residents Scheme have encouraged a steady stream of ex-pats to set up home on the island for more than 20 years now. Today, Malta has more than 15,000 homeowners based abroad. They like the fact that foreign residents have no tax levied on their worldwide income or wealth and that they are subject to a fl at income tax rate of


hat’s going on in Malta? Why does this small, sun-drenched island just south of Sicily


15% on remitted income. Stamp duty is also low, and pension funds are easily transferable ... all of which make an island that also levies no inheritance tax or capital gains tax on a primary residence a good bet for our industry. And now the situation is being boosted by a further “High Net Worth Individuals Residents Scheme.” The new rules, which came into effect in the autumn of last year, are bringing in a new generation of enquiries from a broader-based global investor pool. Read our special report on Malta this month, beginning on page 44, and fi nd out what is happening in a country from whom we all could learn a trick or two. And fi nally, this is my last edition as the editor of OPP. After two-and-a-half years in the chair, I have decided to step down and go freelance. Thank you for reading OPP and for giving us your support. It has been a great experience. So, it’s goodbye from me and hello to ... my replacement, who will be overseas property legal expert and long- standing OPP columnist John Howell. He is well placed to take OPP to the next level and to carry on developing our content. Please join me in wishing him every success.


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