Simon Embley (LSL), David Livesey (Connells), Simon Murdoch and William Reeve.
With the announcement of Alex
Chesterman as CEO, the obvious departure from the new organisation is Mark Milner. Zoopla says, “Mark Milner has done a terrific job in building DPG over the past few years and will now be pursuing other opportunities within the Daily Mail Group.”
WHAT’S INCLUDED? There’s a long list of property portal mergers, acquisitions and disappearing acts. DPG owned Primelocation and FindaProperty, both of which have been incorporated in the merger. They also own Globrix and Mouseprice, which are not included. Zoopla’s most recent acquisition was UpMyStreet, a strategic partner providing supplementary information about property locations. Other purchases have included
Propertyfinder.com,
hotproperty.co.uk,
UKpropertyshop,
houseprices.co.uk and
thinkproperty.com, all of which are now just names from the past.
TAXATION
Envelope purchases to end The consultation provides
The Government has recently published its consultation on measures designed to
discourage ownership of high value property by any means other than outright by individuals. This consultation was announced in the March 2012 Budget and follows the enactment of enhanced SDLT rates for high value residential property. The consultation adds
further flesh to the Government’s proposals yet still leaves many important questions unanswered, says law firm Boodle Hatfield. The new 15 per cent rate of
Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) took effect from 21 March 2012 on the purchase of residential property worth more than £2 million by a ‘non-natural person’ – meaning companies, collective investment schemes and partnerships with a corporate partner, known as ‘enevloped’. Whilst the 15 per cent rate
SO WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE BRANDS WITHIN THE NEW ZOOPLA? FindaProperty was launched in 1997, with a strong regional bias to London and the southeast, which later developed into the national, mass-market portal we see today and acquired by Associated Newspapers (part of DMGT) in 2004. Primelocation was launched to
promote high quality homes in 2001 by a 200 strong group of agents, in 2006 DMGT made the agent shareholders an offer they couldn’t refuse and acquired the portal. Zoopla is the baby of the bunch, launching in 2008 to grow rapidly to become the high profile broad- based brand that it is today. Which names will survive? We’ll keep you updated!
makes purchasing a home through a company less attractive, it still allows SDLT to be avoided by acquiring shares in a company which already owns the property. The Government therefore intends to introduce further measures to explicitly discourage the enveloping of relevant properties in companies and other vehicles.
details of the annual charge (of between £15,000 and £140,000) to be introduced in 2013 on homes valued at more than £2m that are held by ‘non-natural persons’. Stephen Green, Solicitor in Boodle Hatfield’s Private Client and Tax team said, “Trustees will be relieved to see that trusts owning residential property will not be subject to this annual charge.” The consultation also
extends the scope of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) to the disposal of high value UK residential property by ‘non- resident, non-natural persons’ where the property is sold for more than £2m. “The CGT charge applies
more broadly than the annual charge or the 15 per cent SDLT rate and will be payable by trustees, personal representatives, clubs, associations as well as companies and collective investment vehicles,” says Stephen. “These proposals will have
significant consequences for those purchasing or owning property around the £2 million cliff edge,” says Stephen. “It would not be at all surprising to see homes around the £2m mark disappear from the market as the costs of acquisition and ownership soar.”
SPONSORSHIP
Zoopla to sponsor West Bromwich Albion FC
Zoopla.co.uk has signed a long- term partnership as the principal sponsor of Premier League football club, West Bromwich Albion. The sponsorship deal will take effect from June 1st will run until at least the 2014/2015 season. The deal will see Zoopla
branding take pride of place on the shirts of the Albion players, throughout the Hawthorns stadium, on official club merchandise, across the club’s website, on match tickets and programmes and on the interview backdrops featured on Sky and BBC football coverage. In addition to the extensive
branding, the partnership deal also includes comprehensive hospitality opportunities, tickets for games, player appearances and use of the stadium facilities for Zoopla to both entertain its advertising members and support its charitable efforts. Alex Chesterman, Founder & CEO of Zoopla said, “We are very excited to be partnering with West Bromwich Albion, a family club with a rich heritage and some of the best fans in football. This deal will help raise our brand awareness and reach a huge audience and is a further step in our mission to make Zoopla a household name, synonymous with online property search and research. Our agent members will benefit greatly from the national brand exposure of this partnership as we further cement our position as their most valued marketing partner. We are looking forward to working with West Bromwich Albion to ensure that this is a beneficial relationship for both parties.”
PROPERTYdrum JULY 2012 7
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