The UK Property Market

The UK Property Market Residential Property The United Kingdom enjoyed serious property boom for over a decade. The property boom slowed down when the economic meltdown commenced in 2008. During the boom years the value of property in the United Kingdom soared, and in some cases the value of properties rose by over 200 percent (Cameron, 2005:5). One of the main factors for the boom was that the economy had a long period of sustained growth, furthermore the interest rates were regulated by the government and kept low. Added to these factors was an upsurge in property investments fuelled by both local and foreign investors. Finally the government kept a tight control on the number of new houses built during that period, so that effectively demand outstripped supply (Cameron, 2005:5). Currently, the bubble in the property market in the United Kingdom has burst and the market is currently undergoing some reforms. Prices are no longer rising as fast as they were some years ago and there is now an oversupply of houses in the property market as home owners are reluctant to sell in this current state. The effect of this is that supply of properties out stripes demand in residential property (Ruddick and Moore, 2010:1). The economic slowdown affected all sectors of the property market, however the price of houses in London are slowly picking up and this is due to the weak pound that has made a lot of foreign investors to come in to the UK and invest in properties (Evening Standard, March 30, 2010). Stake holders are arguing that the Carlsberg review of residential properties should be the bench mark for carrying out reforms in the residential sector as well as all the other sectors of the property market. Furthermore, the reforms currently going on is aimed at producing better and more information to customers, this lead to the introduction of the Home Owners Information Package (HIPs). The government plans to regulate the property market, especially the estate agents so that it will no longer be an all comers affairs. Finally, there is now a standards board in the property industry, although they have limited powers. On the other hand, the residential property market in Europe is different from the property market in the UK. The residential property market in the UK encourages people to buy their own homes, unlike in Europe, where the emphasis is more on long term renting (Oswald, 1999:10). Credit is readily available in the UK in order to assist home owners to buy properties, unlike in Europe where it was not easily available (Oswald, 1999:10). However all this has changed as the residential property market in Europe is undergoing some reforms that has had a great effect on the residential, commercial and industrial properties all over Europe. It appears that most European nations are copying the UK model and are now encouraging its citizens to be home owners instead of renting. Spain is a good example (Oswald, 1999:7). Furthermore, with the opening up of the EU, Europeans can now move to any EU country and acquire property, this factor has greatly affected the property market in the EU, because capital can now be moved easily and investors in one part of the EU can take advantage of cheap properties in any other part of the EU. Finally, it appears that for eight years starting from 1990, the reforms and gains of the real estate market in the United Kingdom were modelled on the system of the United States; however for six years starting from 1998, the property market in the United Kingdom appeared to be harmonized with that of its European neighbours (Lee, 2009:32). Commercial Property and Industrial Property Commercial properties are scarce in the UK and demand exceeds supply. This among other factors led to a boom in the commercial property sector. However there appears to be a slump at the moment as Commercial property in UK was also affected by the global economic down turn. However current reports indicate that the commercial property sector in the UK is picking up and investors are starting to snatch up prime commercial properties (Evening Standard, March 30, 2010). The commercial property yield in the UK is quite impressive and high compared to its European neighbours. On the other hand, commercial properties in Europe also appear to be booming. The European economy is recovering and a lot of foreign investors are investing in commercial properties in Europe (Oswald, 1999:7). The economic meltdown has also affected the growth of commercial property in Europe and the sector is also undergoing reforms just like the market is undergoing in the UK. Most EU countries have put legislation in place in order to allow real estate investment trusts (Oswald, 1999:27). This legislation will make it easier for foreign investors to invest in the commercial property sector and inject the much need funds in order to keep the commercial property sector booming. Finally the demand for industrial property is low in the UK. This is due to the fact that a lot of industries are closing down due to high cost of labour and the strong Pound Sterling. Companies are moving their operations to Europe and other areas where it will be cheaper for them to operate. While in Euro pe the demand for industrial property is booming, due to the stability of the Euro as well as the economic prosperity in the Euro Zone. Furthermore due to some recent EU Directives, setting an industry in some EU countries is now a lot cheaper and easier than it used to be. (B) The five major skills that I acquired in the university are as follows: communication skills, multi-tasking, organizing skills and time management skills, IT skills and interpersonal abilities. The main purpose of communication is to convey ones message to recipients. Good communication takes many forms such as speaking, writing and listening (Heller, 1998:6). I gained my communication skills in the university through course work presentations, seminar discussions, formal training sessions and face to face meeting with my course leader. These range of activities helped me to acquire my verbal and communication skills in the university. I improved my verbal and communications skills in the university by devoting time to the three key elements of effective communication, which are, effective initial preparation, effective structuring of my material and effective delivery of my material (King, 1992: 14). Finally, the art of getting ones message across effectively is a vital part of being a good manager (Heller, 1998:1). Communication skill will help me in future because no matter my status within an organization I will be giving instructions to my colleagues, superiors or juniors and these instructions can range from simple instructions or requests to complex instructions. I also gained IT skills and interpersonal abilities while studying in the university. We had a specialized IT unit in the university that offered training and support to students. I went for many lectures and training that the IT unit organized on campus. We had a large IT laboratory on campus and each student had a password that allowed the student access to any of the personal computers in the IT laboratory and there was always an IT specialist to offer technical support to any student that was experiencing difficulties. Inter personal abilities is basically about getting on well with your colleagues. I was in a university with people from different cultures and backgrounds. I also lived in the hostel and I had three flat mates all from different cultures and backgrounds and we to share the same living room and kitchen. These are the factors that helped me gain inter personal skills while studying in the university. The explosive growth of information technology in recent years highlights the need and importance of IT skills (Pearlson Saunders, 2006:7). In future if I work in an organisation I could be asked to take on any tasks that require different skills at different times. Finally, most organisations are now a mix of people from different cultures and backgrounds, therefore my interpersonal skills as well as communications will benefit me, if I find myself working in such multinational organisations in the future. One other skill that I gained while studying was multi-tasking and organizing skills. These two skills are essential skill (Crenshaw, 2007:15). I gained this skill by taking part in different activities in the university. As an undergraduate you are introduced to many different activities and some of them have no relationship with one another. I was introduced to so many different activities that involved different tasks to accomplish. I gained organising skills by been involved in many societies on campus. The effect of this was that I had to organise my time effectively and efficiently between my course work and my other activities on campus. This skill will help me in future due to the fact that I can cope in a busy working environment. Furthermore, I can be versatile and engage in different activities that are not related. Finally, I will be able to organize and balance my personal life and my working life. The last key skill that I acquired while in the university was time management skills. Time management is all about determining ones priorities. There is usually a lot to accomplish in the university. When you acquire this skill you can then be able to determine your priorities. I gained this skill my making a daily ‘to do list the day before and I usually organized my list in accordance with three criteria: the importance/urgency of the task, the amount of time available and the quality of time available (Morris, 1996:73). This skill enabled me to be in control of my personal life and academic life. This skill will help me function well under pressure and make me be in control of my work load in any organisation I find myself working for in future. Bibliography Cameron, G (2005) The UK Housing Market, Economic Review, University of Oxford Journal, Oxford Crenshaw, D (2007) The Myth of Multi-tasking, Key Organisations System, London Heller, R (1998) Communicate Clearly, Dorling Kindersley, London King, A.G (1992) Effective Communication, Blackstone Press, London Lee, S (2009) Is the UK real estate market converging with the rest of Europe? Journal of European Real Estate Research, Vol.2, Issue 1, 18-32 Morris, B (1996) First Steps in Management, Library Association Publishing, London Oswald, A.J (1999) The Housing market and Europes Unemployment: A Non-Technical Paper, Economic Department, University of Warwick, Warwick Ruddick, G and Moore, M (2010) UK Housing Market: Double Dip Fears, Telegraph on line can be assessed at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/houseprices/7539267/UK-housing-market-double-dip-fears-subside-slightly.html > Scott, P (1996) The property Masters: a History of the British Commercial Property Sector, Spon E FN, London

The Ways We Lie Argument Essay

Lies have been around for as long as people have been. We all lie, whether it is to protect someone we love of to cover up something we don’t want others to know about, it is still lying, and we all do it everyday. Lying has become the new normal for our modern society, so much so, that some of us have lost our morals completely. It is just so much easier and quicker to just lie to someone than to tell the truth, and now you can never tell who is lying to you or who is telling the truth.People use to have morals about lying and many people would feel bad about it and teach their children to never lie, but now in today’s society they just pop out of our mouths like they're nothing. We will never stop lying because it’s easier to live a lie than it is to tell the truth, because the truth might come with consequences, but so does lying. Most of the time it is easier to tell a lie than it is to tell the truth and there is no way that we will ever completely eliminate lying from our society, because it does make our lives so much easier.Sometimes though lying can come with consequences, and it can backfire when someone discovers that you lied. Lying can cause a situation to become worse than it would have been if the truth had been told. Take James Frey for an example. He wrote an autobiography called A Million Little Pieces and the book was featured on Oprah and put on her book club list. After a while it was discovered that parts of his autobiography were not real and he was humiliated on a national level.If he had told the truth then his book could have still been published, but as a fictional story, and he could have still been a successful author and had a bestselling book. You should always be careful with the lies you tell and who you tell them to because there’s always a chance that someone will find out and then you would be in trouble. We have become a gullible nation where we will believe that most of the stuff that is told to us is the truth.Think about the magazine’s that we read. If we read an article that says that a famous actress is pregnant then we automatically believe it. We believe it because it is in a local or national magazine, and we think that no one would try to lie to that many people at once. As children we are taught to not question the things that adults tell us. We are suppose to just believe what they tell us and we are not to question our parents or our teachers.As we grow older and wiser though, we learn that our parents and teachers lie just like everyone else and that not everyone tells the truth. Even the presidents lie, like Bill Clinton when he tried to hide his affair with another woman. Because of his life he was impeached by the House of Representatives and he lost the trust of an entire nation with one lie. As we grow we learn that our lives can affect other people and maybe even hurt them, and most of all that lying can cause people to lose their trust in us.We wil l never be able to eliminate lying from our society because it makes our lives easier; it is just easier to tell a lie. We will always want to hide things from our friends, and parents and add those little things to our stories that make our lives sound better and more interesting. It is a little scary how use to lying that we have become and how easily that we will believe these lies. We will always want to lie or even need to lie and it will always be there.

Case Analysis Ockham Technology - 932 Words

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