Tag Archives: norway
It takes almost a year to settle into a home in the UK, survey finds
Most Britons take almost a year to fully settle into a new home with unfinished packing and decorating delaying the process, new research shows. Over half, some 51%, still have unpacking to 304 days after moving and three quarters of slow unpackers admit to being stressed about unfinished unpacking and half of those saying it has caused arguments. One in four have at least one mystery box that remained packed since their last move and non-essential kitchen equipment such as sandwich toasters and cocktail shakers are most likely remain boxed. Kettles, phone and tablet chargers and bathroom essentials are first to be unboxed, according to the research from London removals and storage firm Kiwi Movers. Waiting to decorate is the most common excuse for not unpacking fully and people aged between 30 and 35 most likely to take the task somewhat slowly. The research also found that 75% of those who hadn’t fully unpacked after 10 months of later said that they found having belongings still in boxes stressful, while half of those said the boxes had started to cause arguments. Some 18% of movers said it took them between 12 and 18 months to get things fully organised, while a small minority of seven percent said they still had things in boxes after two years of living somewhere. At the other end of the spectrum, a super organised and motivated 3% claimed to have fully unpacked within a day of moving in, while seven percent said they’d got the job done within a week. The biggest cause for failing to unpack was the need to decorate, with 44% of respondents saying they’d planned to unpack once they’d completed decorating tasks while 31% said the delay in unpacking was due to having insufficient storage, while 12% said they couldn’t agree with their significant other on where to put things. Some 13% blamed themselves, with 7% saying they were too busy to fully unpack and 6% admitting to being too lazy to finish the job and men living on their own are the most likely to have full boxes lying around, with 79% saying they still had unpacking to do by month ten in their new pad. Single women were far less likely to let their belongings gather dust, with just 21% with unpacking after 10 months. Single women were also most likely to get the job done inside week one, with 20% claiming to have successfully found a home for all of their belongings. Regan McMillan, director of Kiwi Movers believes a lot of movers are making their lives unnecessarily hard by packing items they don’t actually need. ‘If a quarter of people are saying they’ve got boxes they never unpacked since their last move, you’ve got to wonder if they really need what’s inside,’ he said. ‘We recommend having… Continue reading
Property To Stabilise As Monetary Policy Normalises – UBS
22 August 2013 Property values are set to stabilise in many Eurozone markets this year and next as European monetary policy normalises, resulting in rising financing costs and risk-free rates, says UBS Global Asset Management. Retail should outperform. In its 2H13 Eurozone market outlook, signed by Head of Research Gunnar Herm, UBS said: “In 2013 and 2014, real estate investors will operate in a slightly improving but still subdued economic environment. UBS does not believe the European Central Bank’s monetary easing policy will continue further, which will result in higher risk-free rates and financing costs. debt availability will remain scarce for assets beyond core property. However, additional lending sources for value-add or opportunistic assets will emerge in the core Eurozone countries as well as for the prime segment in southern Europe. The retail sector will outperform office and logistics due to high income levels and stable capital value and rental growth in most markets from 2014. In the countries hit hardest by the financial crisis, stabilisation is expected for 2015. Best performers, on a total return basis, will be France and Ireland, worst Spain, Portugal and The Netherlands. Logistics remains attractive due to the high, relatively stable income returns in the current low interest rate environment. “We anticipate a broadening range of both returns and opportunities in the sector, with growing retail and manufacturing sector interest for new, tailored space in selective locations across Europe,” said the report. Occupiers will focus on regions and countries with a strong economic outlook. UBS sees Ireland and Norway as the most attractive options for a core portfolio over the next three years. In the office sector, cost-cutting continues as the main driver of leasing activity. Due to low development activities, vacancy levels in the prime segment have been falling, resulting in a supply shortage in CBD locations and rising prime rents. Outside the prime segment, UBS expects continued pressure on capital values. France and Finland are set to outperform on a total return basis, while Germany, The Netherlands, Spain and Italy are likely to underperform. “Even though we do not believe in improving occupier market conditions in the Dutch office market, counter-cyclical opportunities may arise in the prime office segment,” said the report. pie Continue reading
Sweden ‘Most Sustainable Country in the World’
August 19, 2013 is the most sustainable country in the world, a ranking it earned for its use of renewable energy sources and low carbon dioxide emissions, as well as social and governance practices such as labor participation, education and institutional framework, according to a report by sustainability investment firm Robecosam. The ranking aims to offer insight into investment risks and opportunities related to environmental, social and governance practices such as emissions and reliance on fossil fuels, and allows investors to compare countries to each other. Australia, Switzerland, Denmark and Norway round out the top five. The United Kingdom ranks sixth, followed by Canada, Finland, the US and the Netherlands. Countries with the lowest scores include Nigeria in the bottom spot, along with Egypt, Venezuela, Indonesia and Russia. The sustainability report by Robecosam evaluated 59 countries, 21 developed and 38 emerging markets, on environmental, social and governance factors considered relevant to investors. A weighted set of indicators determined each country’s score with 10 being the highest. Countries were judged on their environmental policies, emissions , energy use, energy sources, risk mitigation and biodiversity. For example, countries that rely heavily on fossil fuel imports are vulnerable to external price movements or shortages, which would result in a lower score, the report says. A majority of investors view climate change as a material risk and as a consequence have retained — and in many cases advanced — their commitment to addressing climate change in their investment activities, according to research by consultant Mercer published earlier this month. This is despite wider economic challenges and continuing policy uncertainty, according to the third annual Global Investor Survey on Climate Change. A report released last year in Doha by the World Energy Council urged governments to design long-term energy policies, enable market conditions that attract long-term investments and encourage research and development in energy technology. It said developed countries such as Sweden, Switzerland and Canada are the closest to achieving sustainable energy systems . Neither the US nor the UK made the top 10 list. Earlier this year Volvo unveiled plug-in hybrid buses — which the company says reduce fuel consumption by at least 75 percent compared with diesel buses — in Gothenburg, Sweden as part of a field test. Volvo says the plug-in technology will also reduce carbon dioxide by 75 to 80 percent, compared with current diesel buses, and reduce total energy consumption by about 60 percent. Continue reading
