Demolition plan for Rita-damaged homes raises concern

Jan. 26, 2008    BEAUMONT — Some Southeast Texas homeowners and community leaders are objecting to a state proposal that would require any house damaged during Hurricane Rita to be demolished if it needs more than $25,000 worth of repairs. The proposal is part of the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs' action plan to help recover from damages caused by Rita when the hurricane hit more than two years ago. The amended Homeowner's ...

The £50m mansion: Britain's most expensive new-build property

Jan. 26, 2008 To spend £50m on a new house seems excessive; to splurge another £30m on doing it up astonishing. But the super-prime section of the London property market is a rarefied world, with laws of its own. Indeed, the new Kazakh owners of the grandest house on The Bishops Avenue, north London’s billionaires’ row, believe they bagged a bargain when they bought Toprak Mansion earlier this month. But the decor, it seems, is not right. And, despite the five reception rooms, ...

Will buy-to-let owners get 10% tax break?

Jan. 26, 2008 The latest changes to capital gains tax will grant those selling a business a 10% tax rate on the first £1m they make when they sell-up. This has almost halved the 18% tax entrepreneurs would have faced under plans to introduce a flat capital gains tax rate for all – but the Government seems set on excluding Britain's biggest entrepreneurial movement: buy-to-let landlords. While the details of the relief have yet to be released, indications are that investors in ...