Property law

More and more people are investing in property in Canada. There seem to be three main reasons for this. First, there is the snow. Canada contains some of the world’s finest skiing resorts and the discerning UK buyer has long recognised this.

See Also:  Canada, Property law

Date Published: 01 June 2008

One of the biggest problems for a lawyer specialising in international work is keeping up to date with the avalanche of legislation, regulations and court cases that come onto your desk every week. That is why it is simply not possible for one individual lawyer to be thoroughly up to date with the law of many countries.

See Also:  Property law

Date Published: 01 November 2007

Ten years ago almost no British people bought a house in Turkey and those who did probably made a mistake, thinking they were buying in Torquay. Frankly, in 1997, buying a house in Turkey was probably not a great idea. The Turkish lira stood at 185,000 to the pound in 1997; by 2002 it had fallen to 2,146,000 to the pound. In other words, if you had bought a £100,000 house in 1997 and sold it in 2002 when you converted the money back into sterling you would have lost 90 per cent of the value of your purchase. Of course, the house probably went up in value a bit, but not that much.

See Also:  Property law, Turkey

Date Published: 01 June 2007

When Italy emerged as in independent country in 1861 it's adopted a legal system that was very similar to the French legal system - but be aware that it's NOT the same as the French system. The process should start long before you go to Italy and look at houses. Ideally, you should see your lawyer to discuss the important question of who should be the legal owner of the property before you get caught up in the rush and drama of choosing a home, when you will always come under pressure to do things quickly.

See Also:  Italy, Property law

Date Published: 01 April 2007

There is no mystique in buying property in France.  The French conveyancing system is run by professionals and the standard of legal services provided is, on the whole, excellent.  With some sadness I consider it better than that provided in England.  This may be because only one tenth of the number of transactions that take place in England each year take place in France.  People tend to buy, sell and mortgage property in England as they do second-hand cars or shares.  The intervention of professionals here is seen as a burdensome and unnecessary formality.  Such is not the case in France. 

See Also:  France, Property law

Date Published: 02 January 2007

The island of Cyprus is, practically speaking, divided into two parts. When talking about Cyprus one is constantly treading on eggshells but the history is that in 1974 the Turks (depending on your point of view) either invaded or liberated part of the island of Cyprus. Previously the island had been home to two major ethnic groups with the Turks predominating the Northern part of the island and the Greeks predominating in the Southern part. After the invasion most Greeks who had lived in the North were displaced to the South and most Turks who had lived in the South moved to the North.

See Also:  Cyprus, Property law

Date Published: 01 January 2007