The Plot

When the world descends into a state of war declared by a mischievous Asgardian named Loki (Tom Hiddleston), whose intentions are to take over the earth and become its ruler, S.H.I.E.L.D calls upon Captain America (Chris Evans), The Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth to save the planet.

The Review

Well it’s certainly big and beautiful, and the screenplay proves to be above par compared to more recent superhero titles. But the muddled beginning prevents the Avengers becoming the success it could have been. The start may have been messy, but the rest of the film is certainly thrilling and the spectacular finale will leave you gasping in awe at the rich set pieces.

It may have its flaws but the Avengers could prove to be one of the blockbusters of the year.

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In a triumphant night for Globespan Media, www.whathouse.co.uk won bronze for Best Property Portal, while Show House columnist Roger Hunt won silver for Sustainable Property Journalist of the Year. Ed Hammond, City correspondent of Show House and property correspondent of the Financial Times, also won silver in the Rising Star category for young property writers.

“The Awards recognise the very best in UK property journalism. In the magazine category Show House was second only to Property Week and ahead of bronze winner Estates Gazette. These are the big beasts of property publishing, so we were delighted with our silver. Next year we’ll be gunning for gold,” said Rupert Bates, who was edged out of gold in Columnist of the Year by David Smith, economics editor of The Sunday Times.

“The bronze award for the editorial content of whathouse.co.uk, behind Estates Gazette Interactive and propertyweek.com was very special. When we re-launched the website, one of our USPs was the breadth and quality of new homes editorial, with daily news articles and features. This is a tribute to the hard work of Keith Osborne and Marc Da-Silva and our regional contributors across the UK,” added Bates.

In addition to the awards, Simon Graham, Show House Affordable Housing correspondent, was short-listed in the Columnist of the Year category and Ginetta Vedrickas, a regular Show House contributor, was nominated for Freelance Writer of the Year.

“In terms of editorial resource we cannot compete with the big publishing groups and the national newspapers, who we competed against and in several cases beat. But we compete and win on quality of property journalism, excelling in covering new homes and housebuilding issues, both trade and consumer-facing,” said Bates.

Full results at www.awards.lslps.co.uk/2012-winners

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The Plot

This is the story of a successful Hawaiian real estate agent Matt King (George Clooney) who attempts to reconnect with his estranged daughters, while coping with his comatose wife and making a decision on whether to sell a vast sum of land that his family bloodline has owned for generations.

The Review

Although applauded by the critics, The Descendants seems little more than an opportunity for Clooney to show off his range of skills. Although it has some powerful scenes that inject a poignant touch to the story, it boils down to a sadly messy storyline that doesn’t really know in which direction it is headed; yet with so much potential to be a great film.

What does live up to expectations is Alexander Payne’s electrifying script which provides, although not entirely humorous, very sharp and cleverly written dialogue. Another positive addition to the film is Clooney, who delivers a realism of character not often seen from this actor in recent years.

Both good and bad, The Descendants is a well-made, but ultimately disappointing film.

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The Plot

This is the story of a successful Hawaiian real estate agent Matt King (George Clooney) who attempts to reconnect with his estranged daughters, while coping with his comatose wife and making a decision on whether to sell a vast sum of land that his family bloodline has owned for generations.

The Review

Although applauded by the critics, The Descendants seems little more than an opportunity for Clooney to show off his range of skills. Although it has some powerful scenes that inject a poignant touch to the story, it boils down to a sadly messy storyline that doesn’t really know in which direction it is headed; yet with so much potential to be a great film.

What does live up to expectations is Alexander Payne’s electrifying script which provides, although not entirely humorous, very sharp and cleverly written dialogue. Another positive addition to the film is Clooney, who delivers a realism of character not often seen from this actor in recent years.

Both good and bad, The Descendants is a well-made, but ultimately disappointing film.

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Plot

Set in the 1800s, The Woman in Black focuses on the story of a young lawyer named Arthur Kipps ( Daniel Radcliffe ) who is sent to a mysterious village where he starts seeing a horrifying woman who terrorizes the local villagers.

Review

It will have you clutching the back of your seat with fear. But aside from the scares, The Woman in Black proves to be more than just another B-movie chiller and provides its audience with a well-crafted and superbly acted piece of cinema.

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Show House, Highly Commended last year, is once again in the running for Property Trade Magazine of the Year, up against the likes of Estates Gazette and Property Week, while whathouse.co.uk is shortlisted for Property Portal of the Year, a testimony to the depth and breadth of its online editorial coverage led by Keith Osborne and Marc Da Silva.

Globespan Media editorial director Rupert Bates has been nominated for Property Columnist of the Year for his column in Show House and has also been shortlisted for Sustainable Property Journalist of the Year for his writing inShow House and on whathouse.co.uk.

Roger Hunt, sustainability correspondent for Show House, has also been short-listed in the Sustainable Property category and Simon Graham, Show House Affordable Housing correspondent, is nominated for Property Columnist of the Year.

Show House City correspondent Ed Hammond, property correspondent of the Financial Times, is nominated in the Rising Star category and Ginetta Vedrickas, a regular Show House contributor, is shortlisted for Freelance Writer of the Year.

“We are absolutely delighted with these nominations, confirming Globespan’s position at the forefront of UK residential property journalism with our coverage of housebuilding and the new homes market,” said Rupert Bates.

“Show House looks as good as it reads under art editor Kelly Bates and I am very proud of the entire Show House team and all its contributors. It is great to see no less than four Show House columnists in the mix for Awards,” said Bates.

“There is some heavyweight opposition in the shortlists with top national newspapers and columnists represented, as well as highly regarded property publications both in print and online. The Awards show the depth of quality in UK property writing and the increasing importance and popularity of housing in the media landscape,” added Bates.

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The Plot

The story revolves around the boys, Jay, Simon, Neil and Will, deciding to take a holiday to Malia for the summer as their school careers have ended. As with their usual plans pretty much everything that could go wrong does. This means lots of crude jokes, swearing, nudity and drinking to excess. Everything we Brits love.

The Review

Well it’s not Oscar winning, but The Inbetweeners movie offers something that most modern comedies rarely achieve: a hilarious ride that we can all relate too. It has some genuine laugh out loud moments and although some of the jokes aren’t always needed, they are always amusing.

A comedy that makes you laugh, cringe and gag, The Inbetweeners is proving to be one of the funniest comedies of the year.

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Blimey, that’s a bit fruity for a National Trust AGM. I know they are at the vanguard of an ignorant anti-development campaign, but language please NIMBYs, language.

Actually the chant did not emanate from the National Trust, but from the terraces of Molineux, home to Premier League football club Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The target of their ire – after a dismal defeat to Liverpool last month – was Wolves owner and chairman Steve Morgan, better known at www.whathouse.co.uk as the founder and chairman of Redrow Homes.

Morgan completely understood the anger of the fans because nobody was more furious than Morgan and after the match in the dressing room he let the players know his feelings in what is euphemistically described as “no uncertain terms.”

What’s this got to do with housebuilding? I’m not sure. But watching Morgan watching Wolves taught me something about one man’s passion to do the very best at whatever he does, be it building new homes, or running a football club. Morgan can accept off days and days when Lady Luck leaves town just when you think you’re getting somewhere with her. But what is totally unacceptable is a lack of effort and desire. There’s a reason why Pride is in the Redrow Homes logo, even if Joy was in short supply that cold West Midlands night.

It went from bad to worse with a hammering at home by Black Country rivals West Bromwich Albion, which saw Wolves part company with manager Mick McCarthy, followed by a vain trawl for a high-profile replacement, ending with the appointment of assistant managerTerry Connor until the end of the season.

Some fans see a multi-millionaire chairman and roll out the cliches, assuming Morgan acquired the club as a plaything to indulge his hobby, or as a means of making a few more quid.

A plaything? If you could see the hurt, and I mean ripped-out heart hurt, on Morgan’s face after the Liverpool game this toy was no fun at all, and as for making money, you can hear the giant bronze statue of the late, great Wolves legend Billy Wright at the Molineux entrance chuckling at the very thought of turning a profit from a football club.

In the barmy finances of football Morgan is a rare voice of reason, but equally aware that with TV money hideously distorting any conventional business model, Premier League survival is paramount.

What’s this got to do with housebuilding? I’m not sure. Perhaps it’s that word passion again. Much is made of Morgan’s wealth, but his motivations for running a football club are about as far removed from several other Premier League owners as the gas fields of North East Russia are from the building plots of Flintshire. Land boosts Morgan’s bank balance; football feeds his soul.

After that Liverpool defeat - and as a born-and-bred Scouser with a failed bid for Liverpool on his football CV Morgan’s heard all the ‘jokes’ – you sensed Morgan wanted to go and apologise to every Wolves fan in the stadium.

Perhaps he might have gone further and loaned everyone of them £5000 (as his father did to him) to set up as a civil engineering sub-contractor; upgrade a sewerage as their first project and see whether they could eventually turn it into the thick end of £400m. Then every fan could buy his own Lionel Messi and Wolves could make Abu Dhabi owned Manchester City look like Derby County in football’s rich list.

Entrepreneurs are born, not made, or they are made very young. As a boy Morgan had not one, but two morning paper rounds. It meant being 15 minutes late for school. But as Colwyn Bay High was Protestant, young Morgan argued, as a Catholic, he should be excused assembly that lasted – 15 minutes.

The plan at Molineux was to catch Morgan for 15 minutes after the game to talk Part L; whether Eric Pickles could make it as a holding midfielder, the marvellous acronym that is SUDS (Sustainable Drainage Systems), the latest Redrow video featuring five-year-old Issy and flag my idea to get Wolves vice-president and Led Zeppelin rock god Robert Plant to do the next tour of a Redrow show home and have him “buying a stairway to heaven’.

Such chat might have made this column more to do with housebuilding. But a football match told me a lot more about a housebuilder.

Rupert Bates is editorial director of www.whathouse.co.uk

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Carlile is a highly successful property investor, who has built a business creating property wealth for himself and his clients, with a proven investment strategy, backed by a talented team, keeping ahead in a property game that can change quickly and dramatically.

“I realised that if my dad had managed to buy one other property when he originally bought the family house, his pension provision would have been a lot different,” said Carlile.

His own investment journey started aged 19, with his first house costing £27,500.

Carlile was on the road, but not without a few bumps along the way. Barnsley in South Yorkshire is his home turf and the strategy of his youth was to buy run-down houses; refurbish while living in them, then selling on and trading up to bigger properties. Eventually he bought some land and built his own house, gathering up all his equity in it.

The rest is property investment history with Platinum Portfolio Builder purchasing buy-to-let properties significantly below market value. The business grew off the back of Platinum Property Partners, one of the fastest-growing franchises in UK history.

Carlile co-authored a book with business partner Steve Bolton called ‘The Seven Biggest Mistakes Made by Property Investors and How to Avoid them.’ Carlile admits there are a lot more than just the seven, for the property investment world, despite delivering riches to many, is littered with casualties, brought down by greed and ignorance.

Investors forget to protect the downside and ensure more than one exit strategy. They buy with a view to sell, but what if they cannot? Is there a rental option? Carlile says an effective strategy starts with your reasons for doing it. Some sense an opportunity and quit their job, forgetting at that stage they need cashflow, not just the hope of capital growth.

The mistakes made are obvious. The biggest ones often are. Not buying at the right price is one, even if some get lucky.

“We buy between 10 and 20 properties a month, all at around 25 percent below true market value,” said Carlile. Platinum Portfolio Builder bought around £10.3 million of property in the last 14 months for just under £7.6 million, and is expanding further during these excellent buying times.

Carlile is critical of the media’s appetite for sensationalist headlines, with constant references to ‘the property market’ misleading. “There are thousands of property markets in the UK. Generalisations can be useful and convenient, but can also be way off track.”

Companies touting their property wares, promising instant riches, have sullied the investment landscape over the years and the old adage that ‘if it’s too good to be true, then it probably is’ still holds firm.

“Unfortunately there are a few rogues in our business, giving the industry a bad name. There is plenty of room to make good profits in property, operating, as we do, with absolute honesty, transparency and integrity.”

Whilst property investment is not a get rich quick business, it can be a ‘get very rich steadily’ business, says Carlile, providing it is a medium to long-term play, while buying at big discounts locks in equity gain instantly.

A common mistake is not maximising the leverage potential of property. The maths is simple. Buy £100,000 of property with £100,000 of cash and five per cent growth a year is £5,000.

Use that £100,000 to borrow at 75 percent loan to value and buy £400,000 of properties and you get, if done correctly, a greater diversification of portfolio, more rental income and, at five percent growth, £20,000 a year.

“Property is the best place to utilise leverage. I cannot think of another business where the banks will lend you 70 to 85 percent of the capital cost.”

Carlile may have built up an enviable personal portfolio as well as a great business using his knowledge and expertise to help others make money and secure a pension, but he has made his share of mistakes.

“Some people see successful people and assume they just woke up one day successful. It doesn’t happen. I’ve made a lot of sacrifices and sometimes lost that important balance in life. My biggest mistake until recently was trying to focus on too many things. I now have a single-minded focus on PPB,” said Carlile.

“We continue to learn and invest in personal professional development. The market changes so quickly and what worked yesterday does not necessarily work today.”

Just as there are investors who jump in blind, there are wary investors paralysed by analysis, waiting for ‘the perfect time to invest.’

“It doesn’t exist. The only bad time to invest is ‘later.’ Providing you have the right investment strategy, I believe now is a great time to buy. Prices will not fall much further, with the lack of mortgage finance holding back any significant rises for the next two to three years.”

PPB gives clients a guarantee on the level of equity within their portfolio, rather than, as many do, just committing to a certain number of properties, without giving comfort of performance.

The company has a wealth of skill sets across sourcing properties, negotiating discounts, refurbishing, maintaining, letting and managing, making it an entirely passive investment opportunity.

“Property is the best pension vehicle ever. Introduce some leverage, smart tax planning and nothing comes close to property, especially with a housing shortage that is getting worse. Investment needs to be medium to long-term to iron out inevitable peaks and troughs.”

Carlile, with many UK and overseas investors having not yet capitalised on the UK residential market, is looking for new clients and is keen to work with introducers and IFAs, offering them good commissions.

While many remain obsessed with London, Carlile ploughs a profitable South Yorkshire furrow, where he has been investing since 1993, mining property gold into platinum and ensuring copper-bottomed pensions for his investment clients.

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I wrote a letter to The Daily TeIegraph, wondering if the paper’s campaign partners the National Trust appreciated the irony. Several years ago the National Trust built new homes on the historic Cliveden estate and the 2nd Duke of Buckingham was even posher than Robert, Earl of Grantham.

The Telegraph did not publish my letter, as heaven forbid, that might constitute an opposing rational view on the draft National Planning Policy Framework furore.

Actually they probably did not publish it because I went on to say: “After the success of your magnificent MPs Expenses revelations, you have another media award sewn up - the ‘hysterical one-eyed pandering to readership’ award.”

Stand by for ‘Thousands could die if the Government’s planning reforms go ahead’. It’s about the only hysterical headline The Telegraph has not run. Yet.

I could have spared the sub-editors a lot of work, for the one and only true headline surrounding the debate is ‘Not In My Back Yard.’ And let’s face it we’re all guilty on that score.

Meanwhile I’ve been having a bit of a Twitter spat with the National Trust. To be fair the conservation charity politely replies from time to time. But it did not respond when I asked them how it could publish a video on its website which said that the central tenet of the Coalition’s NPPF was ‘a presumption in favour of development.’

Obviously to sustain their one-eyed prejudices it was not practical to sustain the word sustainable. So hey just leave it out and broadcast utter fiction.

I was told by other tweeters - presumably those secure in their country homes oblivious to the fact that the young of the village cannot hope to own a property in this life or the next – to lay off the sacred National Trust. Sorry, I’m not throwing in the tea towel just yet.

The Trust boasts more than 100,000 signatures on its petition. Well 100,000 people can be wrong when they are told that the field where they walked the dog this morning will tomorrow be encased in concrete. I’m exaggerating, but they started it.

A leader in the Telegraph said government ministers were using “alarmist language to defend the policy shift.”

Yet the paper’s environment editor Geoffrey Lean wrote: “the proposals threaten to open the door to a virtually unregulated proliferation of concrete.” Now that’s alarmist.

Another piece by the same writer is illustrated with a picture of Lathkill Dale in the Peak District, with the caption “Now you see it…”

Blimey, putting houses in a beautiful, steep, limestone valley with rare orchids on a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a National Nature Reserve would be the greatest feat of building since Stonehenge. Not even the combined firepower of Tony Pidgley and Steve Morgan would get that one through planning.

With brutal irony the Telegraph, illustrating another raft of anti-development letters, used a 1930s watercolour by my great-uncle Eric Ravilious entitled: ‘New Bungalow.’

But the last word goes to Peter Iden from Devon, whose Telegraph letter somehow got through.

‘Sir – a developer is someone who wants to build a house in the country. A conservationist is someone who owns one.’

Rupert Bates is editorial director of www.whathouse.co.uk and Show House magazine (www.showhouse.co.uk

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