No description available.

This dissertation deals with the effect of value-added tax on small to medium-sized developers of residential properties in South Africa. Firstly, the way value-added tax is applied to residential properties in South Africa was established. It was ascertained that no special concessions exist with regard to housing. Secondly, the application of value-added tax to residential properties in the United Kingdom was discussed. It was ascertained that supplies relating to new residential premises are zero-rated. Thirdly, the application of goods and services tax to residential properties in Canada was discussed. Canadian goods and services tax and harmonious sales tax legislation contains a broad range of special concessions relating to residential property developments. The harmonious sales tax which applies in some provinces, is a combination of goods and services tax and a provincial sales tax. Fourthly, the way goods and services tax is applied to residential property developments in Australia was determined. Australian legislation provides for a margin scheme to be applied to the development of residential properties. In terms of the margin scheme, goods and services tax is payable on the basis of profit rather than turnover. Transfer duty as applied in South Africa was examined as an alternative to the value-added tax being applied on residential properties developed by developers registered for value-added tax purposes. The legislation with regard to developers of residential properties registered for value-added tax, goods and services tax and harmonious sales tax purposes was measured against the principles of taxation. On the basis of these results, an alternative to the current application of value-added tax relating to developers registered for value-added tax purposes in South Africa was proposed that would be in line with that of the selected countries. / Economics / M. Com. (Accounting)

Alors même que les grandes priorités de la question du logement (loger, construire et habiter différemment, habiterl’existant, crises et contraintes) tendent à converger et à s’agréger à la charnière du changement de siècle, de nouvellesproblématiques, regroupées sous celle plus globale du développement durable, émergent et (ré)interrogent la productionde la ville. Les promoteurs immobiliers privés sont alors interpellés et mobilisés afin de répondre à cette nouvelleproblématique qui devient même prescription à la suite du Grenelle de l’environnement (2007). Les problématiquesde la durabilité proposent dès lors aux acteurs privés de la fabrique urbaine de se projeter sur une ligne de déclinaisonlogement-bâtiment-quartier-ville et à y opérer des allers-retours afin de répondre à la transversalité des composantes dela durabilité. D’un premier temps consacré au traitement énergétique du bâtiment et de son enveloppe, des promoteursse positionnent peu à peu à l’échelle du quartier durable et de la ville durable. Deux terrains d’études, l’écoquartierbordelais Ginko et la reconversion de l’entrepôt Macdonald, proposent d’éclaircir un pan encore peu approprié parla bibliographie : le portage privé d’opérations de quartiers durables. L’éclosion de l’urbanisme durable ouvre unedeuxième vie à ces deux opérations. Elle ouvre également de nouvelles opportunités aux acteurs privés pouvant opérerun balancement entre les échelles de la durabilité et en mesure de se projeter à l’échelle du quartier. Ce point derencontre, établi par une convergence d’intérêts communs entre acteurs publics et privés, permet alors aux promoteursaménageursde se poser comme force de proposition dans l’édification de quartiers durables. / At the turn of the century, as the great housing issues – finding homes, building, living differently, reusing thealready built, dealing with crises and constraints – are becoming more acute, new problems have emerged, under thebroader question of sustainable development, and thus questioning the way cities are organised. Therefore, privatereal estate developers are approached over this question, which has become urgent in the wake of the 2007 GrenelleEnvironment conference. From then on, faced with the issues of sustainable development, private contributors tourban construction need to take several scales into account at the same time – housing lot, building, neighbourhood,city – in order to address the many components of sustainability. Private developers first dealt with buildings’energetic treatments and outer structure, but are gradually considering whole sustainable neighbourhoods andcities. This study has focused on fieldwork in two areas : the Ginko eco-neighbourhood in Bordeaux and theconverted Macdonald warehouse. These have enabled us to analyze an understudied area of reasearch, i.e. privatefunding of sustainable neighbourhoods. The birth of sustainable urbanism gives a second life to those two places.It is also an opportunity for private developers to work both in terms of sustainable development, and on the scaleof entire neighbourhoods. This dual aspect, resulting from interests common to public and private actors, enablesreal estate developers to take a truly active part in the rise of sustainable neighbourhoods.

This dissertation deals with the effect of value-added tax on small to medium-sized developers of residential properties in South Africa. Firstly, the way value-added tax is applied to residential properties in South Africa was established. It was ascertained that no special concessions exist with regard to housing. Secondly, the application of value-added tax to residential properties in the United Kingdom was discussed. It was ascertained that supplies relating to new residential premises are zero-rated. Thirdly, the application of goods and services tax to residential properties in Canada was discussed. Canadian goods and services tax and harmonious sales tax legislation contains a broad range of special concessions relating to residential property developments. The harmonious sales tax which applies in some provinces, is a combination of goods and services tax and a provincial sales tax. Fourthly, the way goods and services tax is applied to residential property developments in Australia was determined. Australian legislation provides for a margin scheme to be applied to the development of residential properties. In terms of the margin scheme, goods and services tax is payable on the basis of profit rather than turnover. Transfer duty as applied in South Africa was examined as an alternative to the value-added tax being applied on residential properties developed by developers registered for value-added tax purposes. The legislation with regard to developers of residential properties registered for value-added tax, goods and services tax and harmonious sales tax purposes was measured against the principles of taxation. On the basis of these results, an alternative to the current application of value-added tax relating to developers registered for value-added tax purposes in South Africa was proposed that would be in line with that of the selected countries. / Economics / M. Com. (Accounting)

Ju fler skakiga rapporter som levereras angående den svenska marknaden, desto fler blickar riktasmot öst. Den finska fastighetsmarknaden är idag hetare än någonsin och många svenska aktörerväljer att resa över Östersjön för att ta del av tillväxten. Den här uppsatsen syftar dock till attundersöka de mindre fastighetsutvecklarna som sedan tidigare befinner sig på finsk mark. Fokuskommer att ligga på hur små och medelstora privata utvecklare finansierar sina projekt och vilkeninställning de har till de eventuella alternativa finansieringsalternativ som finns tillgängliga idagsläget.Information har hämtats från fem stycken intervjuer, varav fyra har genomförts med representanterfrån olika små och medelstora bolag vars huvudverksamhet är fastighetsutveckling. Den femteintervjun genomfördes med en marknadsanalytiker för att få en helhetsbild av marknaden.Undersökningen har givit ett varierat resultat där den gemensamma nämnaren för samtliga bolag ärbankfinansiering. Bankens generositet som finansiär gentemot de olika bolagen varierar och detfinansiella gap som uppstår tvingar bolagen att hitta egna kreativa lösningar när det egna kapitaletinte räcker till för att täcka gapet. De egna modellerna innefattar ofta externa investerare med dyravillkor. Utöver de finansieringslösningar som nu nyttjas finns det i dagsläget inga tillgängligaattraktiva alternativ. Inställningen till nya lösningar är dock mycket positiv och majoriteten tror attbankens roll kommer att minska i framtiden. / As the Swedish real estate market is getting shakier, investors tend to look east to find betteralternatives. Many investors travel across the Baltic sea to get into the blooming Finnish real estatemarket. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how the local Finnish small and medium sized realestate developers raise funds for development projects and their perception of alternatives totraditional sources of funds.The information has been gathered from five interviews, four of them with representatives fromsmall to medium-sized companies with real estate development as their core business and the fifthinterview with a market analyst to get a comprehensive picture of the Finnish real estate market. Theresults are varied but one common denominator for the companies which participated in theinterview is that they receive most of their funding from the bank sector. The size of funding thecompanies receive from banks differs and is not always sufficient to cover the funding requirementsfor a project. The companies are expected to use equity to cover the financial gap but in somesituations this is not possible. This fosters companies to invent creative solutions to cover thefinancial gap that often involve external investors and expensive terms. There are sparse alternativesapart from the methods used today and this is probably why the common perception amongst thecompanies is to welcome new forms of funding as they all expect that the banks will play a smallerrole when raising funds in the future.

本研究所稱建商包括「建設公司」以及有從事建設業之「資產股公司」。建設公司在一般人的認知裡是高獲利的產業，但其營運狀況易受到房地產景氣波動的影響，發生財務危機的比例較其他產業高；而資產股公司投入建設業被認為是挹注獲利拉高股價的題材，因此本研究探討1996-2007年建設公司利潤力績效與房地產景氣的關聯性，獲利較同業佳的建設公司類型、投資決策之差異為何，以及資產股公司從事建設業獲利與房地產景氣之關聯，使建商能根據所發佈之房地產景氣指標在投資決策上做適當之調整，也提供投資人投資建商之參考。研究結果如下： 一、前期房地產景氣越好，建設公司利潤力績效越佳，總銷與購地總額越高。 二、市場佔有率高、建設營收比＞90％的建設公司利潤力績效較佳。借殼上市、曾發生財務危機、上市公司相較於上櫃興櫃公司利潤力績效較差。產品純住宅較產品包含辦公室、廠辦的公司獲利差，但並不明顯。此外，推案區位並非影響建設公司獲利之因素。 三、獲利較佳的建設公司較能夠敏銳掌握房地產景氣趨勢推案，並在景氣較差時敢於持續購地，景氣好時也積極購地。 四、資產股公司多數個案選擇在房地產景氣燈號綠燈時推出，銷售情形佳，貢獻獲利良好。大型商業開發案開發、獲利情形與房地產景氣的關係可能不如一般建案密切。近期開發案除了住宅建案，還有辦公、商場、商務住宅等商業不動產，長期租金收益的開發概念增加，較早期開發多元化。 / The real estate developers in this study included “construction companies” and the “property stock companies” which operate construction businesses. Construction companies are commonly known as a high-return industry by the general public, but their operations are easily affected by real estate cycle and their chances of financial crisis are higher than other industries. It is considered a sure bet for pushing up the share prices when property stock companies participated in the construction industry. This study analyzed the relationship between the profit performances of construction companies and the real estate cycle, the types of relatively high profitability construction companies in the industry, the differences in investment strategies and the relationship between property stock companies’ gain of profits from construction business and the real estate cycle in 1996-2007. This is to enable real estate developers to make appropriate strategic adjustment on their investment according to the announced real estate cycle indicators, and to serve as a reference for the investors on investing in construction companies. The results of the study are as follows: 1.The better the real estate cycle in the previous year, the better the profit performance of construction companies, with higher total sales and total land-purchase amount. 2.The construction companies with higher market share and construction-revenue ratios higher than 90% have better profit performances. The profit performances of backdoor listed companies, companies with previous financial crisis and TSE listed companies are not as good as OTC and emerging-market listed companies. Companies providing purely residential products have poorer profit performances than those providing offices and factory space alongside with residential products, but the difference is insignificant. Apart from that, project location does not affect the profitability of the construction companies. 3.Construction companies with better profits can get hold of the real estate cycle in a relatively fast way. They also can continue to buy land when the real estate cycle is depressing and to actively buy land when the real estate cycle is good. 4.Most projects of property stock companies were released when the real estate cycle signal turned green. Good sales contributed to good profitability. The relationship between large commercial development project profitability and the real estate cycle might not be as close as general construction projects. Apart from residential projects, recent development projects also include commercial real estates such as offices, shopping malls, residential-commercial buildings, etc. The development concept of long-term rental return is more popular and it has more variety than the initial period.

Infrastructure—communications, energy, transport, waste, and water networks—is critical for economic activity and social well-being. Practitioners, politicians, and economists advocate high levels of investment in infrastructure under the rubric of 'planning for growth' (or the 'push' paradigm). This paradigm relies on complex public-private arrangements in the name of public interest. These seemingly reasonable arrangements are, however, not delivering their promise. Evidence shows that the needs of infrastructure users in rich and poor countries are not being met, many private providers of infrastructure earn rich returns, assets are rarely built in time or on budget, and there is tremendous waste in the operation of many infrastructure industries. No other sector could survive the profligacy and slack common in infrastructure. I distil the following primary propositions of the accepted wisdom, which is inspired by mainstream economics: First, infrastructure assets necessarily entail high sunk costs and large economies of scale. Consequently, assets last for very long periods of time, and they cannot be readily moved. Second, infrastructure outputs are homogeneous. Third, one network fits all users (large and small). Fourth, infrastructure users, even large ones, are likely to have weak bargaining power in procurement of infrastructure outputs. I challenge these four propositions of the conventional wisdom by putting forward alternative hypotheses. First, instead of being monolithic and costly, infrastructures can be assembled (and disassembled) as flexible modules for specific users in specific places. Drawing on option pricing theory in quantitative finance, I recast infrastructures as 'portfolios of real options'. Second, infrastructure outputs are, in fact, heterogeneous and differentiated services. Third, one infrastructure network cannot fit all users, either today or in the future. Users are remarkably heterogeneous, not only in terms of unique user preferences but also in terms of spatial location. Infrastructure networks need to evolve in tandem with user needs or risk spatial, temporal, and relational obsolescence. Finally, users, large and small, are adept at exerting strong bargaining power in procuring infrastructure both prior to and after rendering durable and immobile investments. Users also strategically deploy intermediaries, e.g. futures and Over-the-Counter (OTC) exchanges, and real estate developers, to negotiate private contracts for infrastructure services. These findings are supported by two case studies. The first case study details the process by which ThyssenKrupp, a large steel company, bargained for its infrastructure by locating to a manufacturing site in the U.S. The second case study focuses on residents of Lavasa, one of the largest property developments in India. Here, small users of infrastructure exert strong bargaining power with the aid of intermediaries—the real estate developer and the property asset manager. New departures in infrastructure provision are urgently needed at a practical level. Poor investments rendered today—particularly if costly, inflexible, and durable—will suffocate tomorrow’s possibilities. The spatial, temporal, and relational approach proposed in this dissertation begins to offer an alternative account of how tomorrow can be modularly shaped.

Construction socio-spatiale héritée du XIXe siècle ayant connu un déclin dans la seconde moitié du XXe siècle, les quartiers de gare centrale dans les villes occidentales sont un support récent et privilégié de l’action collective urbaine. Les projets urbains que ces gares cristallisent présentent des programmations récurrentes reposant sur la mixité fonctionnelle et une orientation tertiaire affirmée. Cette thèse interroge le retournement de valeur symbolique et économique de ces espaces autrefois dévalorisés et aujourd’hui prisés. Quelles sont les modalités de la fabrique urbaine, comment se noue l’interaction nécessaire entre des acteurs publics ne pouvant intervenir seuls sur ces secteurs fortement contraints (notamment techniquement), et des acteurs privés parfois réticents à s’engager sur des marchés qu’ils jugent risqués ? En adoptant une approche inductive et qualitative, ce travail de recherche analyse la conception et la mise en œuvre de deux projets urbains aux avancements contrastés en raison de leviers d’action ou, au contraire, de points de blocages différents, dans deux anciennes villes minières devant négocier le tournant de la désindustrialisation (Saint-Étienne et Liège). Au terme de l’analyse, l’hypothèse d’une valeur assurantielle de la gare dans ces projets urbains est validée : en tant que ferment métropolitain vecteur de fortes potentialités, la gare centrale desservie par un train à grande vitesse est la condition de possibilité permettant d’enclencher non seulement la décision des acteurs publics mais aussi celle des acteurs privés, au premier rang desquels les promoteurs immobiliers, acteurs clés à l’interface entre l’action publique et l’investissement privé / The railway station areas of the 19th Century were a reflection of the Industrial revolution. Following a period of decay after the Second World War, the urban renewal of these areas is now one of the main concerns of local governments in European cities. In addition to a new railway station served by high speed trains, these urban projects are often based on functional diversity, including a business district.This thesis addresses the reversal of urban value in these specific urban areas, exploring how they have moved from repelling to attractive places. How do public and private actors interact, when the former cannot act alone in places constrained by physical barriers due to a lack of funding, and the latter are not inclined to invest in what they consider to be risky places?Our approach is both inductive and qualitative. The comparison of two projects in French and Belgian shrinking cities (Saint-Etienne, near Lyons, and Liège, near Brussels) allows us to understand what the levers for action are, and conversely what the bottlenecks are that slow down the implementation of the urban project around the station.As the result of our analysis, the railway station appears to be a positive and necessary factor for the reversal of urban value in these areas. It is a kind of insurance – in the same way as metropolitan areas create potentiality in the productive economy – both for public actors, as the railway station facilitates their mobilisation, and private ones, especially property developers, who are key elements in the relationship between public action and private investment