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The purpose of this paper is to test the hypothesis that investment decision making in the UK direct property market does not conform to the assumption of economic rationality underpinning portfolio theory.

The developing behavioural real estate paradigm is used to challenge the idea that investor “man” is able to perform with economic rationality, specifically with reference to the analysis of the spatial dispersion of the entire UK “investible stock” and “investible locations” against observed spatial patterns of institutional investment. Location quotients are derived, combining different data sets.

Considerably greater variation in institutional property holdings is found across the UK than would be expected given the economic and stock characteristics of local areas. This appears to provide evidence of irrationality (in the strict traditional economic sense) in the behaviour of institutional investors, with possible herding underpinning levels of investment that cannot be explained otherwise.

Over time a lack of distinction has developed between the cause and effect of comparatively low levels of development and institutional property investment across the regions. A critical examination of decision making and behaviour in practice could break this cycle, and could in turn promote regional economic growth.

The entire “population” of observations is used to demonstrate the relationships between economic theory and investor performance exploring, for the first time, stock and local area characteristics.

THE difficulty of obtaining information on the library laws of other countries and our own colonies has for long proved a stumbling‐block to students of librarianship in England; and it is for their benefit, and under pressure of a constant demand for this kind of information, that these imperfect notes are now printed. It is very difficult to keep this particular kind of matter up to date, and for any notifications of inaccuracies I shall be deeply grateful.

Australian fiscal federalism possesses a greater degree of vertical imbalance than comparable federations elsewhere due to a concentration of revenue-raising powers at the level of the Commonwealth government and a concentration of expenditure functions at the state and local government levels. Efforts to deal with this problem have focused on intergovernmental grants. While substantial literature exists on the financial nexus between the Commonwealth and state governments, little research effort has been expended on the local government grants process. The present paper seeks to remedy this by documenting the evolution and role of the local government grants process.

Considers the problems of rating valuations for street and indoor markets. Discusses the most suitable way to solve them using three different types of market as examples. Queries whether the rates bill should be charged to the landlord or the occupier of the individual stall. Provides guidelines for the rating valuation of markets throughout the country.

This paper considers the development of national and international standards for valuers. Examines in outline the variations in market practice arising from variations in law, culture and custom while noting the general acceptance internationally of the underlying meaning of “market value”.

Playing as a global city, to maintain the economic dynamics and urban vitality, Hong Kong government would like to take urban regeneration in urban core as a kind of urban growth strategy. The government monopolizes land supply for urban development through the leasehold system, while the redevelopment agency is authorized to take land acquisition for urban redevelopment. The transformation of agency from Land Development Corporation (LDC) to Urban Renewal Authority (URA) reflected the formation of a coalition composed of quasi-public redevelopment agency and private developer, which facilitates land and property resumption in urban redevelopment. The URA-led projects often tend to redevelop obsolete communities into up-market neighborhoods, which possibly enables redevelopment agency and developers to gain more economic benefits from real estate appreciation. Nevertheless, evidences from some large redevelopment projects conducted by URA in Hong Kong such as Lee Tung Street, Langham Palace and Kennedy Town have presented that urban redevelopment is closely associated with gentrification triggered by displacement of original neighborhood residents. Hence gentrification in Hong Kong has raised more and more concerns about booming housing price as well as fragmentation of social networks. Through urban regime combined with growth machine approach, this paper will explain the collusion of redevelopment agency and private developers that jointly turns the URA-led redevelopment into neighborhood gentrification. And by examining Kwun Tong Town Centre Project (KTTCP), findings indicate that soaring property value will crowd low-income groups and working classes out from their original neighborhoods; and then those gentrified residential estates will be occupied by rich class. Moreover, increasing rent and operation costs will inevitably eliminate those family-operated small businesses; and then they will be superseded by high-end retailing and services. In this way, urban morphology will be reshaped perpetually through more and more gentrified neighborhoods.

The purpose of this paper is to study empirically the effect of a pedestrianisation scheme on retail rent, in a case study in Hong Kong.

Most of the previous studies on the impacts of pedestrianised areas on the environment were qualitative ones, and without controls. This study, in contrast, uses panel market data in Hong Kong to estimate the effect in a two‐street‐two‐period controlled model.

The results show a net 17 per cent increase in rental value of retail shops in the pedestrianised area is achieved, ceteris paribus.

Sample size and number of case study are not large enough to make robust conclusions; some other uncontrollable variables may well be attributed to the increase in rents.

Retail rent is found empirically to be dependent of the external environment.

Shoppers' preference for pedestrianisation schemes can be indirectly quantified by the change of retail rent.

This paper presents the first two‐street‐two‐period panel empirical test on the effect of pedestrianisation scheme on retail rent.

Examines the effects of non‐domestic rates on rental values, and investigates whether a differing rate poundage between two otherwise comparable areas will result in a rental value differential between those areas. Presents the phenomenon as tested in relation to two office markets around midtown London, UK. Shows that while rental values in the first market were lower, the difference was not sufficient to compensate for the difference in rates. Concludes that the property market does not have a sufficiently perfect pricing mechanism.

This paper seeks to examine the extent of real estate investment concentration in institutional industrial portfolios at these same two points in time.

To examine this issue two datasets are used at two dates, 1998 and 2003. The analysis is confined to England and Wales because of data considerations relating to the availability of comparable data for the rest of the UK. The first dataset relates to floor space and rateable value statistics for the so‐called “bulk classes” of commercial property at Unitary Authority and District (local authority area, LA) level. The more specific institutional real estate investment data for the study come from the IPD analysis “UK Local Markets”. This provides a detailed view of the performance of institutional real estate investment, by sector, in a number of localities across the UK. For the purposes of this study, IPD made data available showing (but with much less detail) other LAs where the number of properties held was greater than zero, but fewer than the four required normally for disclosure. The approach taken is to map the basic data and the results from a standardising measure of spatial concentration – the Location Quotient.

The findings show that industrial investment concentration is between that of retail and offices and is focused on LAs with high levels of manual workers in areas with smaller industrial units. It also shows that during the period studied the structure of the sector changed, with greater emphasis on the distributional (logistic) element, for which location is a principal consideration. Historically, the sector has provided consistently good total returns with low risk, and was the only sector to expand in terms of numbers of institutionally invested units over the study period. While industrial real estate assets generally do not attract as much capital growth as other sectors, especially in boom periods, rents continued to grow in the period under study. Taken together with the relative resilience in the sector's performance seen over successive cycles, it is not surprising that significant institutional enthusiasm was evidenced.

Using data sets that account for the entire “population” of observations at these two dates the paper demonstrates the relationships between economic theory and the market performance of the sector. The comparisons with the other main sectors also show the differences that would be expected between the sectors, emphasising the point that these markets are dynamic and that their structure, form and content can change dramatically even over quite short periods.

Outlines the Local Government Finance Act which lays down the way living accommodation is to be treated for Community Charge purposes. Considers whether living accommodation in offices should be rated or subject to the Community Charge, and whether it can make a difference to the amount of tax paid in high value locations.