Top 10 Real Estate Headlines from Europe Last week the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill completed its passage through the House of Commons. The nature of a construction project gives rise to the possibility of numerous individual defects or losses arising which may be brought together in one or more claims. An issue that continues to bedevil the construction industry is whether general damages are recoverable when the parties agree that liquidated damages are not. Since November 2008 when the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued a proposed roadmap for the mandatory adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) for public companies, there has been a significant level of speculation regarding the future of the US accounting framework. The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) has published its long awaited preliminary guidance on the application of the public procurement rules to development agreements between public bodies and developers. The primary tax concerns for property owners include income tax, loss relief, CGT and deductible expenses. The state of the health of the global real estate industry is a matter of much debate and speculation following an unprecedented period of turmoil trigged by the sub-prime crisis in the US more than two years ago. The key theme through this newsletter is one of planning ahead. We cover a range of different issues of critical importance to the future of registered providers of social housing (RPs), all of which will require investment of time by management to ensure that potential adverse consequences are minimised. Construction disputes are complex and often a dispute related to a small part of the works can lead to serious and far-reaching consequences unless a solution can be found quickly. The recent selection of Rio de Janeiro as host city for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games just underlines what many have being saying for some time now: that Brazil has truly arrived as a power on the international stage. | 
