Update 21/5/2010 – Interest developing in this scheme with a suggested mooring location near to Marlow.

Own a Fraction in a Beautiful River Cruiser

New fractional scheme forming to purchase a beautiful new Dolphin 22 river cruiser. Total cost approximately GBP25,000.
This 4+2 berth river cruiser is ideal for a family, with the privacy of a double aft-cabin.

To be based river Thames.

5th fractions to be allocated (cost GBP5,000).

Running costs tba, but would be in the region of GBP300 pa per fraction.

Each 5th fraction would entitle the fraction owner to 1 week’s use every 5 weeks throughout the season (April-October), giving 6 weeks use each year. Fractional scheme members will be able to swap weeks. The boat will be out of use for the rest of the year for maintenance.

To express interest in this fractional ownership scheme please email neil@thefractionaltimes.com

London Fractions secures properties for fractionalisation in prime residential regions of London. They are all affluent areas where the demand for property is strong ? and more importantly will continue to be strong over the coming years.

Areas included Knightsbridge, Belgravia, Marylebone, Mayfair, St James’s, Westminster, South Bank, Tower Bridge, the City and others. Depending on your knowledge of London we can advise the best area to suit you and your budget. All the areas have a wealth of bars, restaurants, shops, parks, galleries, transportation options and all the other facilities and services you would expect from one of the world?s leading capital cities.

See www.london-fractional-ownership.com for more information or contact:

Toby Pocock
email: info@londonfractions.com
Tel: (+44) (0)20 70621181

What’s the Problem?

The suggested problem seems to be that fractional ownership is only suitable for resorts with year-round warm climates or places with a very long season for other reasons, e.g. Summer/Winter use of an apartment in the French alps or a city-break location. This long season would mean less pressure on the time allocation and allow smaller fractions to be practical. Of course it does help if the season is longer, but I think that what is really being said is that fractional ownership in the UK (outside of London) is not really suitable for developers looking to make huge profits.

Why Fractional Ownership Can Work in the UK

To see why the worries about fractional ownership in the UK are incorrect, you only have to review the leisure industry that already exists in the UK/England. If the fractional ownership model can’t work in the UK why are there so many people with second homes who rent them out for part of the season? The whole cottage rental business would not exist if this were true. Also fractional ownership’s much derided “cousin” – timeshare is established in the UK, concentrating on resorts with either a lot of indoor facilities or year-round appeal (e.g. the Lake District). For developers to ignore the Uk market is to ignore potentially lucrative opportunities to sell a different type of holiday experience. As the green market grows and ever-increasing oil prices drive up the price of air travel there will be a larger market in the UK for UK-based holidays.

Who Would Buy UK Fractional Property?

Part of the problem is that developers often only seem to be considering a limited range of holiday experiences (basically luxury beach and/or golf) when it comes to developing fractional schemes. In the UK there are a number of existing leisure concepts which fractional developers could tempt consumers away from, the most significant being timeshare. Also as mentioned above there are a large number of second homes in the UK. The owners of these could be tempted either to sell fractions in their existing assets or to buy new fractional developments as a way of releasing capital.

From the consumers point of view the development of fractional ownership in the UK would open up the possibility of second home ownership to new groups who had not previously believed they could afford it, and had been unwilling to buy timeshare because of the bad publicity/poor investment returns.

My final point is that this year I took a break at “Centre Parcs” in the UK in the Lake District. This is a leisure facility that manages to be busy throughout the year, despite the English weather.

Each fractional owner buys a quarter share and hass access the boat for 1 week in 4.

See http://www.ribshackmarine.co.uk/overview.html for more information.

Each cottage is sold in fractions of 1/10 giving 5 weeks useage each year. With prices starting from approximately ?20,000 it isn’t surprising that they are selling out fast.

Visit www.penhavencottages.co.uk for more information.

The smallest shares available are 1/12. Currently there are only two horses with 1 share availabel in each.

Syndicate members (fractional owners) get to share all of the benefits of owning a racehorse, including:

Meet like-minded owners

Get inside the parade ring

Lead your horse into the winner’s enclosure

Chat with your jockey and trainer on race day

Enjoy the racecourse from an owner?s perspective

Access all areas of the racecourse

Stable visits, watch gallops, meet your trainer and horse

Name your two-year-old

Your share of the prize money

Your share in the sale value of your horse

Two complimentary badges whenever your horse runs

Regular email, telephone and website updates

Complimentary photo of you and your horse

Tell friends you own a Kevin Ryan-trained racehorse

see www.hambletonracing.co.uk for more information and prices.

It promotes the concept of owner-managed groups, thus cutting out the expensive management fees assocaiated with most other companies. This does mean that it may not be suitable for you if you are looking for a “full service” sharing agreement where everything is taken care of by a management company.

The website features shares for sale in existing fractional yachts/boats/motor yachts in both the UK, Europe, and beyond.

Listings are changing all the time but at the time of writing they have shares in the UK starting from ?5000 and shares in Europe starting from ?3000.

For more details see www.yachtfractions.co.uk

Pictured above: Linthwaite House, Lake District, England

GoldenYearsHolidays.com is a UK-based destination club exclusively for the over 50s.

It features a portfolio of (23) properties in 14 different countries, mostly in Europe. Properties are typically 2 or 3-bedroom based in a development with many facilities.

The club offers a variety of extras when you stay at one of their properties, generally:

? Chauffeured transfers
? Chaperon
? Daily maid service
? Quality Motor Car
? Telephone
? Golf (only applicable with Golf Membership upgrade option)

There is the chance to try out the club’s properties by joining as an associate member for a small fee (currently ?150) and then paying for holidays as you take them.

The club offers a percentage of your money back (to be stated when you join) in the event of your resigning or on death. This amount is not specified in general, which is a shame.

It scores over more luxurious destination clubs in that it doesn’t have a large annual fee (currently it is only ?117.50 and index-linked).

Life members can use the club’s properties (as the name suggests!) for life, and the one-off membership costs quoted vary depending on your age when you join and the number of days useage:

7 days per annum joining at age 50 – ?24,236
7 days per annum joining at age 68 – ?14,438
21 days per annum joining at age 50 – ?62,543
21 days per annum joining at age 68 – ?37,249

This is obviously not a financial investment (destination clubs almost never are) and its value to you would depend on the attractiveness of the resort portfolio and the services offered. We would suggest trying out the associate membership if you are interested.

For contact details and much more information see www.goldenyearsholidays.com

GROUP20 is an exclusive members-only SuperCar Club that gives you access to some of the world?s most desirable and sought-after models.
Join GROUP20 and you can enjoy up to 60 days driving in our extensive range of high-performance SuperCars, including the elusive Pagani Zonda F Roadster (pictured above) and the exhilarating Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder.

Membership options start from ?7,950pa or 11 monthly installments of ?765 (plus one-off joining fee of ?2,050)for 30 days driving each year.

Alternatively, join as a group and pay as little as ?5,995pa or 10 monthly installments of ?599 each. Price is valid for a group of 4 or more people and entitles the group to 60 days driving each year.

The club also run exclusive social events and holidays for club members. Looks like an excellent opportunity to sample a lifestyle that would normally be out of reach for most people.

See www.grouptwenty.co.uk for more information.

Own a share in a holiday cottage in the lovely Cornish seaside town of St Ives.
The historic fishing port of St Ives is renowned for its cobbled streets, jumble of cottages together with its pretty working harbour. Over the years the town has become a prestigious holiday destination due to its charm and character not to mention its wide choice of sandy beaches which have recently become award winning blue flag beaches. The area has long been a mecca for artists and sculptors and potters with former residents being the late Barbara Hepworth, Bernard Leach and John Miller all of whom gained inspiration from the regions magical and sometimes mysterious ambience. For this reason too the area is regarded as the jewel in the crown and regarded as one of the countries foremost holiday destinations.

SITUATION: St Ives offers a mystical light and ambience that has become well known within the art industry with many famous artists taking full effect of this. The historic fishing port has become one of the UK’s foremost holidaying destinations due to its mild climate and award winning beaches. The town itself has now a cosmopolitan feel about it due to the diversity of highly regarded restaurants and galleries. With its mix and maze of winding cobbled streets St Ives now offers a vibrant local community. Truly a jewel in the Cornish crown this delightful Cornish town offers direct links into the home counties via the railway services and Newquay airport.

The total purchase cost will be approx ?250,000.

The actual property will be decided by those who have expressed an interest once enough interest has been expressed to make the fractional ownership scheme viable.

The fractional ownership will run for 5 complete years. At the end of this period the property will be sold and the value will be payed back to the fraction owners pro-rata based on the size of their fraction.

Time allocation will vary depending on the share-size that interested partners decide on. Treat the following as a guide:

Share size from ?5,000 to ?20,000. For each whole share of ?5,000 you will receive 1 week each year, the date of that week to be decided by lottery. For the remainder of your share the above rules will aplly.

Share size ?25,000 or above (maximum share size ?75,000). For each whole share of ?25,000 you will be able to choose weeks at the property from blocks as follows: 1 week from high season (typically school holidays), 2 weeks from mid season (Late Spring, Summer outside schoool holidays and early Autumn), and 3 weeks form the rest of the year. The initial order in which you get to choose your weeks will be decided by lottery, thereafter the order will rotate.

To register interest or as a question please email neil@thefractionaltimes.com