Bermuda is truly heaven sent

By Jane Slade
Posted: 2010/04/21

It is a haven for the rich and famous but now JANE SLADE discovers Bermuda is selling multimillion dollar homes for a fraction of the price

BERMUDA is the kind of fairytale island Shakespeare would have chosen to set A Midsummer Night's Dream or Twelfth Night's isle of Illyria. Peppered with sandy coves, low-rise houses with white limestone roofs designed to gather rainwater and little marinas, Bermuda is a magical utopia where even taxi drivers live in multi-million dollar homes and there is not the merest whiff of a shanty town.

Motorists meander at 20mph along narrow roads called Shinbone Alley, Sleepy Hollow Drive and Happy Talk Lane past scenic bays, tiny allotments of ornamental cabbages, along palm-fringed beaches, strutting wild cockerels and colonies of ice-cream coloured houses.

A stable government coupled with a first-world economy buoyed up by a thriving banking and insurance sector has ensured Bermuda's status as an exclusive refuge for the world's richest.

Bermuda has been colonised by wealthy British retirees and celebrities like Hollywood couple Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones and the Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Yet with modest condos priced at about £2million even super-rich second-home hunters are being cautious in the current market, which is why the fractional concept of dividing properties up between several owners, is proving popular.

The 200-acre coastal resort of Tucker's Point occupies the largest protected parcel of land on Bermuda, speckled with luxury homes, villas and apartments in between a golf course, hotel, spa and swimming pools.

Formerly owned by a British shipping company, the site was developed by Juan Trippe (founder of airline Pan Am) who has been succeeded by his son Edward, head of Bermuda Properties.

However, you won't get much change from £2million for outright ownership of a modest two-bedroomed townhouse or three-bedroomed condo, which are sold on 999-year leases.

Nor would you get much from £1.5million for a two-bedroomed golf course condo but fractional prices are less eye-watering. This is especially the case when you remove the sting of a 25 per cent government tax, which can add another £323,979 to your bill if you are foreign and buying a traditional island home.

Two-bedroomed condos at Tucker's Harbour Court cost £230,000 for a tenth portion and differ from the timeshare model in that every owner gets a deeded share of the property, as well as membership of the golf, beach and tennis club alued at £64,800.

The terrain at Tucker's Point is undulating so most properties have sea views and fractional buyers only have to stump up a 10 per cent government tax on a new home, which rises to 18 per cent for a resale.

9R CHRISTINE Lafferman, 55, originally from Reading in Berkshire and now living in the US city of Baltimore with her psychiatrist husband Jeffrey, 53, bought a two-bedroomed fractional apartment at the waterfront Harbour Court Residence Club to enjoy with their children Emily, 19, Matthew, 23 and Dan, 24.

"We have been 10 times in the past year, " says Christine, who moved to the US 26 years ago.

"Even though I am British and Bermuda is a British overseas territory we are still considered foreign so we don't get preferential treatment.

"However, we just love it because we don't have to do anything. Everything is done for us." Apart from being just a two-hour flight from Baltimore, it is also ideal for Christine's 84-year-old father who lives in Devon.

"Bermuda is like meeting half-way, " she adds.

Even though the couple are restricted to visiting five weeks a year, if the property or others of the same size are vacant they can come more often. All properties are spacious, fully furnished with large balconies, have granite work tops in the kitchen and solid wood floors in the sitting room and bedrooms.

"We even came just for dinner on Valentine's day because we were working, " says Christine.

Jeffrey is a keen golfer and daughter Emily loves the change of pace from college life.

It is also handy being near Tucker's Point Hotel with its spa and restaurant. "We think this will be a great investment and may even buy another in the children's names so they can benefit."

Owners also get to store personal equipment like snorkels, golf clubs, and in Christine's case a tea pot and box of PG tips.

Former government minister and president of the Bermuda Hotel Association Michael Winfield co-owns the oldest holiday resort on the island, the adult-only, 100-year-old Cambridge Beaches. Educated at London University, the father of five is considering building fractional cottages on his 30-acre peninsular plot and believes more hotels will offer fractional properties on their sites.

"It can only boost tourism, " he says.

"Bermuda is perfectly placed as an affluent community with people on the highest incomes in the world. It is a low tax, safe haven."

However, Bermuda's high prices have scared tourists away, particularly during the recession, which is why the colony is planning a campaign to tempt them back.

Rumours are circulating that the Four Seasons and Ritz Carlton hotel groups have been "sniffing around" for land, which can only enhance exclusivity and property prices.

Bermuda factbox
Tucker's Point has a variety of fractional homes for sale as well as outright properties sold on 999-year leases from £2million for a waterfront two-bedroomed town house on Harbour Drive rising to £2.7million for a four-bedroomed town house. Prices exclude 25 per cent foreign ownership tax.
Fractional properties cost from £200,875 for a tenth share of a two-bedroomed condo with five weeks usage.
(tuckerspoint.com, 001 441 298 6915)

Newstead Belmont Hills golf resort and spa has a variety of shared ownership properties for sale from £94,942, which includes £8,335 government tax.
(belmonthills.com, 001 441 236 6060)

Reefs Club in Southampton has 19 two and three-bedroomed beachfront residences with ocean views, outdoor decks and hot tubs.
Tenth fractionals from £226,717, plus 10 per cent government tax.
(reefsclub.com, 001 441 534 9135)

Ariel Sands, which is part-owned by actor Michael Douglas, comprises six villas on a 14-acre plot. A four-bedroomed property is for sale for £2.3million, excluding 25 per cent tax.
(regosothebysrealty.com, 001 441 292 3921)

Cambridge Beaches is an adults-only resort and spa on a 30-acre peninsular offering cottage suites and private marina.
(cambridgebeaches.com, 001 441 234 0331)

Prestige Holidays is offering seven nights at Tucker's Point in a superior room, excluding breakfast, with flights from Gatwick with British Airways and private transfers from £1,354 per person.
The price is based on two sharing and a November departure.
(prestigeholidays.co.uk, 01425 480 400)