Property companies 'have hijacked' REITS debate
Schroders falls out of line in saying that companies are taking over debate
Property companies have hijacked the REITS debate, the Association of Real
Estate Funds has said.
The property industry has been complaining that the tax rules for the new
trusts are too restrictive to allow the schemes to take off.
But William Hill, head of property at Schroders and the author of the AREF
submission on the trusts, is reported as saying in the FT today: ‘This won’t
make me popular, but I stand by the fact that the debate has been hijacked by
the desire for the REIT rules to be written in such a way that it allows quoted
property companies to convert.
‘The more important thing is to insure we get an investment that can be sold
successfully to the marketplace.’
Other big property investors are quoted as saying that, contrary to the
listed property companies objections, the trusts are likely to take off in the
current form.