Broadening the appeal of the UK-REIT regime

Almost 15 years ago I penned an article for Taxation magazine which critiqued the introduction of the UK real estate investment trust (REIT) regime (‘REIT on!’ 19 January 2006 page 391). It is a pleasure to revisit this topic in the same publication.

The UK-REIT legislation came into being on 1 January 2007 and the intervening years have seen the regime successfully establish itself as an accepted route for UK property investment. In so doing the regime has in the main justified the ambitions set for it by investors capital markets HMRC and the authors of the Barker Review of Housing Supply. This article reviews the changes that could be instituted to the regime to broaden its appeal and to accelerate growth of what has developed into a familiar and successful investment medium.

HMRC’s recent consultation on the tax treatment of asset holding...