LOBBYISTS for the commercial property industry are to warn the Treasury that proposed new tax-efficient investment vehicles for the real estate sector must not be strangled with red tape, The Times has learnt.
In a draft response to a government consultation paper on the issue, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the British Property Federation and the Investment Property Forum, call on ministers to allow maximum operational flexibility for the vehicles, arguing that there should be no restriction on debt levels or property development activity.
The industry bodies also call on the Government to allow the vehicles to be either listed or unlisted and for them to be free to invest overseas.
The lobbyists also urge the Government not to set at too high a level a planned conversion charge for establishing one of the new vehicles.
The Government said in this year’s Budget that it was considering bringing in a new property investment vehicle similar to US real estate investment trusts (Reits), if it can devise a structure that is at least tax-neutral for the Treasury.
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The Government is keen on an investment vehicle to offer savers a way to invest in property that is safer than buy-to-let properties. Ministers expect the new vehicles to encourage professional investment in private rented housing.