A group of experts, carefully selected by the European Commission, will be challenged with finding out the advantages of allowing the sale of open-ended real estate funds across European Union Member state borders.
The group would have to take into consideration any existing regulations, for example tax treatment of real estate funds. Open-ended real estate funds are readily available in some member states, but they are restrictive, as they have to stay within the national markets and cannot be sold across borders.
Our view
Real Estate Investment Trusts have been available in certain European countries for sometime and have certainly been on the ‘debating table’ for just as long. They have only been available in the UK since the start of the year. The panel is expected to issue a report on this matter by mid 2008 and we expect the use of ‘real estate’ property funds to develop the housing market to become widespread.