Brixton chief executive Tim Wheeler has attacked the government’s plans for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs).
Speaking at the Shed Show in Newport this morning, he said that REITs “had probably been mucked up beyond redemption” by the Treasury.
“It will be a compromise, and it will fail”, he added.
Excessive restrictions and conversion charges meant that “the government’s greed was about to kill the golden goose.”
He expressed sympathy with the views of Martin Barber, who argued on Monday that few companies would want to convert to REITs under the regime under consideration.
Citigroup consultant Alan Carter, speaking on the same platform, argued that “the industry has not done a good job in selling REITs to the Treasury.
“But if the Treasury doesn’t give the industry what it wants, it will lose the opportunity for revenue.”
“The industry really needs to explain to the government exactly how much money could be raised if it gets this right.”
It was also in the government’s interest to ensure that property funds were moved from offshore locations into more regulated markets.
But earlier in the conference, ProLogis global CEO Jeff Schwartz argued that the US REIT regime was precisely why his company had grown from state-level minnow to global distribution giant.
It had provided ProLogis with access to equity and tax benefits that had enabled it to expand quickly, improve its investment grade and attract talent.
He said the proposed UK system was “not all that bad” and “very similar to the US”.
“The regulations are sensible”, he added.
References: EGi News 09/02/06
