General election will unlock activity, says REI boss

Midlands-based REIT Real Estate Investors is preparing for a return to major investment activity following the 4 July general election. Chief executive Paul Bassi said: “Although private investors and special purchasers continue to invest, we anticipate that the market for larger property investment transactions will pick up once interest rates decrease and this year’s general election concludes.” His comments came as the REIT updated on trading across its portfolio. REI said it had completed around £5.4m of sales since the end of its financial year at 31 December 2023 and had a number of further properties that had exchanged and were set to complete subject to deferred completions, vacant possession and change of use/planning consents.  The REIT said it was retaining its larger assets for income and would look to sell those assets once it sees an improvement in pricing and investor appetite. “The portfolio is continuously subject to active asset management, which provides quality assets for disposal as part of our strategic sales programme and increases occupancy, revenue and capital values,” said Bassi. “We remain focused on sales and debt reduction and have a strong sales pipeline in legals. The key objective of the board is to deliver on the stated strategy of an orderly sales programme to maximise the return of capital to shareholders.”