Of bricks and tax breaks

摘要

Entomologists could hardly be more excited at the discovery of a new butterfly than Britain's property investors are at the introduction next year of Real-Estate Investment Trusts (REITS). Shares in quoted property companies, which just three years ago traded at an average discount to assets of 45%, now trade at a premium, according to Morgan Stanley, an investment bank. Much of that gain is due to the simple fact that, from next January, listed property companies will be allowed to turn themselves into reits and thereafter need never pay tax again.