As the Government gets ready to publish a list of pilot projects for Public Private Partnerships, the various ways to invest in property must be looked at. One vehicle which has proved very successful in the US is Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). REITs have become so popular in the US retail investment market that they have gone beyond pure property holdings and buy shares in property companies and derivatives of property investments. US REITs were constructed to provide wider ownership of property in the US. Now as PPP gets started in Ireland there may be a market for Irish REITs. At present, REITs are not hugely popular in Ireland. You can invest in property through a unit trust, which is regulated by the Unit Trust Act, through a partnership, which has a limit of 20 persons, through a holding company or by purchasing bonds secured on property. Complex tax laws and legalities restrict all of these methods and this is part of the reason why REITs are technically non-existant in the Irish retail investment market. Creation and speedy implementation of legislation may prove to be the making or breaking point in the potentially high growth market for Irish REITs.
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