A new era in the UK real estate industry started on 1 January 2007 when the tax advantaged Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) regime came into effect.

These investment vehicles – which have some obvious advantages for investors – are already popular in other countries, such as Japan and Australia, and have been part of the investment landscape in the US since 1960.

Analysts’ predicted that REITs would quickly find favour in the UK, and – as at the end of June 2008, 19 UK companies had converted to REIT status, while others were reportedly considering conversion. Currently, it’s been the traditional property investment companies that have made the move, but a broader spectrum of property owners, including pubs and hotels, are expected to follow.

Having been operating for over a year, property-owning companies must now recognise the need to meet stakeholders’ expectations in terms of performance and valuation, presenting useful data that is accurate and easy to understand. We consider the current key performance indicators (KPIs), used by REITs to inform stakeholders and investment analysts of the health of their companies. We looked at the most commonly published performance measures, but as we note later, not all of these are formally designated as KPIs by the companies themselves.

For further information, download our publication UK Real Estate Investment Trusts. (PDF, 101KB)