OK, this might sound a bit obscure if you’re not in the know, but let me tell you what it’s all about and why it’s important. A ‘Real Estate Investment Trust’ is a company which invests in property and raises money by selling its shares on the stockmarket. What makes this one different is that the properties it owns have been bought or built as social housing, let via housing associations and charities; the brave new world of privatised homes for the disadvantaged, which would, in days gone by, have been provided and funded by the state and local councils. The company is in trouble, investors want money out, interest on its borrowings has increased and, surprise surprise, many poorer tenants can’t afford to pay their rent. So it will have to sell properties and quite possibly boot out those who can least afford to be booted out. More privatisation chickens home to roost. I’d say.
“Brokers respond to Money Box presenter’s comments on finding a broker”
According to Paul Lewis of the BBC’s MoneyBox programme, to get a good deal,you should go to a big, national company, rather than a broker ‘over the local cab shop in the high street’.
