Property fund structures

It is common for large real estate investment transactions to have structured aspects to them, eg the properties being purchased may be held in a company, unit trust, partnership or another vehicle. The buyer may decide to acquire the relevant structured vehicle (rather than the property) and then hold the property through it. Alternatively, several investors may wish to invest together to acquire and/or develop property, and set up a joint venture structure or investment fund, often with separate management agreements appointing specialists to manage the property. See Precedents: Short form property management agreement and Long form property management agreement.

This topic sets out the more common structures for holding property for investment or development purposes.

For detailed tax guidance on property funds, see: Property holding structures and tax—overview and Tax on property funds—overview. For real estate finance aspects of financing property investment, see: Methods of investing in real estate—overview.

For further guidance on funds generally, see the Funds Toolkit and in particular Funds Toolkit—Property funds and JVs.

Property funds

Property funds come in many different guises. In each case, however, their primary purpose is to facilitate

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