Welcome to the New Year edition of our Real Estate Update. In this issue, we consider the effect on the real estate industry of events in 2007 and then look forward to what 2008 holds in store on the legal front for landowners, developers, investors, occupiers and intermediaries alike.

As 2006 moved into 2007, the talk was of shortage of available supply, yield compression and expected rental growth. REITs, awaited and campaigned for in the UK since the 1960s, were introduced on 1 January 2007 and the prophets of doom were still very much in the minority. It is even now too early to assess the long term repercussions, but there is no doubt that 2007 certainly turned out to be an “interesting” year for everybody involved in commercial property.

I hope that you enjoy our New Year offering. If you want to discuss any of the issues raised in this update, please do not hesitate to contact any member of our real estate team who will be happy to answer any questions that you have. In the meantime, I wish you all a happy and prosperous 2008.

IMPORTANT: This Update is only intended as a general statement and no action should be taken in reliance on it without specific legal advice.

• REITs
• The Ban on Smoking in Public Places
• Prudential Assurance Company Limited v PRG Powerhouse Limited
• The effect of the Sub-Prime Mortgage Defaults in the US Housing Market
• Planning Gain Supplement
• Community Infrastructure Levy
• Supplementary Business Rates
• REITs – Further Disappointment
• Development of Brownfield Sites: Changes to Tax Incentives
• Empty Property Rates Relief
• Energy Performance Certificates
• Goodbye to the Law of Distress; Hello to CRAR
• Corporate Manslaughter Act 2007
• Real Estate Team