Could the public sector's property empire be used to create a Real Estate Investment Trust?
This is one of the ideas being floated by the Lib Dems, who say this is among the proposals from the private sector to manage some of government's £370bn property portfolio.
Setting out the Lib Dem's strategy for cutting public debt in the recession, Treasury spokesman Dr Vince Cable said:
"There are proposals from the private sector to manage these assets more actively, helping the state to derive an income stream or capital value, using Real Estate Investment Trusts, for example."
Would this even work? Perhaps this blog's number-crunching, economist-baiting, credit-crunch-pondering colleague The Finance Blog can enlighten us.
