There have been calls once again for Chancellor Gordon Brown to use his Budget on Wednesday (16th March) to move forward with long-awaited plans to protect and encourage UK investment in commercial property, by introducing the proposed tax-saving property investment funds - known as REITs.

Experts estimate that the ownership of over £20bn of property assets has been shifted overseas since the start of 2004, mostly from investors looking to avoid the 4% tax on the value of onshore property investors property.

Vijay Thakrar, a tax partner in the Nottingham office of Ernst & Young, says: "Stamp duty has quadrupled over four Budgets to 4% on gross value for all major transactions, leading to huge tax bills. Consequently large property investors are avoiding this the tax by shifting assets offshore. The Government has a real chance to halt this trend by creating legislation for PIFs that will be both workable and welcomed by the property sector."