Members of the Association of Real Estate Funds (AREF), the British Property Federation (BPF) and the Investment Property Forum (IPF) have voted in favour of creating a single, merged trade body for the UK real estate sector.
In a joint statement, the three organisations announced that Real Estate UK (RE:UK) would launch on 1 January 2026 as a “unified convenor and voice for the whole of the UK real estate sector”, representing institutional and private investors, property companies, developers, asset owners, managers and advisers.
All members of AREF who voted supported the merger, while 99.5% and 92% of BPF and IPF members who voted, respectively, voted in favour.
In November last year, the three organisations announced they were in discussions to create a larger, merged representative body.
The chairs of AREF, BPF and IPF will work together to appoint a chair and CEO to lead the first board.
Anne Breen, chair of AREF, said: “The response from the memberships of AREF, BPF and IPF has been overwhelmingly positive and a strong endorsement of our vision for a single, amplified voice for the real estate sector.”
Simon Carter, president of BPF, said: “I am delighted that BPF members have expressed their overwhelming support for the creation of RE:UK. I look forward to working with AREF and IPF over the next few months to turn our shared vision for a new powerful body for the sector into reality.”
Clare Thomas, chair of IPF, said: “On behalf of the IPF board, I would like to thank IPF members for taking the time to consider the proposal and then giving the merger their strong support.
“This is the culmination of significant work across all three organisations, and we look forward to the launch of RE UK in 2026 as an important step forward for the real estate industry.”
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