ABSTRACT
CommercialRE refers to all properties (including landplots)meant either to generate an actual (rather than imputed) rental income (the standard case) or to be sold for profit or capital gain, now or, potentially, in the future. Residential properties fall loosely (and elusively) into this category when they are built by developers for sale to the general public – but fall out of this category when they are actually bought by occupiers (even if many of those subsequently sell the residence and realize a capital gain). The reason is that in the vast majority of cases residential properties are bought mostly for consumption rather than investment purposes (although both motives are certainly present). Reita, an initiative run by the British Property Federation (www.bpf.org.uk/en/reita/index.php), defines commercial property as ‘property that’s intended to produce a financial return for its owner by being used or occupied by businesses’, but this definition ignores, for example, what is referred to as ‘multi-family’ commercial property in the USA.
