AREF Newsletter - January 2026
We’re pleased to share our January round-up of the latest AREF news, including a CEO update from Paul Richards, key developments across Real Estate:UK, highlights from Vision 2026, and upcoming events, guidance and policy activity.
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CEO Update from Paul Richards
Real Estate:UK is taking shape. Paul outlines what’s already under way, what’s coming next, and how members will benefit from new events, wider reach and closer collaboration across the sector.
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AREF Funds: Leading in Governance
Following the launch of the 2026 Charter earlier this month, we’d like to congratulate those AREF funds that have already completed self-certification. By meeting the Charter’s standards, these funds demonstrate a strong commitment to governance, transparency and operational best practice, and can display the AREF Quality Mark 2026 as a visible mark of investor confidence. You can view the funds who have submitted their compliance by clicking the link below.
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New Real Estate:UK Website
Phase one of the new website is now live, giving us an early platform to showcase initiatives such as RE:Futures and our flagship events. From April, we’ll begin rolling out the full site, with further enhancements designed to improve the member experience.
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New RE:UK LinkedIn Page
RE:UK has launched its new LinkedIn page. Follow the page to stay connected as the next chapter for the UK real estate sector takes shape.
The AREF LinkedIn page will continue to run as normal, sharing AREF news, events and member updates alongside the new RE:UK channel.
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Vision 2026 – The Outlook for the Year Ahead
It was great to see so many AREF members come together last week at M&G for Vision 2026. The annual event kicked off the year with informed debate on the macro-economic outlook and market expectations. A keynote and panel discussion offered valuable perspectives on sector trends and investor sentiment. The full write-up, slides and event recording are now available.
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Latest News
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09 Dec 2025
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FCA - Fund Liquidity Risk Management
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The FCA are consulting until 23 February 2026 on enhancing fund liquidity risk management. Members contributions are welcome to AREF's response.
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18 Dec 2025
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Liquidity Management
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View a summary on the policy work being undertaken by regulators and governments on funds' liquidity management.
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06 Jan 2026
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Construction Industry Scheme
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Find out here more about the legislative changes the Government are making from 6 April 2024 to reform the Construction Industry Scheme.
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08 Jan 2026
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DC Pensions: Value for Money Framework
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Find out more here about the work by the UK Government, FCA and TPR on a Value for Money Framework for DC pension schemes.
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Public Policy Activity
AREF is busy engaging with regulators and government to ensure they hear the voice of the real estate industry when determining policy. We always welcome members participation; particularly to consultation response.
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Upcoming Events
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Upcoming Partner Events
As we move towards Real Estate:UK, our events programme is becoming increasingly joined up. Alongside AREF’s own events, our partner associations - BPF, IPF and UKPA - have a full programme planned for 2026. Our Events Calendar 2026 PDF brings together events from across all the associations in one place and will be updated regularly throughout the year. Visit our events page to view the full programme and download the calendar.
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AREF Partner Event: TOK26 – The London Tokenisation Summit
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29 January | Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington:
AREF is delighted to be a Partner of TOK26: The London Tokenisation Summit, a leading institutional forum examining the economic, regulatory and technological evolution of tokenisation across traditional and digital financial systems.
Spaces are still available for tomorrow’s event, with a limited number of complimentary or discounted places for AREF members.
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Missed an AREF event?
You can catch up with our events by reading the write-up, watching the recording or listening to the podcasts for all our recent events. View the latest ones in the list below, or click the button to view all.
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Post-Event Materials
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AREF Guidance
Did you know? Our website offers a fabulous range of guidance available to AREF members. From best practice recommendations to insightful resources, our member hub is a treasure trove of support—do explore it and make the most of what’s on offer!
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New Committee Members
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We'd like to welcome our newest committee members:
Residential Investment Committee: Ann Xu (CBRE) and Corporate Governance Committee: Marc Harris (Vistra), Alison Riddle (Osborne Clarke) and Holly Perry (Greenberg Traurig).
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AREF Committee Updates
Did you know you can read all about what the AREF Committees have been working on recently?
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Committee Vacancies
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We actively encourage all members to get involved with the association. Click to view the current vacancies on AREF committees.
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Follow us on LinkedIn
We would encourage all members to follow us on LinkedIn. Please 'like' and 'share' our posts to help spread news of the good work AREF is doing.
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We can share your Articles and White Papers
We welcome any interesting articles, research, or white papers from our members and would be glad to share them across our channels.
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AREF's History
Read about the history of AREF from its launch in the 1970s as The Association of Property Unit Trusts to what it is today, written by our very own Rachel Portlock, AREF's Head of Research.
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AREF in the Press!
Read press articles from this month, featuring AREF
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Industry Initiatives
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Training & Events from Diversity Talks Real Estate (DTRE)
DTRE is offering 10% member discount to AREF members on their upcoming training courses using promo code PARTNERTEN.
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Know someone who would benefit from FutureGen?
Encourage colleagues to join the network to receive updates on upcoming events and initiatives. We currently have over 700 FutureGen members.
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The Association of Real Estate Funds (AREF) is the body that represents the interests of its fund managers, those firms that advise and support them and the end-investors. For further information, please visit our website.
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