Property is often viewed as a rock-solid investment.

Memories have faded, somewhat, of the property crash of the early 1990s, which saw many homes repossessed. Direct investment into commercial property is beyond the means of most, but hope is on the horizon.

On January 1, a new and potentially robust investment shareholder will come into the world and already the commercial midwives are busily painting the nursery.

Real Estate Investment Trusts will be Stock Exchange listed companies investing solely in property; they are likely to have a huge impact and provide a major new route for investing in property.

The question, of course, is whether, as they might say in Yorkshire, they really will be a reit good investment. They were first launched in the Netherlands about 25 years ago, while the US introduced them in the early 1990s after a sharp collapse in property prices - they really happen, notwithstanding people's extraordinarily short memories - and they are also already in operation in Belgium, Greece and France.

Reits will be heavily regulated. Exempt from corporation and capital gains tax, Reits will be required to distribute 90 per cent of their net profits. Not only is this a potentially generous incentive to the income seeker, this requirement will also be a big deterrent to these companies from making what might be described as enthusiastic purchases. Only 25 per cent of any company's business can be in development and, in addition, the property must be held for at least three years post-development. As a result, some "dealing and development" property companies will be specifically excluded. No individual shareholder will be permitted to own more than ten per cent of the company, which could kibosh some prospective proposition as well.

Even so, there is little doubt that most of the existing eight quoted property companies, including the likes of Land Securities and Slough Estates, will become Reits, and there may be other potential candidates. The retail sector, for example, may well look hard at the idea of releasing value from within its own estate, although the ten per cent shareholder rule might be a major obstacle.

It is likely that Reits will develop into specialist areas, concentrating, perhaps, on the retail, or sheds, or office blocks, which will mean that the investor will have the opportunity to buy into a quoted concept aimed at a specific sector of the property market and managed for the purpose of generating income.

German Reits could also be worth considering. Germany is potentially the largest property market in Europe, but only four per cent of German property is publicly listed, and this is because 65 per cent of Germany plc owns its own property infrastructure, including housing for its workforce. Once the Reit legislation comes into law, this market could be transformed. Instead of looking for that run-down gite in France, or a schloss in Bavaria, prospective investors in European property might be better advised to consider a German Reit, providing access into a market which is really in its infancy.

However, as always, any prospect should be interrogated thoroughly, and responsible advice sought. There is also, I am afraid, the possibility that Gordon Brown, as he did with Sipps, appalled that Reits might actually be an enormous success, will evoke the actions of Herod and attempt to extinguish these property first borns. It could an interesting few months.