RBS to give property owners time to sort debt issues

LONDON, June 16 (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) Chief Executive Stephen Hester said on Tuesday the bank intends to give most of its commercial property customers time to work-out their debt issues rather than foreclose on assets.

"We intend to play a long game in helping customers work through their debt issues," Hester said in a speech at the British Property Federation's annual conference.

Hester, who had headed UK's second-biggest property firm British Land (BLND.L) before leaving last October for part-nationalised RBS, said his goal is for the UK government to have "zero stake" in the bank in five years.

Banks in the UK, burdened by a 225 billion pound ($368 billion) commercial property loan book, are expected to start a wave of repossessions later this year as the British recession cause more landlords to breach their loan terms. [ID:nLT433017] (Reporting by Daryl Loo; Editing by Andrew Macdonald) (See www.reutersrealestate.com for the global service for real estate professionals from Reuters)

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