Scottish Widows has announced that investors will have to wait up to 180 days to withdraw money from their £2.1 billion property pension funds.

It makes it the latest fund manager attempting to stem the flow of panicking investors rapidly pulling out of property funds due to falling property prices severely affecting their value, the Financial Times reports.

Up to 2,000 policy holders could be affected by the move should they request withdrawals, transfers or switches, the report continues.

The rapid nature of the downturn is illustrated by the fact that, in 2006, Scottish Widows were forced to place restrictions on investment into the fund after receiving a heavy influx of cash.

Commenting on the amount of money leaving the funds, Mark Dampier of investment adviser Hargreaves Lansdown, warned: “It is only a matter of time before funds get run down again unless something changes.”

Scottish Widows have maintained that they believe the benefits of investing in property remain “fully intact”.

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