Overseas investors have overtaken UK institutions to become the largest owners of UK commercial property for the first time.
New data from the Property Industry Alliance found that the value of portfolios held by overseas owners has grown by 129% over the last decade to £94bn.
The increase means that overseas investors now own 24% of all commercial property in the UK, the Property Data Report 2014 revealed, with three-quarters of this investment in London.
By contrast the total owned by UK institutions fell by 16% over the decade to £75bn, representing just under one-fifth of the £385bn invested in commercial buildings.
Sir Robert Finch, chairman of the Property Industry Alliance, said: “The annual Property Data Report is an invaluable resource which sets out clearly key facts about commercial property and shows the crucial role it plays in the UK’s economy.
“Aside from its contribution to the economy, which the report shows to be sizeable, the commercial property industry is also a platform for virtually all the country’s other major industries and a significant contributor to the financing of retirement. Its attractiveness to investors from both the UK and overseas is therefore to be welcomed.”
