The value of the UK’s commercial property stock reached an all-time high of £871bn in 2015, representing 10% of the UK’s net wealth, a new report from the Property Industry Alliance (PIA) has revealed.

This is an 11% increase on the 2014 value and has been driven by higher rents as well as the prices investors were willing to pay for a given rent. PIA chair Bill Hughes said: “To put this in context, at £871bn, commercial property’s value is the equivalent of 40% of the value of the UK stock market and almost half the value of UK government gilts.”

The report also reveals that:

• Commercial property represents 13% of the built environment (total value of around £6.5trn)
• The property industry contributed around £68bn to the UK economy last year – 4.1% of the total UK economy
• The commercial property industry directly employs almost one million people – one in every 35 jobs in the UK.

Hughes added: “This report demonstrates the property sector’s fundamental importance to the UK’s economy in providing an attractive asset class for investors of all sizes. However, we would like to see more connectivity in planning for property and infrastructure investment.”