UK ‘dominating’ Europe’s surge in private wealth real estate investment

The UK has ‘surged’ ahead of its European counterparts to remain the top destination for private wealth in commercial real estate across the continent, analysis from JLL has shown.

Total global private wealth investment in commercial real estate rose by 11 per cent in 2025, while the UK saw a 66 per cent year-on-year increase.

Private investors put more than €10.1bn into UK commercial property last year, an increase of around €5bn from 2024.

London was the top European destination for private wealth inflows into real estate, more than doubling its volume from €2.5bn to €5.2bn over the year.

Paris was in second place with €2.2bn of sales in 2025, although this was down from €2.6bn the previous year.

Meanwhile, Oxford broke into the top 10 European cities for private wealth real estate investment for the first time, overtaking Amsterdam and attracting more than €800m in private capital from Oracle co-founder, Larry Ellison.

Improving confidence in the office sector drove office investments from private wealth up by 34 per cent year-on-year to €13bn in Europe.

Private investors accounted for 19.7 per cent of all EMEA commercial real estate activity in 2025, above the 10-year average and ahead of the global figure of 15.4 per cent, according to JLL.

Overall, private wealth investment in European commercial real estate rose by 10 per cent last year to nearly €43bn.

However, there was a stark contrast between high-growth regions and traditional core hubs.

"Europe is punching well above its weight in private activity,” commented JLL head of private wealth EMEA, Joseph Von Maltzahn.

“The allure of gateway cities like London, Paris, and Milan remains undisputed because they act as both a preserver of wealth and a generator of value through the repositioning of quality assets.

“Interestingly in the UK it is not just London that is catching the eye of private investors with many of the regional cities seeing significant acquisitions.

"Over 38 per cent of our larger transactions across EMEA last year involved private clients from over 25 different nations on either the sell-side or buy-side.

“While offices led the charge, the interest in hotels and retail was equally impressive. "

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