“What exactly is it that you do?”

It’s a question that will be all too familiar to anyone working in real estate. Readers, I’m sure, will be armed with plenty of words to describe your vocation and sector to friends, family and neighbours: built environment, real estate, real assets, investment, infrastructure and so on. The penny usually drops when you say property. “Ah! Property!” is the usual response, swiftly followed by: “So, you’re an estate agent! Where do you think house prices are headed?”

I say this partly in jest, but it exposes a fundamental flaw in the built environment’s ability to communicate coherently. Data compiled by The Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggests that 1.3% of all land in the UK is designated as residential, a figure dwarfed by commercial stock which accounts for 7.4% of that total. Multiple studies have suggested that we spend 90% of our time inside buildings – yet commercial real estate fails to register in the consciousness of the UK public in the same way as housing.

This matters as it presents real estate with a serious perception problem. If you stopped 100 people on a regional high street and asked them “what is a landlord?” answers would vary from “Mr. Monopoly” to other replies unsuitable to a family chronicle. Would any one respondent volunteer that the success of commercial landlords can affect pension returns?

This perception challenge isn’t a new one. Perhaps only the weather challenges housing as the most common conversation topic among the UK public. Yet regeneration and the impact of commercial buildings fails to resonate beyond our sector.