Press release

Survey of practice-based doctors: One in ten considering relocating their practice

• Shopping centres and office buildings as possible locations
• Catchment area and accessibility the most important criteria for choice of practice areas

About one in ten practice-based doctors are considering relocating their practice in the next 24 months. This was revealed by an online survey conducted by the opinion research institute Civey on behalf of Commerz Real in July 2020. For 44.2 per cent of the somewhat more than 200 respondents, relocation to a shopping centre or office building would be a viable option. “This confirms our strategy of increasingly acquiring doctors and medical services as tenants in our centres,” comments Jens Böhnlein, Global Head of Asset Management at Commerz Real. Projected for the total of 116,330 practice-based doctors in Germany (source: statistics on doctors from the German Medical Association as of 31.12.2019) this would mean that nearly 13,000 doctors were interested in a new practice and about 51,400 in areas in shopping centres or office buildings.

The most important criteria in the selection of a practice location are the patient catchment area and the accessibility of the practice (42.8 per cent), the rent as a ratio of the total floor area (32.2 per cent), a prestigious location (26.5 per cent) as well as benefits thanks to the proximity to other medical facilities (25.9 per cent). Of less importance according to the survey are the absolute rent (12.4 per cent) and the architecture of the building (15.7 per cent). In contrast, 17.5 per cent would like to be able to use the areas in a flexible manner.