A London-based property company that owns and manages GP surgeries and other primary care buildings across the UK and Ireland, mostly leased to doctors and funded through the NHS.
Primary Health Properties, usually called PHP, owns and looks after buildings where people see their GP and other local health professionals. It is a REIT, which is a type of company that owns property and earns rent. Founder Harry Hyman noticed that GPs in Britain are independent contractors whose rent is reimbursed through the NHS, which makes the NHS the ultimate source of that income. PHP provides the buildings to GP practices and manages them, including building maintenance and talking to GPs and others about rent. By 2017, around 90% of its rent was from the NHS, with most of the rest from pharmacies.
PHP was set up in the mid-1990s: Wikipedia says it was incorporated in 1995 and floated in 1996, and an interview describes Mr Hyman founding it in 1994. It listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1998 and became a REIT when the UK introduced that status in 2007. Mr Hyman's stated aim is to improve the health of the population in Britain and Ireland. He argued in a 2023 interview for purpose-built hub centres with about 20 doctors, 100 healthcare professionals and a range of therapies, so that fewer people need hospital care. He stepped down as chief executive in 2024, with Mark Davies succeeding him.
The company's head office is in London, and its buildings are across England, Scotland and Wales, as well as in Ireland, including Dublin sites. Wikipedia says it has over 1,000 properties as at June 2025. In 2025 it agreed a merger with Assura, which is based in Altrincham in Greater Manchester and owns more than 600 buildings, mostly GP premises; the UK competition authority cleared the deal in October 2025. We could not confirm from the pages we read whether the merger has completed or how the teams are organised now.
We found no first-party material on culture or employee numbers, so we cannot describe what it is like to work there. The business is likely to be run by a small expert team, since the buildings themselves are looked after by tenants and by outside managers. The mission to support local healthcare may suit people who want property work with a clear public purpose.
Roles in a company like this include investment and acquisitions staff, who find and buy new surgeries, development and asset managers, who look after buildings and relationships with GP practices, finance and accounting teams, legal staff, and sustainability specialists. Surveying, economics, finance, law and healthcare management backgrounds all fit. The company's website is the place to find current vacancies and to see how the merged business is organised.
Website: www.phpgroup.co.uk
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