Cryptic crossword clue
Acquiring shopping area by hospital, joins property owners 12

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 12 letter word SMALLHOLDERS

I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
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Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "property owners" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case property owners = smallholders.
The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.
This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.

What does SMALLHOLDERS mean?

SMALLHOLDERS noun
  1. A person who owns or runs a smallholding.
  2. A small slaveholder, a person who owns a smallholding.

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