Job market information
Finding out about property and planning
The property and planning industry is part of the facilities management, housing, cleaning and support services, and parking sector, represented by Asset Skills Sector Skills Council. The sector workforce, which has continued to grow since 1998, represents 3% of the total UK workforce.
The property and planning industry covers both the private and public sectors and includes: acquiring, planning, surveying and valuing of commercial and residential property; plus valuing, selling, letting and managing of commercial and residential property.
Key facts:
- The property and planning industry includes key areas of commercial and residential sales and lettings and property management.
- There are 155,300 people working in the property industry in 37,200 companies.
- There are significantly more full‐time than part‐time employees in the industry.
- 96% of all housing and property organisations have 10 or less employees.
Jobs in the industry include: estate agent; letting agent; surveyor; town planner; auctioneer; residential property or block manager; domestic energy assessor; and emerging jobs such as commercial energy assessor, housing energy adviser and community energy adviser.
Entry and progression
There are a range of industry endorsed courses, apprenticeships and training schemes for those wishing to enter the industry or change career. For instance, there is a range of degree courses in estate management, building surveying or other related areas.
For certain occupations in the industry, such as surveying, a degree is normally required. Surveying involves a high level of numeracy. To get chartered status, degrees must be accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
Other jobs in property, such as estate agency, do not always require formal qualifications and there are examples of people moving into the property industry from other occupations later in their careers.
For job specific entry requirements, take a look at our job profiles.
Workforce statistics
| Number of UK employees: |
155,300 |
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| Number of UK employers: |
37,200 |
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| Gender: |
46% male |
54% female |
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| Age: |
8% of the workforce is aged 16‐24 years |
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| 21% 25‐34 years |
| 27% 35‐44 years |
| 24% 45‐54 years |
| 20% 55 years and over |
| 12% of the workforce report having a disability. |
| 95% of the workforce is white. |
| 25% of the workforce has attained a below NVQ level 2 qualification, 17% NVQ level 2 and 58% NVQ level 3 and above. |
[N.B. Data are for housing and property industries combined. Data derived from Annual Population Survey, 2008.]
Employment trends and future prospects
Currently, the recession is having a significant impact on jobs within the property and planning industry. There is increased demand on both the social rented and the private renting markets. The social rented sector is receiving higher levels of Government funding in an effort to offset the downturn in the sales market.
The property market hit rock bottom in 2009 and this has been followed by slow growth, but an upturn of 25% in prices is forecast by 2013. The drop in demand in the sales market has increased demand for higher skilled estate agents to deal with challenging market conditions.
It is estimated that almost half of the 80,000 estate agents who were in work 18 months ago have now been made unemployed. This has had a significant impact on associated occupations, leading to further job losses for valuers and surveyors.
The Carsberg Review 2008 recommends licensing for estate agents. This will result in a substantial increase in demand for qualified estate agents.
Skill requirements and shortages
Across the industry, strong customer service skills, an ability to work on your own and excellent communication skills are required.
Occupational trends
The majority of occupations across the property industry are concentrated within managers and senior officials, professional occupations, associate professionals and technical occupations, and sales and customer service occupations.
Recruitment difficulties face certain parts of the industry and there is an urgent need to recruit property managers. The transfer of sellers into the lettings market has increased the need for skilled staff to deal with lettings legislation and demand. In addition, there is an on‐going need to recruit and retain residential property or block managers (those who manage the services to residential buildings).
Prior to the recession, there was a shortfall of planning professionals, particularly in the South East and London. Although this is currently not the case, there are concerns that when the property market recovers, there will be a skills gap.
Energy assessing could be an alternative job role for those in the property industry.
National and regional data
The following provides a breakdown of the number of property sector employees in each of the Nations and English regions.
| East Midlands |
9,400 |
Nearly half (46%) of the property sector workforce in the East Midlands is aged over 50. A higher than average proportion is employed on a part‐time basis (43%) |
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| East Of England |
13,100 |
A significant proportion of the property sector workforce in the East of England is male (53%) and employed on a full‐ time basis (85%) |
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| London |
29,500 |
London is the largest employer of the property sector in England (19%). A significant proportion of employment is full‐time (81%), and a large proportion of the workforce is black and ethnic minorities (17%) |
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| North East |
6,300 |
The North East employs the smallest proportion of the property sector workforce across the English regions (4%) |
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| North West |
14,400 |
The North West employs 9% of the property sector workforce in England. A significant proportion of the workforce is female (61%) |
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| South East |
26,500 |
After London, the South East region is the second highest employer of the property sector (17%) |
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| South West |
15,200 |
The South West employs a significantly higher proportion of males (51%) compared to the workforce across England. 98% of the workforce is white |
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| West Midlands |
15,100 |
The West Midlands accounts for 10% of the property sector workforce in England. |
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| Yorkshire & The Humber |
11,000 |
Compared with other English regions, a significant proportion of the workforce is female (64%) and the majority is white (98%) |
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| Northern Ireland |
* |
A significant proportion of the property sector workforce in Northern Ireland is female (66%) and the majority (58%) of the workforce is aged between 20‐29 years |
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| Scotland |
9,400 |
Scotland employs 6% of the total UK property sector workforce. Women make up 60% of employees, 98% of the workforce is white, with the majority employed on a full‐time basis (81%) |
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| Wales |
4,600 |
Wales employs 3% of the total UK property sector workforce. The majority, (60%) of the workforce is female and 99% of the workforce is white. Compared to the UK, high proportions are employed on a part‐time basis (36%) |
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Source: Annual Population Survey, Housing and Property Labour Market Intelligence Update, Asset Skills, 2008
* Due to a low sample base this figure is excluded.
Salary levels
Some suggested salary ranges for those working in the industry include:
- Domestic Energy Assessor £16,000 ‐ £22,000
- Estate Agent £10,000 ‐ £40,000 plus
- Auctioneer £18,000 ‐ £40,000
- Block Manager £28,000 ‐ £40,000 plus
- Surveyor £25,000 ‐ £40,000 plus
- Town Planner £25,000 ‐ £40,000 plus
Career paths
Further sources
Produced Sept 2010, using Asset Skills AACS LMI report (Jun 2010)
