Career Focus - Commercial property

Check out the pay, prospects, players and key talking points of careers in Property 2007-8.

The Pay

Useful link(s)
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
Association of Women in Property
National Association of Estate Agents


• Now on a par with accountants and architects – if you’re chartered
  Chartered Surveyors’ salaries now measure up favourably to those of accountants and architects. Having ‘chartered’ in front of your job title apparently adds 8% on average to earnings. The average salary for those working in chartered surveying across all disciplines is £50.6k (compared to £39k for non-qualified professionals).
• Above-inflation pay rise
  The average increase in property salaries in 2006 was 6.6% - didn’t quite top the huge 10.9% hike of the previous year, but is a much more significant figure than average salary, as it reflects a generic trend. Why lower than last year? Apparently, because the average age of respondents this year was slightly lower (38 vs 40) than last year, and the survey also included more people from outside the UK.

The pay tracker
RICS 2007 property salary survey


• So… come on – who earns the most?
  Highest average earners are in property finance, fund management and corporate property consultancy. And the lowest? Rural practice, building surveying and building control – sorry, folks!

The propspects

• Have qualification, can’t travel
  The surveying profession is currently facing something of an identity crisis, it seems that what it means to be a ‘surveyor’ differs in different countries! Professional valuers in the UK, for instance, often combine the roles of valuation advice and estate agency, which is traditionally unacceptable to professional valuers in some other countries. Some of the tasks typically carried out by building surveyors in the UK, meanwhile, are often the preserve of architects within certain EU countries.
• Anyone need a home inspector?
  Now that the HIP hype has died down, and the HIP (home inspection packs) have been slimmed down, it would seem the Home Certification Inspectors Board’s predicted demand for up to 7,500 home inspectors, might be a little off the mark …
• Does low 'chartered' numbers spell high 'unchartered' fees?
  It would seem not. Anyone hoping that the shortage of chartered surveyors would result in higher fees for the rest of us should think again. It seems that the growing number of ‘unqualified’ surveyors is keeping competition in the non-chartered sector high, and therefore non-chartered fees low.

THE TALKING POINTS

Good places to network
Women in property
National Estate Agency Forums
RICS Scotland lunchtime CPD talks


• Anyone spotted any women?
  RICS has found that, of the 95,000 chartered surveyors working worldwide, only 10% are female and, in some areas, such as construction, this figure is even lower. Things are supposed to be changing – RICS has set up the Raising the ratio taskforce to help break down barriers to recruitment and retention of women.
• A surveying skills shortage?
  It’s the way the profession is set up, critics claim – private firms are reluctant to take on a new surveying graduate as they need to invest/wait at least three years before they can earn any real fees from them. This is because they are usually still working towards their professional qualification, so annual intake is very low. At the other end of the profession, there’s also a shortage of surveying technicians, in large part (say critics) due to the withdrawal of educational institutions from sub-degree level professional education.

The Players
Shortlisted finalists for the RICS 2007 Surveying Awards
Estate Agent of the Year 2007


• The relevance of RICS
  The rumblings about RICS are getting louder. Since it doesn’t recognise the academic qualifications gained from the majority of UK universities, professionals claim it is limiting the market for recruits. And rumour has it that some of the courses it doesn’t recognise produce ...erm… better skilled employees.