About the property sector

The property sector is ideal if you want to work in a fast-moving industry where each day is different, and the projects you are involved in can be used and enjoyed by thousands of people.

Often, people think of housing when it comes to the property sector. However, there are many different areas:

• Residential: such as houses, and flats
• Commercial: such as offices, shops, and industrial estates
• Public sector: such as schools and hospitals
• Mixed-use: where you might have flats with shops, offices, or a school in a single building)
• Rural: such as country estates and farmland.

What does LocatED’s Property Team do?

LocatED operates in the public sector but our multidisciplinary Property Team has an excellent knowledge of the commercial property sector; this enables LocatED to act quickly and ensure the best value for taxpayers. Our Property Team:

• Buys sites for schools and colleges
• Sells sites that are no longer required
• Delivers complex and mixed-used developments
• Manages a portfolio of properties
• Provides strategic property advice to government and education bodies.

Within our Property Team, we have a technical and planning function with four main disciplines:

• Building surveying
• Project management
• Town Planning
• Design advisory and feasibility.

What skills and qualifications do I need to work in property?

Typically, you will need a qualification, either gained through university (i.e., a related degree) or an apprenticeship (i.e., an accredited qualification), together with a professional qualification such as the Assessment of Professional Competence.

While working in property, you will also learn a variety of key skills, such as negotiation, creative thinking, and problem-solving. These skills can often be transferred from one area of property to another, so you have the flexibility to move between disciplines as you build your career.

Find out about our Apprenticeship Surveyor Programme and Graduate Surveyor Programme at the links below.

Apprenticeship Programme Graduate Programme

Other useful links

General information about the sector for school leavers:

• Prospects: prospects.ac.uk/jobs-and-work-experience/job-sectors/property-and-construction
• Target Careers: targetcareers.co.uk/career-sectors/construction-and-property/68-what-types-of-jobs-and-employers-are-there-in-property

Information about the Government Property Profession:

• Civil Service Careers: civil-service-careers.gov.uk/professions/working-in-property/
• Government Property Function: gov.uk/government/organisations/government-property-function

Information about professional bodies for surveyors, engineers, and planners:

• Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS): rics.org/uk/surveying-profession/
• The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE): ice.org.uk/what-is-civil-engineering
• The Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE): istructe.org/
• The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI): rtpi.org.uk/