Overview of the UK's property and construction industry
Despite widespread challenges for those working in property and the built environment, such as rising material costs, supply chain disruptions and labour shortages, the UK construction industry is still expected to grow over the coming years
Key construction industry statistics
According to the Construction Industry Training Board's (CITB) Construction Skills Network (CSN) 2024-28 report, more than 250,000 additional construction workers are required by 2028 to meet demand.
This is due to the performance of the UK's construction industry, which:
- rose by 2% in 2023 - for the third consecutive year
- will grow by around 2.4% a year
- is looking to expand the workforce to 2.75 million
- needs 50,300 workers each year until 2028.
What is the UK property and construction industry?
Construction
The construction industry is concerned with building, developing, repairing, and maintaining properties and other infrastructure. It covers the entire process from planning and designing to construction and demolition.
The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) revealed that the UK construction industry employs around 2.1 million people - the fourth largest share of employment outside the public sector and is worth around 拢142billion.
Property and real estate
Real estate is involved with the market for buildings, homes and land. This can be further divided into commercial, industrial and residential real estate. If you work in this field, you'll likely be involved with buying, leasing, managing, or selling property.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the commercial real estate sector supports around 391,000 jobs (February 2025).
The British Property Federation (BPF) revealed that the real estate sector supports one in 13 jobs and contributes 拢110billion to the UK economy.
What areas can I work in?
Careers in the property and construction sector can be grouped into:
- architecture
- building control
- building services engineering
- building surveying
- civil engineering
- construction management
- estate agencies
- estate management
- facilities management
- historic buildings conservation
- housing management
- land surveying
- property development
- quantity surveying
- structural engineering
- town and country planning
- valuation.
For examples of job roles in this sector, see property and construction jobs.
You may also want to explore relevant graduate engineering jobs.
Who are the main graduate employers?
Some of the largest companies in the property and construction sector include:
- Amey
- Arcadis
- Arup
- Atkins
- Avison Young
- Balfour Beatty
- BAM Construct UK
- Barratt Redrow
- Carter Jonas
- CBRE UK
- Countrywide
- Cushman & Wakefield
- Grosvenor Group
- JLL
- Kier Group
- Knight Frank
- Laing O'Rourke
- Lendlease
- Morgan Sindall
- Mott MacDonald
- Newmark
- Savills UK
- Skanska
- VINCI Construction UK
- Vistry Group (Bovis, Linden, Countryside Homes)
- Willmott Dixon.
In addition to these major recruiters, jobs are available in:
- architectural practices
- construction consultancies
- housing organisations.
Opportunities also exist with local authorities, infrastructure providers and organisations that own historic properties, such as English Heritage and the National Trust.
What's it like working in the property and construction sector?
You can expect:
- a fast-paced working environment with strict deadlines
- starting salaries of 拢23,000 to 拢30,000 on graduate schemes
- self-employment to be possible with experience and chartered status
- the opportunity to work abroad - either full time or on individual projects
- to spend significant time on site, even in management roles.
Do I need a related degree?
An accredited degree at either undergraduate or postgraduate level is required for specialist areas of the property and construction sector, including:
For example, to become a chartered town planner, you'll require an accredited degree from the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI).
Consider taking a conversion course if you've already attended university. You can also explore construction management courses.
Search postgraduate courses in civil engineering and construction.
A business-related degree may be required for graduate schemes in commercial areas such as marketing and HR, while larger companies are always looking for IT and digital experts.
Some property companies, such as CBRE UK and JLL, advertise graduate schemes for those without a related degree. These schemes support new employees in gaining relevant surveying or planning postgraduate professional qualifications.
For entry requirements and qualifications for specific roles, view our property and construction job profiles.
What about construction apprenticeships?
There are over 180 different occupations in construction and over 100 different apprenticeship roles that lead to careers in the industry for people at every stage of their lives.
If you've just left school or college, a construction apprenticeship is a popular route into the industry. Between April 2024 and January 2025, the CITB's New Entrant Support Team (NEST) supported over 4,000 new construction apprenticeships at various levels.
With a degree apprenticeship, you can achieve a Bachelors degree while learning on the job and earning a wage.
Explore trade apprenticeships and read about apprenticeships in general.
What skills do employers want?
The skills you need in this sector vary from job to job. For example, you must be a brilliant communicator and salesperson to be an estate agent. Working as an architect (also see how to become an architect) demands great attention to detail, accuracy and creativity. Finally, becoming a property developer involves negotiating deals and identifying opportunities.
Skills shortages are a significant problem in the construction industry. You can impress employers and put yourself in a great position when it comes to job vacancies by demonstrating:
- commercial awareness
- IT literacy
- negotiation skills
- problem-solving skills
- strong numeracy
- excellent time management
- teamworking ability.
Find out more about the general skills that employers want.
What is the earning potential in construction?
The average UK construction worker's salary is over 拢44,000 - nearly 拢9,000 higher than the average UK salary.
If you have the required skills, Go Construct has revealed that the ten best-paying construction jobs include:
- architect
- bid manager
- BIM (building information modelling) manager
- contracting or consulting civil engineer
- commercial manager
- construction director
- electrical project manager
- environmental engineer
- planner
- quantity surveyor.
Where can I get relevant work experience?
Major employers in the sector often advertise industry work placements, summer internships and insight days on their websites.
If you're still in sixth form or college studying for your A-levels, explore in-person or virtual Year 12 work experience opportunities. For instance, Savills runs a Virtual Apprenticeship Insight Programme for students interested in property management and real estate careers.
Other property and construction firms that offer work experience for school, college and university students include:
You should check whether you're eligible, as some construction internships are restricted to penultimate-year university students or those studying a degree accredited by a professional body, such as the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
Most employers are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that don't formally advertise opportunities - see working for a small business. Therefore, it's likely you'll need to make a speculative application.
Search for work experience in property and construction.
Where can I find property and construction graduate schemes?
The largest construction companies have formal graduate schemes in technical areas, including:
- engineering
- environmental management
- planning
- surveying.
They also offer programmes in commercial areas such as operational or project management.
For example, Balfour Beatty runs a two-year technical graduate scheme that allows you to study towards a relevant professional qualification with industry bodies such as RICS and the CIOB.
By joining Barratt Redrow's property graduate scheme, you can join the divisional or group support development programme. With the former, you'll rotate across different areas of the business during the first year and then get to specialise in the second year.
This also includes a construction-based programme where you'll gain experience working on a Redrow development site. The group support scheme allows you to work in finance, marketing, IT, legal or sustainability functions.
Other employers that run property and construction graduate schemes include:
- Amey
- Arcadis
- BAM Construct UK
- Bellway Homes
- Kier Group
- Morgan Sindall Construction
- Mott MacDonald
- Savills
- Willmott Dixon
Search for property and construction graduate schemes.
Smaller organisations tend not to recruit through graduate schemes but hire as and when they need new staff. Specialist press, job sites and recruitment agencies will all help you find work, including:
What is the outlook for the UK construction industry?
Business software company The Access Group reported through its UK Construction Industry Outlook 2024 that the industry is set to grow by 7% in 2025.
The CSN report, which assesses UK construction over a five-year period, also had a positive outlook. It showed that market revenue for the UK construction industry is set to reach 拢477billion in 2027.
The UK property market remains on an upward trajectory, with strong activity from buyers and sellers pushing up house prices.
While the past few years have posed many challenges, including rising energy costs, materials and wages, supply chain instability, and economic uncertainty, Tim Balcon, CEO of CITB, reveals how the sector has demonstrated remarkable resilience.
'Looking ahead, there is a more positive outlook as we adopt a collaborative approach to recruiting, training, developing, and upskilling talent. This talent plays a crucial role in supporting an industry that is a key driver of the UK economy,' he says.
Tim also explains how investing in people is essential to significantly improving productivity and technological innovation. He adds, 'There are plenty of opportunities for new entrants to embark on a rewarding construction career. The industry is committed to providing the necessary training and development to help people succeed and make a meaningful impact.'
What are the industry's skills shortages?
The biggest concern dampening this optimism is meeting construction demand over the next few years due to the lack of skilled labour in infrastructure, private housing, repair, and maintenance.
'Skills shortages remain a critical challenge for the UK construction industry, second only to rising prices and material costs,' says Tim. 'Addressing this requires attracting young entrants, career changers, and underrepresented groups while retaining current workers and improving productivity.'
The CSN report highlighted that an additional 225,000 construction workers (45,000 per year) are needed by 2027 to meet the expected growth. Other findings include:
- 200,000 new recruits joined the industry in 2023, but 210,000 workers left
- over 230,000 new homes were built, leaving a shortfall of 70,000 homes per year in keeping with the government's plan to build 1.5 million new homes this parliamentary term
- for every additional 10,000 new homes built, the industry requires more than 22,000 new construction workers.
- an additional 159,000 workers are needed in England - an increase of 30%.
New entrants are needed to work in the following professions:
- carpenters/joiners
- civil engineering technicians
- construction managers
- electronics technicians
- estimators and valuers.
What about issues surrounding diversity and sustainability?
The industry also has to work to change its perception of being male-dominated and lacking diversity if it hopes to attract a new generation of workers.
Despite recent improvements, according to the Office for National Statistics (February 2025), only 15% of the workforce are women. This falls to around 2% for on-site workers.
Organisations such as the National Association of Women In Construction (NAWIC) are working to promote gender equality through networking events. In addition, Women in Property is focused on supporting women in the property industry through mentoring and workshops.
Sustainable construction is also a pressing concern worldwide. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the construction industry accounts for nearly a third (30%) of worldwide energy consumption and a quarter (26%) of emissions.
As a major contributor to the UK's carbon emissions and waste, the construction industry is under mounting pressure to choose renewable and recyclable materials, increase project efficiency and adopt greener supply chains to reduce its environmental impact, in line with the government's property strategy.
Find out more
- Consider these 9 graduate careers for surveyors.
- Read our 6 tips for getting into civil engineering.
- Explore the related energy and environment sectors.