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Hiring Trends Overview in UK Real Estate 2025 and 2026 Outlook

16 January 2026 By Falmouth Fairfax

As the UK real estate market continues to adjust to evolving occupier behaviour, economic conditions, and regulatory requirements, hiring trends in 2025 reflected a period of recalibration rather than expansion. Employment patterns varied by asset class, geography, and skill set, highlighting where demand remained resilient and where organisations were exercising caution.

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Macroeconomic Conditions Shape Hiring Decisions

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Broader labour market data showed a slowdown in vacancy growth with unemployment edging hire in 2025 linked to increased cost and economic pressure on employers.

UK real estate firms entered 2025 against a backdrop of modest economic growth, easing inflation later in Q1, and continued cost pressures. Market commentary from major property consultancies indicated that many organisations were maintaining tighter control over headcount, with hiring activity increasingly linked to clearly defined business needs rather than speculative growth.

This environment contributed to more measured recruitment activity, with longer approval processes and a focus on roles that directly support asset performance, operations or compliance.

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Role Demand Varies by Function

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We saw uneven demand across job functions:

  • Leasing and capital markets roles remained in demand, particularly where firms were repositioning or refinancing assets or responding to renewed occupier interest in prime space.

  • Property and asset management roles continued to be required, though growth in headcount was more selective and often tied to portfolio changes rather than expansion.

  • With continued headwinds of high construction and borrowing costs, legislative changes to fire safety and the gateway two planning process all impacting viability assessments recruitment in development and construction-related roles showed more cautious hiring patterns.

  • Recruitment for roles related to existing asset services and CAPEX project work to maintain assets such as project management, property management and building surveying remained steady with tight and competitive candidate markets. Overall, firms appeared to be prioritising roles that contributed directly to income generation, valuation resilience, or risk management.

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Continued Focus on Experience and Technical Expertise

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Our commercial real estate clients reported that experienced professionals remained central to hiring strategies, particularly in roles requiring deep market knowledge, regulatory understanding, and client-facing expertise.

Positions requiring specialist knowledge - such as complex leasing negotiations, valuation, development appraisal and planning - were typically filled selectively, with employers placing emphasis on proven track records rather than rapid talent expansion.

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Sustainability, Technology and Regulatory Skills

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Across the sector, large property owners and advisors continued to highlight sustainability and digital capability as long-term priorities:

  • ESG and sustainability expertise is increasingly important as landlords respond to minimum energy efficiency standards (MEES), net-zero commitments, and investor reporting requirements.

  • Data, technology, and building systems knowledge is becoming more relevant, particularly in asset management and property operations, as firms invest in smarter buildings and portfolio analytics.

  • Regulatory and compliance skills are valued as environmental, planning, and reporting obligations grow more complex.

While these areas do not always translate into high-volume hiring, they influence the skill profiles sought across many roles.

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Geographic Differences Across the UK

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London remains the largest employment centre for real estate and development, particularly for investment and development management, advisory, and capital markets roles. However, given the tight market conditions in London particularly for new development and the impact of a relatively weak residential sales market we saw an increased focus in regional locations. Market updates from national property platforms also indicated increasing occupier engagement in regional cities, supporting steady demand for property management, leasing, and professional services roles outside the capital.

This reflects broader efforts by occupiers and investors to balance cost, flexibility, and access to talent across the UK.

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Evolving Workforce Approaches

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Rather than large-scale hiring, many UK real estate and development firms are:

  • Investing in upskilling and internal mobility

  • Using project-based or fixed-term roles to support specific initiatives

  • Aligning recruitment closely with portfolio strategy and asset-level performance

These approaches reflect a preference for flexibility and targeted expertise in a changing market environment.

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Conclusion for 2025

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Hiring trends in UK real estate and development in 2025 pointed to a sector focused on stability, selectivity, and long-term capability building. While overall recruitment activity was measured, demand persisted for experienced professionals, particularly in leasing, asset management, building surveying, sustainability, and technology-related functions.

For employers, the emphasis remains on aligning talent with strategic priorities. For professionals, specialist expertise, regulatory knowledge, and adaptability continue to be key differentiators in a competitive employment landscape.

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Looking Forward to 2026

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Locking forward in 2026 we forecast a steady increase in UK Real Estate and Development recruitment activity.  Although there are continued cost pressures on employers and tricky market conditions to navigate there are positive signs across many European cities with stabilising interest rates and a couple of predicted Bank of England base rate cuts, and proposed streaming of the planning reform stimulating investment and development market growth.  We see strong demand continuing in data centres, industrial and logistics and competition for prime commercial real estate sites leading to a continued need for experienced technical talent.  


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