The severe shortage of qualified property professionals is crippling the expansion of professional practices, local authorities, construction companies and property developers.
According to the 1989 Property Manpower, Pay & Media Report, local authorities are the hardest hit as they spend up to eight months on average replacing a chartered surveyor or valuer in their estates departments.
In London and the South East the search can take anything up to twelve months.
More than 82% of firms of chartered surveyors and estate agents and 92% of local authorities have reported a shortfall of property professionals in the past 12 months.
Last year’s buoyant market in commercial property and the continuing construction boom as well as thousands of major refurbishment projects have meant that demand for qualified professionals has vastly outstripped supply.
The competition for skilled property staff is forcing employers to raise salaries above what was previously regarded as market level — and now cars, bonus schemes and private health insurance in pay packages are being offered to newcomers.
More than 41% of employers now include a company car as a perk, while 27% are prepared to increase starting salaries by between 10%-15% to attract the right people.
However, local authorities are unable to match private sector perks.
The report sees no immediate end to this crisis. According to industry sources, the UK will need an additional 2,000 qualified building surveyors alone in the next few years — an increase of more than 25%.
