If you like working with and helping people or doing practical work then a career in property or facilities may be for you.

There is a wide range of opportunities available, from managing the facilities and services in buildings where people work, to cleaning windows, chimneys or building interiors.

What areas can I work in?

This career area covers the sectors of facilities management and property services, including cleaning. These encompass a wide range of jobs, from managerial to manual.

To see the routes to getting into each of these sectors, take a look at our Career Pathway.

What kind of companies can I work for?

Possible employers include:

• local authorities
• housing associations
• the NHS
• building management companies
• large contract cleaning companies
• small private companies
• estate agencies
• schools, colleges or universities
• infrastructure support companies.

What’s the job market like?

According to a Royal Institution of Surveyors (RICS) survey (2024), demand for facilities management services has been increasing across most sectors (with the exception of retail), with workloads, employment and profit margins all expected to improve in the coming year. This has resulted in a strong rise in industry employment. ¹

Despite the positive employment trend in this area, UK employers are reporting recruitment difficulties in filling roles in a number of areas, particularly in building operation and maintenance positions including support services, property management and energy management. ¹

The number of property management service businesses have grown over the past couple of years, due to a rise in demand for block property management services. In 2023, there were 22,751 property management service businesses in the UK, an increase of 3.3% from 2022. ²

Housing associations and cooperatives are major Scottish employers, supporting 11,000 full time jobs across 141 housing associations and cooperatives. They provide more than 280,000 homes and over 5,000 places in supported accommodation, providing factoring services for properties in private owners, and shared equity housing. ³

There are currently Modern Apprenticeship frameworks available in Facilities Management and Facilities Services if you are interested in entering this career sector.

Facts and figures

• As of March 2024, there were 11,700 people working as property, housing and estate managers in Scotland. This is an increase of 500 in first quarter of 2024. ⁴
• In 2022, repairs and maintenance were estimated to account for 22.8% of £17.7 billion industry revenue, making this the second largest service segment in the property development and maintenance market sector. ⁵
• Estate agent revenue in the UK is forecast to grow at a compound annual rate of 3.9% over the next five years to £16.3 billion. ⁶
• The average annual salary for property managers in the UK is £45,000 a year (2024). ⁷

Want to find out more?

There are a number of professional bodies related to this sector, some of which have more information on careers and training.

The Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management (previously the British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM)), provides information about qualifications in that sector.

Sources

Video

Career Pathway