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Commercial/residential surveyor

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Commercial and residential surveyors advise their clients about the economic viability of the purchase or lease of a property or land

As a commercial or residential surveyor, you may deal with commercial or residential properties in the private or public sector. The principal activities of your work will relate to the management, purchase, sale or leasing of land and property and valuing and surveying property.

You may act as an agent, broker or auctioneer during a sale and may also carry out contract negotiations between landlords and tenants.

Commercial surveyors help businesses such as offices, retail outlets, warehouses and distribution centres maximise their investments.

Residential surveyors help homebuyers with mortgage valuations and HomeBuyer reports, manage residential property portfolios and provide advice on investment and development.

Types of commercial/residential surveyor

As well as specialising in either commercial or residential property, you'll also usually specialise further in one of the following areas:

  • consultancy
  • development
  • investment
  • management
  • planning.

Responsibilities

Your duties will depend on whether you're a commercial or residential surveyor and which area within that you specialise in, but in general you'll need to:

  • value properties by applying expert knowledge and awareness of the local property market
  • take accurate measurements of sites and premises
  • assess the impact of a major development in terms of economic viability and environmental impact
  • purchase land and secure funding
  • visit sites at all stages of development, from green field to foundations and completed buildings
  • write detailed reports on property for purposes such as rent reviews, investment potential, valuations for mortgages and other purposes, marketability and building surveys
  • negotiate with confidence, orally and in writing, on issues such as rents
  • sell and buy properties and sites on behalf of clients
  • apply appropriate law for landlord and tenant negotiations and enforce health and safety regulations
  • assess properties for business rates, capital taxation, acquisitions and disposals
  • manage large property portfolios for your clients and advise them on the purchase and sale of individual investments (if you specialise in investment)
  • manage all kinds of property on behalf of a landlord to meet the landlord's contractual obligations. This includes ensuring compliance with the conditions of the tenancy, collecting rents and handling building maintenance and repair (if you specialise in management)
  • work closely with other professionals such as highways and structural engineers, town planners and architects, in considering new developments (if you specialise in development).

Salary

  • Typical starting salaries for a graduate or assistant surveyor range from £23,000 to £35,000. With a relevant degree and one year's experience, you can obtain an Associate membership of RICS (AssocRICS).
  • Senior AssocRICS earn an average of around £45,000, while qualified chartered surveyors (MRICS), with a degree and relevant experience, earn between £42,000 and £65,000.
  • Senior chartered surveyors earn £55,000 and above, rising to around £85,000 in top-level roles such as director and even potentially to six-figure salaries as a very experienced senior RICS Fellow (FRICS).

According to RICS, chartered surveyors earn around 16% more than their non-RICS counterparts.

Bonuses, car allowances and long-term investment plans (LTIP) are often given as additional benefits.

For more information about the real estate industry, see The Macdonald & Company Salary, Rewards and Attitudes Report 2024.

Income figures are intended as a guide only.

Working hours

A working week is usually 40 hours, but if you work in the private sector, you'll regularly be expected to do extra hours, which may include weekends. This is usually necessary whenever you need to meet deadlines, liaise with clients or network with other professionals, but also helps you to progress in your career. There can be some variation depending on the culture of a firm.

In the public sector, working hours are regular and may be based on flexitime. Networking and making personal contacts form a smaller part of the role of public sector surveyors.

Career breaks are possible, but you'd need to keep up with legal and market developments.

What to expect

  • Work is office based but also involves a lot of time out of the office, attending meetings, visiting sites and meeting with clients.
  • The dress code tends to be smart even when visiting sites.
  • Opportunities for qualified surveyors exist throughout the UK but are concentrated in London and the South East, where the large firms are based.
  • Opportunities for self-employment and freelance work are possible, particularly in private practice for those who have good qualifications and significant experience. Working from home is also a possibility. These opportunities will occur especially in valuation.
  • Travel within a working day is frequent and may involve absence from home overnight.

Qualifications

There are several ways to become a commercial or residential surveyor. The most direct is to take a RICS-accredited undergraduate degree.

Accreditation is available in many different subjects, including:

  • building construction management
  • building surveying
  • construction management
  • estate management
  • facilities management
  • quantity surveying.

Another is to take a RICS-accredited postgraduate degree. This option is available to those who haven't completed an accredited or relevant undergraduate degree. Some companies may allow you to complete the postgraduate qualification while working and may also help with funding.

A full list of accredited undergraduate, postgraduate and vocational courses is available at RICS Course.

Once you've completed an accredited undergraduate or postgraduate degree, you'll be able to find a job as a trainee surveyor, where you can begin to work towards chartered status.

You can also enter this profession without a degree if you have at least four years' relevant experience, or a relevant vocational qualification (HND/HNC/NVQ3/BTEC/foundation degree) with two years' experience.

Entrance to a career in surveying is also possible through an apprenticeship, such as those delivered by UCEM (University College of Estate Management). For more information about apprenticeships, see:

Associate members can apply for full chartered status once they gain a further four years' experience and complete an assessment on ethics. See RICS - Progression from AssocRICS to MRICS for further details.

Skills

You will need:

  • a commitment to a career in surveying
  • good oral and written communication
  • excellent interpersonal skills
  • negotiation skills
  • strong numeracy skills
  • readiness to take responsibility and act on your own initiative
  • the ability to work as part of a team
  • the ability to remain calm under pressure
  • confidence in your own judgement
  • the ability to develop and maintain a network of professional contacts
  • good physical mobility for surveying sites, a building under construction, or an inaccessible part of a residential property
  • a driving licence - is often essential.

Work experience

Work experience is highly regarded by employers so it's important to get some.

Relevant experience might include clerical or sales work with an estate agency or labouring on a building site to learn how buildings are constructed. Anything that can give you an insight into the property industry will be helpful.

Find out more about the different kinds of work experience and internships that are available.

Employers

Employers include a mixture of private practices and public sector organisations. Smaller employers are often open to receiving speculative applications while public sector organisations commonly only accept applications to advertised vacancies.

Private practice is split between commercial and residential property.

Many large private practices have an annual intake of graduates and may have closing dates as early as December or January of your final year. Others will accept speculative applications slightly later.

Employers in the commercial property sector include:

  • large private surveying practices
  • house building companies
  • property developers
  • financial, pension fund and insurance institutions
  • large corporate organisations, such as retailing chains, banks, railways and other utilities that own large amounts of land.

In the public sector, commercial and residential surveyors are employed by:

  • local authorities
  • regional development agencies
  • universities
  • hospital trusts
  • several central government departments.

In the voluntary sector, surveyors are employed by housing associations.

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA), which determines business rates and council tax bands, recruits graduate surveyors onto its graduate programme around October each year. The VOA supports trainees to pass the APC and provides a salary of £26,000 (£29,000 in London). The VOA also runs a Level 3 Surveying Technician Apprenticeship and a Level 6 Chartered Surveyor Apprenticeship scheme.

The residential property market tends to be focused on smaller employers all around the UK. The large national chains of estate agents or major regional firms employ surveyors. Smaller firms are more likely to refer clients to an independent surveyor.

Consultants may work in private practice, for a local authority or other public sector organisation, or they may be self-employed.

Look for job vacancies at:

Speculative approaches are worth trying. RICS Find a Surveyor is a useful site for contact details.

Specialist recruitment agencies include:

Professional development

Once you've secured a job as a trainee surveyor you can then work towards gaining chartered status. This shows companies and clients that you've been trained to the highest possible standard and will enhance your prospects for promotion and wage increases.

To become chartered you must complete the Assessment of Professional Competence (APC), which is offered by RICS. You'll need to evidence your training through achievement records and logbooks and will need to complete an assessment interview.

In maintain current professional knowledge and stay up to date with new developments, RICS members are required to undertake continuing professional development (CPD) every year for which online study programmes are available.

Career prospects

As a chartered surveyor, you may move between employers to gain more experience and broaden your skills. In the private sector, you could broaden your experience by working for different size practices.

You'll usually have specialised in either commercial or residential surveying and will normally stay within that area. It's rare for surveyors to move between the private and public sectors.

If you work in the public sector, you can move between different public sector organisations, such as:

  • government posts
  • hospital trusts
  • local authorities
  • universities.

If you work in a large private sector firm, you may have the opportunity to become an associate or salaried partner. You may also be invited to put money into the firm to become an equity partner, where you would directly share the profits.

With enough experience, you could set up your own business, either as a sole trader working from home or in partnership with other surveyors.

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