Jobs in property
Estate agents and negotiators, conveyancers and solicitors, surveyors and valuers, drone and video operators, photographers, cleaners and housekeepers, care staff, trades. Every business on Homebinding can list its vacancies free; every candidate has one profile.
The vacancies shown are demonstration entries until employers list. Real vacancies carry the employer's name, the pay and the location as stated by the employer, and nothing else.
The jobs of property and what each one needs
Property is not one trade but several dozen, some of them tightly regulated and some open to anyone who can do the work. Knowing which is which matters whether you are choosing a career, hiring somebody or deciding whether the person quoting for a job is allowed to do it. What follows sets out the main roles and the qualification, registration or scheme membership each one actually requires. This is not advice, and requirements change, so check with the named body before relying on any of it.
Agents
Anyone acting in the sale of property for someone else is subject to the Estate Agents Act 1979, which imposes duties on disclosure of personal interest, on fees and terms of business, and on the handling of clients' money. There is no licence to practise as an estate agent in England, but there are three things a firm must have. It must belong to a government approved redress scheme, so that consumers have somewhere to complain. It must have client money protection if it holds client money, which is compulsory for letting agents in England. And, if it carries on estate agency work, it must be registered for anti money laundering supervision with HM Revenue and Customs and carry out customer due diligence under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017. Letting agency businesses are also brought into supervision above a rent threshold.
Qualifications are voluntary but expected by good employers, and Propertymark runs the recognised route, with graded qualifications in residential estate agency, residential letting and property management, commercial agency and auctioneering, together with membership grades that go with them. Listings must give the material information a consumer needs under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, and an energy performance certificate must be commissioned before a property is marketed under the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012. Wales licenses landlords and agents through Rent Smart Wales, and Scotland operates a letting agent register with its own code of practice.
Law, surveying, design and planning
Conveyancer and solicitor
Conveyancing is a reserved legal activity. Solicitors are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, and qualify by degree or apprenticeship followed by the centralised assessments and a period of qualifying work experience. Licensed conveyancers are specialists regulated by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, with their own examinations and practical experience requirements. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own law societies and routes.
Surveyor
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors sets the standard. The usual route is an accredited degree, or a conversion route for those with a different first degree, followed by structured training and the Assessment of Professional Competence for chartered membership. There is also a technical membership grade for those working at a different level. Valuers who sign valuations for lending must be on the RICS valuer registration scheme.
Architect
The title architect is protected by law and may only be used by someone on the register kept by the Architects Registration Board. The traditional route runs through three stages of accredited education and practical experience, commonly known as parts one, two and three, though alternative and apprenticeship routes now exist. The Royal Institute of British Architects is the professional body, separate from the regulator.
Planner
Planning consultants are not licensed, but chartered status through the Royal Town Planning Institute is the recognised mark. It is reached through an accredited planning degree and an assessment of professional competence, with licentiate and technical grades for those working towards it.
Mortgage broker
Advising on or arranging regulated mortgages is a regulated activity. A broker must be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority or act as an appointed representative of an authorised firm. Advisers must hold an appropriate qualification, most commonly the Certificate in Mortgage Advice and Practice, known as CeMAP, and firms must follow the mortgage conduct of business rules.
Energy assessor
Energy performance certificates for homes may only be produced by a domestic energy assessor accredited by an approved scheme, which handles training, qualification, quality assurance and insurance and gives access to lodge certificates on the national register. Non domestic and display certificates need different accreditations, as do retrofit assessment roles.
Cameras, cleaning and management
Property photography and videography need no licence, and the work is won on portfolio rather than paper. Flying a drone is different. Anyone flying a drone with a camera in the United Kingdom needs an operator ID for the person or business responsible for the aircraft, registered with the Civil Aviation Authority and displayed on the drone, and anyone actually at the controls needs a flyer ID obtained by passing the online theory test. Heavier drones, and flying closer to uninvolved people, require more: the A2 Certificate of Competency allows flight closer to people with certain aircraft, and the General VLOS Certificate underpins operations in the specific category, which also need an operational authorisation from the regulator. Commercial operators need insurance that meets the applicable requirements, and permission to overfly land does not come with permission to take off from it.
Cleaners and housekeepers for holiday lets are unregulated, and the trade turns on reliability, turnaround speed and laundry logistics rather than certificates, though anyone entering guests' accommodation should carry public liability insurance and, where they are handling keys and access, be prepared to show references. Property managers handling private rented stock are similarly unlicensed in England, though a managing agent will normally hold client money protection, redress scheme membership and Propertymark or equivalent qualifications.
Block and leasehold management is more specialised. The Property Institute is the body for the sector, formed from the merger of the association of residential managing agents and the institute of residential property management, and it offers qualifications and grades of membership from associate through to fellow, alongside a firm accreditation for managing agents. Anyone managing blocks needs to understand service charge accounting, consultation on major works, health and safety in common parts and building safety duties.
Gas and electrical work
Two trades carry hard legal restrictions. Anyone carrying out work on gas fittings or appliances must be registered on the Gas Safe Register, which is the official register for Great Britain under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, and must be competent for the specific type of work, which is why engineers carry a card listing what they are qualified to do. Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man have their own arrangements. Using an unregistered person is unlawful and invalidates insurance.
Electrical work in dwellings is controlled through Part P of the Building Regulations 2010 in England and Wales. Certain categories of work are notifiable to building control, and the practical route is to use an electrician registered with a competent person scheme, who can self certify the work and issue the certificate rather than putting the householder through a building control application. Installations are designed and tested to the national wiring standard, and periodic inspection reports for rented homes must be produced by a qualified and competent person.
Jobs and trades on the site
Employers list vacancies on Homebinding free of charge, whether that is a negotiator's job at an agency, a carer at a home, a housekeeper for a holiday let or an apprenticeship with a builder. Vacancies appear in the jobs directory and on the employer's own page, so a candidate can see the business as well as the post.
Tradespeople and professionals hold their own profiles, listing the work they do, the areas they cover, their registrations and scheme memberships, and photographs of finished jobs. Customers leave reviews against those profiles, and a profile that accumulates consistently strong reviews earns Homebinding Approved status. Approval is earned by review rather than bought, and it can be lost the same way.
This is not advice. Sources: Propertymark and the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team on agency practice and redress; HM Revenue and Customs on anti money laundering supervision of estate and letting agency businesses; the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Council for Licensed Conveyancers on conveyancing; the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors on surveying and valuer registration; the Architects Registration Board and the Royal Institute of British Architects; the Royal Town Planning Institute; the Financial Conduct Authority on mortgage advising and arranging; the accreditation schemes for domestic energy assessors and the energy performance certificate register; the Civil Aviation Authority on operator and flyer IDs and drone competency certificates; The Property Institute on block and leasehold management; the Gas Safe Register and the Health and Safety Executive on gas work; and government building control guidance on Part P and competent person schemes.
