If you work in Central London valuation or development outside of London, you are on average getting a bigger pay increase than other parts of the property sector.

According to property recruitment specialist Deverell Smith, an increase in development in the South East and other regions outside London caused salaries for development professionals outside of London to jump 15% in 2017.

A shortage of qualified staff caused Central London valuation salaries to jump 10%, with rises of 25% for senior surveyors.

Professionals in Central London investment and leasing agency performed worse, with average salaries flat.

Investment agents are still the best paid part of the surveying profession however, with average salaries at £54,200 a year.

“The considerable pipeline for delivery over the next 24 months will accelerate demand for development professionals [outside of London],” Deverell Smith Head of Development Carly Wardley said. “We anticipate candidates that have delivered from inception to completion will continue to be highly sought after and challenging to source. This will put further upward pressure on salaries and candidate movement.”

Deverell Smith Head of Commercial Rob Henderson highlighted some wider trends in recruitment in the industry, one of which is creating the opportunity for new roles, while the other is creating a skills gap.

“We are seeing a lot of companies coming over from the U.S. or Asia and setting up businesses in London, and looking to set up teams,” he said. “That is an opportunity for senior professionals.”

There also was a lag in younger people joining the industry for a few years after the crash of 2007, which Henderson said has created a gap for people with five to seven years of experience.

“When companies are looking to hire people with that level of experience, they should note there are a lot of good candidates they can hire with 20-25 years’ experience on a temporary basis.”