The average gender pay gap in U.K. commercial real estate is almost twice as large as the national corporate average.
The average gender gap when measuring hourly pay at commercial property firms in the U.K. is 27%, compared to a U.K. average of 14%, according to an analysis of data from the U.K. government.
When it comes to bonuses, the division is even more stark — a gap of 45%, compared to a U.K. average of 14%. For the average U.K. company, 40% of top quartile earners are female, whereas for commercial property the figure is just 26%.
Bisnow undertook an analysis of data from more than 7,500 companies across the U.K. The U.K. government required every company employing more than 100 people to provide gender pay gap data by 1 April. The data from housing associations and residential house builders were removed from the analysis, even though they were classified as real estate companies by the government, to give as accurate a picture as possible of the gender pay landscape in commercial real estate.
The sample of 19 companies analysed includes some of the largest REITs, developers and brokers, including major global names.
There was one company in this sample where women were on average paid more per hour than men — The Crown Estate, where women were paid on average 3% more per hour than men, and paid 12% higher bonuses on average to women than men. The company put this down to three of its four executive committee members being women and a high proportion of women in senior roles generally.
The fact that there were more men than women in senior management positions was cited as the main reason for the gender pay gap at every other firm which produced a report to accompany the figures provided.
Bottom of the pile was outlet mall firm McArthurglen, which reported an average hourly pay gap of 51%, in spite of the fact it has one of the few female chief executives in the industry. It put the gap down to the fact that many of the customer-facing staff at its schemes are women.
Among the large REITs, Landsec reported a pay gap of 33%, while at British Land it was 39% and at Intu 19%. Brookfield and Qatari-owned Canary Wharf Group reported a gap of 27%.
Among international investors and developers, Lendlease said its property division had a gap of 19% and its construction division 30%. Westfield Europe’s gap was 32%.
Among the larger agencies, CBRE fared best with a gap of 17%. At Cushman & Wakefield it was 30%, at JLL, 37% and at BNP Paribas Real Estate, 42%.
