Real Estate Development and Management

Real estate development and management is the field concerned with the creation, investment, operation and strategic management of property assets across commercial, residential and mixed-use sectors. It is an area of professional practice that sits at the intersection of economics, law, planning, construction and finance, requiring practitioners who can understand the development process from initial site appraisal through planning and construction to completion, letting, management and eventual disposal. The property sector makes a significant contribution to the UK economy, and real estate professionals work across a wide range of organisations from large developers and investment funds to local authorities, housing associations and specialist consultancies.

At the University of Salford this three-year programme develops your understanding of the commercial and private property sectors, covering real estate economics, property law, valuation, development appraisal, planning policy, asset management and the financial instruments used to fund and invest in real estate. You will learn to work with the analytical tools that professionals use to assess the viability of development proposals and the performance of existing portfolios, developing both the technical competence and the commercial awareness that employers look for. A sandwich year provides a substantial period of professional experience in the sector, and work placements are also built into the programme, giving you the industry contacts and applied knowledge that are particularly important in a field where personal networks and direct experience carry significant weight.

Graduates go on to careers in property development, real estate consultancy, investment and fund management, property asset management, planning consultancy and local government property roles. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors provides the standard professional qualification framework for real estate practitioners, and many graduates work towards chartered status after gaining initial professional experience. Some go on to postgraduate study in real estate, planning, construction management or property finance, deepening their expertise or broadening into adjacent areas of the built environment sector.