Property selling, development and rental

Use our industry guide to find key background information, market research, import and export guidelines, statistics, legislation, trade bodies and trade publications.

The Business & Industry Guides series is produced by the Library & Information Service for ICAEW members and ACA students.

We can compile tailored key players reports, mailing lists, market reports, benchmarking reports and industry news. Our enquiry team can also research other industry-specific information, such as taxation, for you. Call us on +44 (0)20 7920 8620 or email library@icaew.com.

Trends and forecasts

Online articles

The library provides full access to articles from leading business, finance and management journals.

Access to articles is provided subject to suppliers' terms of use.

RICS

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) produce regular market surveys giving an overview of trends and recent developments in the sector, key indicators such as sales, lettings, expectations and other data. The reports also contain commentary from surveyors.

Market surveys include:

Useful links

Global Tax Guide 2017
Market analysis from property consultants Knight Frank with an overview of costs involved in buying, holding and selling residential property in major global cities.

Market research

Market research reports focusing on this business sector are available from a number of market research specialists. In most cases these reports are available to fee-paying subscribers or on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Industry profiles and SWOT analyses

Industry profiles give an overview of market size in different countries or regions, the competitive landscape and provide a forecast of market performance. These profiles are available exclusively for ICAEW members and ACA students through the Library & Information Service.

Regional reports

Africa

South Africa

Asia

Europe

Latin America

North America

Oceania

Australia

If you’re looking for industry profiles for regions or countries not listed above, please contact the Library on +44 (0)20 7920 8620 or email library@icaew.com.

SWOT analyses examining the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for major companies operating in this sector are available.

View the latest SWOT analysis reports

If you experience any problems accessing these resources, please see our online resources troubleshooting FAQ.

Other market research specialists

Some free information is available from the following market research specialists, ranging from industry news to executive summaries of the reports.

Euromonitor
A full listing of reference products and research reports for the construction and real estate sector from Euromonitor, with a range of major market profiles country reports on post and courier services. Each report provides a contents listing and a useful executive summary reporting on the key trends in each country report.

IBISWorld
Business and industry research specialists offering reports on a wide range of sectors, including building project development and real estate agencies. Report snapshots, table of contents and a sample report are available.

Mintel
Report from Mintel covering the UK property market. The website includes a summary and the option to view a contents listing.

Industry news

Need to find the latest news on this industry sector? We can carry out industry news searches using a range of trade titles and general business sources through our databases. To discuss your requirements, please contact the enquiry team on +44 (0)20 7920 8620 or at library@icaew.com.

Statistics on the UK

CBRE

CBRE, the real estate services company, produces research reports with key figures on office and industrial markets in major cities. Data includes:

total occupation costs
rates
service charges
prime rent
rent change
prime yield
yield shift.

Property Week

Property Week collates data from major property companies, consultancies and other bodies on activity in the sector. Information is available by sector, UK region and global region.

Office for National Statistics

The Annual Business Survey (ABS) from the Office for National Statistics collects financial information covering UK production, construction, distribution and service industries. Statistics available include:

number of enterprises;
total turnover;
approximate gross value added at basic prices;
total purchases of goods, materials and services;
total employment costs;
total net capital expenditure;
total net capital expenditure – acquisitions;
total net capital expenditure – disposals;
total stocks and work in progress – value at end of year;
total stocks and work in progress – value at beginning of year;
total stocks and work in progress – increase during year.

The dataset Non-financial business economy, UK: Sections A to S provides data on property including:

Development of building projects (41.10)
See Section F: Construction
Buying and selling of own real estate (68.10)
See Section L: Real estate activities
Renting and operating of own or leased real estate (68.20)
See Section L: Real estate activities
Real estate agencies (68.31)
See Section L: Real estate activities

Statistics on Europe

Eurostat

Eurostat, the EU statistics hub, collates detailed Structural Business Statistics giving the latest figures for industry, construction, trade and services by sector and country. The indicators available include:

number of enterprises
turnover or gross premiums written
production value
value added at factor cost
gross operating surplus
wages and salaries
social security costs
gross investment in tangible goods
gross investment in land
gross investment in existing buildings and structures
gross investment in construction and alteration of buildings
gross investment in machinery and equipment
number of employees
number of persons employed per enterprise.

Statistics within the database are available for:

Development of building projects (F4110)
See database section ‘SBS – industry and construction’
Buying and selling of own real estate (L6810)
See database section ‘SBS – services’
Renting and operating of own or leased real estate (L6820)
See database section ‘SBS – services’
Real estate agencies (L6831)
See database section ‘SBS – services’

Employment

The Office for National Statistics publication Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) includes average employment costs within this sector which can be found in Table 14. Average employment costs are provided for full-time employees, part-time employees and all employees.

The data includes average employment costs for:

property, housing and land managers
estate agents, auctioneers.

The annual Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES), published by the Office for National Statistics, includes total employee and employment estimates for different industries for Great Britain and the UK. Figures are broken down to show full-time/part-time and public/private splits. The dataset Industry – Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES): Table 2 includes statistics for:

Development of building projects (411)
Buying and selling of own real estate (681)
Renting and operating of own or leased real estate (682)
Real estate activities on a fee or contract basis (683)

Other regions

Please see individual country profile pages for links to sources of national statistics.

Legislation and regulation

UK

The National Residential Landlords Association provides documents and guides relevant to landlords.

EU

The CEPI Immolex service compiles comprehensive information on legislation related to property sales, renting and management. Regulations are listed by topic and country.

Business guides

Croner-i Business Focus

Business Focus is a resource that provides practical information on many small business trades and sectors. Its Business Opportunity Profiles offer detailed insights into market conditions, legal issues and the trading environment for a range of businesses. They include:

Buy-to-let Landlord
Commercial Property Agent
Estate Agents
Property Maintenance Service
Residential Letting Agency

To find out more about Business Focus, please contact our enquiry team on +44 (0)20 7920 8620 or at library@icaew.com.

Atom Content Marketing guides

The Start Up Donut from Atom Content Marketing provides practical information on starting up and running a number of small business types. Guides cover a range of areas including market research, current trends, regulations, products and services, promotion and pricing. They include:

Estate agents

UK key players, ratios and trends

We can produce reports on this sector using selected information from the FAME company database. Reports are available for:

Development of building projects
UK SIC (2007) Code 41.10
Buying and selling of own real estate
UK SIC (2007) Code 68.10
Renting and operating of own or leased real estate
UK SIC (2007) Code 68.20
Renting and operating of Housing Association real estate
UK SIC (2007) Code 68.20/1
Real estate agencies
UK SIC (2007) Code 68.31

Summaries of the three types of report we can produce are given below. You can find further information, a sample report, pricing details and an online order form on our industry sector reports page.

We also operate a bespoke reports service with results tailored to your specifications. Please contact our enquiry team on +44 (0)20 7920 8620 or at library@icaew.com to discuss your requirements.

Key players report

Our key players report looks at the top companies (by turnover) in any one of the segments within this sector. Reports usually include the top 100 companies but in more specialised sectors with fewer than 100 companies we show all companies with disclosed figures. The reports provide data on 11 comparative fields for the last available year, including:

turnover;
profit margins;
returns on shareholder funds;
solvency ratios
number of employees.

Our reports enable easy comparison of the top companies in this sector against each other and against the sector median, average and standard deviation in each of the 11 fields.

Mailing list

A separate mailing list report is also available with address and contact details for the top companies in any of the segments within this sector.

Market reports

Our market reports look at the aggregated data for the top companies (by turnover) for any of the segments within this sector across all the fields usually found in a company report. The reports include data for the last 10 years* and enables easy comparison of trends for the whole sector. Reports usually include the top 100 companies but in more specialised sectors with fewer than 100 companies we show all companies with disclosed figures.

*Please note the number of companies for which data is aggregated will vary for any given year.

The market reports include sections on:

key financials and employees;
profit and loss account;
balance sheet;
cash flow statement;
financial ratios;
financial trends and changes;
profitability trends and changes.

UK benchmarking

We offer benchmarking reports that can be used to inform your own business strategy or help you identify value-added services to offer to your clients.

Contact the enquiry team directly on +44 (0)20 7920 8620 or at library@icaew.com for a report tailored to your own specific requirements.

Trade bodies

The websites of trade bodies in this sector are a useful source of industry overviews, contacts and statistics.

UK

Europe

Americas

Oceania

Australian Property Institute (API)

Global

The FIABCI lists its members by country and region (login required).

Trade journals and publications

Trade journals, B2B magazines and specialist consumer magazines are another useful source of news and statistics.