Every year, hundreds of professionals from across the real estate industry share their views – some lived, some witnessed – of how inclusive the sector is for LGBTQ+ individuals as part of an annual survey by EG. This year’s survey offered up some reasons to be proud, albeit still with a long way to go until real estate is recognised as a truly inclusive industry. Samantha McClary reports.
EG’s annual LGBTQ+ Attitudes and Actions in Real Estate survey made for tough reading last year. The industry had seemingly slipped back, with fewer people out at work and to clients and the percentage of respondents believing that enough was being done to promote the inclusion of LGBTQ+ people dropping to its lowest level in the survey’s three-year history.
It was hard reading in a period when the rhetoric during the pandemic had been around the importance of valuing people and making employees feel safe and supported.
This year, however, things appear to be bouncing back with the percentage of respondents out at work back up from last year’s low of 64.3% to 77.7% this year.
The reason behind LGBTQ+ individuals not being out at work has also shifted. Since the beginning of the survey, the primary reason for people not being out at work has been a lack of role models, followed closely by a fear of negative reactions from colleagues and/or clients.
This year’s survey saw the highest percentage of respondents saying there were enough visible role models in their businesses – some 62.2%. This was up from 55% and 61% respectively. However, respondents wanted even more if the industry really was to show it was serious about fostering a more inclusive environment. Some 73% of respondents this year believed that more role models across the whole sector would better facilitate inclusion.
A huge number of respondents – the largest proportion yet at 80% – wanted to see more action from the sector on promoting inclusion. Much of this, they said, should come through better leadership from business leaders and industry bodies.
The RICS was repeatedly called out in comments for needing to step up and do more to lead the industry to become a more inclusive sector for the LGBTQ+ community and beyond.
“There is a lot that still feels performative versus real action and change,” said one respondent. “Leadership representation is key.”
“I know that there are allies in my business, as well as role models,” added another. “But they aren’t senior management. Senior management aren’t doing more than riding on the coat-tails of those that are invested.”
There was a real desire for leadership to use their positions not just to support but to deliver real change.
“If you are in a leadership position, please understand that it is not enough to just not be a racist or homophobe. You must actively be an anti-racist and an LGBTQ+ ally ensuring that the issues are understood to sufficiently embed them into company culture,” said one respondent.
Another added: “The potential for people in the sector to use their power and influence for positive change cannot be underestimated. Everyone has a role to play in making this sector a winner for attracting and retaining talent.”
Inclusivity is now recognised widely as a vital piece of a company’s arsenal if it wants to win in the war on talent. Almost three-quarters of respondents said that they actively looked for and prioritised companies that were visibly LGBTQ+ inclusive when applying for jobs, and a whopping 98% believed having a diverse and inclusive workforce had a positive impact on the bottom line.
“Corporate culture is far more important than it used to be. People make decisions about where they want to work based on culture and diverse and inclusive talent will move jobs or perform below their capability if they don’t feel welcome or are used to rainbow-wash a company,” wrote one respondent. “This is the same for all other protected characteristics. The bottom line is impacted as knowledge resilience is eroded and corporates become more detached from the communities within which they operate.”
Encouragingly, increasing numbers of respondents are seeing positive change across the industry. Some 78.7% of respondents felt that LGBTQ+ employees were being supported by managers and senior managers, up from 74.4% and 64.5% in previous surveys and 80% said they believed that their workplace provided a safe space for LGBTQ+ people.
The percentage of respondents recommending the sector to other members of the LGBTQ+ community has fallen, with 82% recommending their own workplace (down from 86% last year) and 71% recommending the sector as a whole (down from 72%).
However, this year EG asked respondents if there were any exemplars in the sector and to single out those businesses that others could and should learn from.
Just 9% said they did not believe that any firm across the built environment was exemplary when it came to LGBTQ+ inclusivity, while 41% said there were examples and provided an encouragingly long list of firms.
Firms and organisations praised for promoting inclusivity across their businesses and the sector were:
- Aecom
- Arcades
- Arup
- BCLP
- British Land
- Cast Interiors
- CBRE
- Crown Estate
- Deloitte
- E Surv
- Grosvenor
- JLL
- Laing O’Rourke
- Landsec
- Lendlease
- LLDC
- Mace
- Mishcon de Reya
- Pinsent Masons
- R&R
- RICS
- Ridge & Partners
- Savills
- Shaftesbury (with chief executive Brian Bickell highlighted)
- Sir Robert McAlpine
- Taylor Wessing
- TFT (with partner David Mann highlighted as an “amazing ambassador”)
While the above list of 27 is clearly not enough to ensure the sector as a whole is a welcoming place for anyone regardless of their sexuality, it does start to provide a library of firms that others in the sector can turn to for best practice.
Among the agents CBRE, JLL and Savills were mentioned repeatedly as leading the way with new internal policies and an emphasis on providing training and changing culture highlighted. Property companies including British Land, Landsec and Shaftesbury were highlighted numerous times too, with Shaftesbury boss Brian Bickell named as a very visible role model. In the legal profession – a part of the industry which always comes out as one of the most inclusive in EG’s surveys – BCLP and Pinsent Masons got multiple mentions as exemplars.
Overall, respondents wanted the sector to be viewed as a leader in inclusivity and many believe it is heading in the right direction.
“Property is a fantastic industry to be involved in,” said one respondent. “Change is slow but if we don’t encourage LGBTQ+ people to join the industry then nothing will ever change.”
“The real estate industry is evolving and there is greater recognition, acceptance and education of the LGBTQ+ community within organisations, making it a much more embracing industry for those who identify as LGBTQ+ to work in,” said another. “There are still improvements to be made, particularly access to support and education of LGBTQ+ issues for smaller organisations where D&I groups might not be commonplace or viable.”
Many respondents felt more needed to be done to support smaller firms on the journey to inclusivity and believed that the RICS had a key role to play in this.
“The industry is changing and becoming more inclusive of all types of difference,” said a respondent. “It will take time, but I am confident we are on the right path.”
“A career in real estate can be extremely rewarding,” added another. “For anyone with some interest in the built environment there is an infinite number of things the industry can offer. It is also a profession relatively behind others, but I am hopeful it will get better.”
And, while the results of this latest survey clearly leave room for much more improvement – particularly around trans, bi and lesbian inclusion – attitudes and actions towards the LGBTQ+ community in real estate do appear again to be moving in the right direction.
To send feedback, e-mail samantha.mcclary@eg.co.uk or tweet @samanthamcclary or @EGPropertyNews
