Are property firms delivering real diversity and inclusion?

The property industry has made progress on gender diversity; however, progress and achievement aren’t the same, and it’s important the sector doesn’t conflate the two. The property industry’s gender picture is far more complex than it may first appear. For decades, senior leadership has been overwhelmingly male and that has created a self-perpetuating cycle: if women aren’t already in leadership roles, the next successor is more likely to be male, because the pool hasn’t changed.

We’re beginning to see that shift, with more women moving into senior positions and male-dominated succession plans opening up. But for sector-specific roles, you’re still recruiting from a talent base that has been male-dominated for generations and that cycle won’t break on its own – it requires deliberate action.

In 2024, we launched EmpowerHER – a programme of mentoring, roundtable events and development sessions designed to support women across the business – to help shift this. While it’s been genuinely rewarding, it’s also raised an uncomfortable question. When we asked participants which session resonated most, the answer wasn’t unconscious bias – as I’d expected – it was confidence and assertiveness.

Women in property are still looking for permission to take up space and the fact that they need that in 2026 says a great deal about where the industry really stands. Are we training women to cope with a problem they didn’t create, when more of that energy should go towards tackling the root cause?

There are reasons for optimism, though. The Employment Rights Act places a much stronger focus on harassment and sexual harassment in the workplace, making employers across all sectors more accountable. If the act delivers on its ambitions, the workplace in 10 years’ time could look fundamentally different. That kind of legislative shift – combined with cultural change – has the potential to be transformative.

We’re already seeing signs of change. Younger women entering the property industry are more willing to speak up, push back and challenge workplace norms that previous generations were taught to accept, and that’s a real positive. As those voices grow louder and move through the ranks, the culture will continue to change.

That said, delivering real gender diversity and inclusion can’t be driven by women alone. At LRG, all 11 members of our executive team actively back EmpowerHER – not just the four women. When male senior leaders attend our sessions, the response is always that they hadn’t fully appreciated the extent of the challenges. Some go back and run their own sessions with their teams, and that’s the shift. It stops being a women’s initiative and becomes a leadership responsibility.

There is a research-backed business case here, too. A Harvard study analysing data from 29 countries found that daughters of working mothers are significantly more likely to hold leadership positions and earn higher wages. So, when we give women the flexibility to build careers alongside family life, we’re not just supporting them; we’re shaping the next generation.

The gender pay gap also requires greater transparency. Publishing numbers is a start, but it doesn’t reveal what’s driving the gap or what firms intend to do about it. New requirements for firms to publish action plans alongside their data should help. It forces you to interrogate the detail: where exactly is the gap, at what level and what needs to change? Our gap at LRG has narrowed from 43.59% in 2019 to 26.40%, and while that represents meaningful progress, we recognise there’s still a long way to go.

Property has a real opportunity to lead here. We employ huge numbers of people; we’re rooted in communities across the country and we have platforms to set the standard. But it takes honesty about where we fall short, proper investment in programmes that go beyond the surface and the willingness to stop just giving women the tools to cope and start addressing why they need them in the first place.

Hannah Cooper is chief people officer at LRG