Increasingly, the two organisations have been focusing further “upstream” to encourage those at secondary school to consider a future in property.

As well as balancing the gender ratio of those applying for UWE courses, a priority has been encouraging those from a wide range of minority groups to look at a sector where they may have few or no family connections.

In September, BPAA president Hannah Waterhouse and past president Julian Harbottle, alongside other property professionals, took part in a mentoring session in conjunction with the Bristol Property Inclusion Charter, Bristol Works and UWE.

Held in the UWE Business School, teams of 14- and 15-year old students from Orchard School in Horfield were given a real-life development conundrum to address: coming up with alternative uses for The Galleries, factoring in sustainability, costs, markets and community as part of the brief.

Encouraging young graduates from UWE to join the Bristol property sector rather than take their talents further afield has also long been a prime concern for the BPAA: 2025 saw the 14th edition of the annual BPAA-sponsored undergraduate and postgraduate of the year awards going to Rhys Mainwaring and Kathryn Hilsden respectively.

The year also saw the continuation of the UWE Bristol Real Estate Mentoring Scheme, a collaboration between the BPAA, UWE and the Bristol Property Inclusion Charter. This will involve meeting current students two to three times a year for an hour to introduce them to the property industry – especially those students without personal or family contacts in the sector.

More mentors are still required… so do get involved if you can!

So, how is progress looking at “the sharp end”? 

Says UWE’s Real Estate Programme Leader, Ytzen Van der Werf: “In terms of recruiting a more balanced gender ratio, this might be one of the first years that I’m seeing a 50/50 split. More than half of the third years going on tour to Rotterdam this year are female.

“Attracting talented young people from different socio-economic backgrounds onto our courses remains a priority –
and it’s why we are so pleased to be involved in the mentoring initiative. There’s much more we can do on this front… as well as for young people from ethnic minorities… and I hope we can start reaching out into other schools locally in the next few years.

“Encouraging our most talented graduates to remain in Bristol is another shared commitment with the BPAA. The annual Boat Trip always helps with that. We also had a BPAA team talk to our students in October. The free student membership is one way for them to meet members… although the shyer ones can need persuading! And I’ve been pleased to assist several companies looking for promising candidates.

“We’ve recently reached out to the Association of the Chief Estates Surveyors, which represents around 260 public sector bodies, and who could potentially offer our students different routes into the property world.”

Any last messages for the BPAA membership?

“Firstly, let’s keep doing what we’re what we’re doing, which I believe is proving enormously beneficial for us, the BPAA and our students. 

“And, if members have any thoughts on another idea, I’d appreciate their input: all of our students have to do a dissertation, which is a research project. It would be great if we could integrate that with a real-world problem… which is where agencies could help us – and possibly themselves.”