The gender pay gap at some of Britain’s largest estate agencies has widened over the past five years, reversing much of the progress made since mandatory reporting began.
Analysis by Parapet Intelligence of gender pay gap returns from more than 25 large residential and commercial property agencies shows women were paid an average 28.7% less than men last year.
That compares with a 24.7% gap in 2020/21 and follows an earlier improvement from 32.7% in 2017/18, when large employers were first required to report their gender pay gap data.
The figures measure differences in average earnings across organisations rather than comparing the pay of men and women performing the same roles.
BONUS GAP
Parapet’s analysis shows more female estate agency employees are now receiving bonuses, with 75% receiving one last year compared with 63% in 2017/18.
However, the average bonus pay gap remains significantly wider than the overall earnings gap, with women’s bonuses 48.7% lower than men’s. That has narrowed from 53.6% eight years ago.
Some 78.9% of male employees received a bonus last year.
Vikki Bennett (main picture, inset), co-founder at Parapet Intelligence, says: “It’s scandalous really that we should witness progress when it’s politically convenient only to see much of that undone when it falls out of the news.
“It reeks of paying lip service to structural problems in the sector that need to be constantly under the microscope. Estate agency is an industry where plenty of women thrive but if there really were equal opportunities the gender pay gap would reflect that.
“It’s time to put this back on the agenda and make sure senior teams understand that evenly diverse teams and more equal earnings belong to companies that are agile, competitive and stronger.”
HOUSEBUILDING GAP DOUBLES
The research points to an even sharper deterioration among Britain’s largest housebuilders.
Separate analysis of around 40 housebuilding companies shows the average gender pay gap has more than doubled since reporting began.
Women were paid 10.8% less than men in 2017/18, but the gap had increased to 20.5% five years ago and reached 24.7% last year.
The median bonus gap has also moved against women, widening from 4.7% in favour of men in 2017/18 to 26.7% last year.
Bennett says: “Pay equality for women has gone backwards since house builders were put on notice that the Government wanted to see progress.
“That’s deeply troubling and reeks of paying lip service to structural problems in the sector that need to be constantly under the microscope. It’s time to put this back on the agenda and make sure senior teams understand that diverse teams and more equal earnings belong to companies that are agile, competitive and stronger.”
