Insights

Recruiting in real estate takes more than filling roles. It’s about finding professionals who can strengthen portfolios, manage assets effectively, and stay for the long term. Many firms still treat recruitment as a one-off exercise, but the best results come from ongoing collaboration.  Cobalt Recruitment explains how building long-term recruiter partnerships can improve hiring success, save time, and strengthen talent pipelines.

Featuring insight from industry leaders at the UK’s leading property developers, housebuilders, REITs, and investment firms, The Development Index 2026 is an all-encompassing appraisal of what’s happening across the development lifecycle now, and what employers and employees within it need to know going into 2026 and beyond.

New research reveals that the UK development industry is entering 2026 with cautious optimism but is still held back by deep-rooted staffing challenges that are slowing delivery and squeezing project viability. The Development Index – produced by real estate and construction hiring specialist, Cobalt Recruitment – captures the current challenges, along with the opportunities and pressures shaping the year ahead.

At the end of last year, the government published a new draft of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) for consultation, running until 10 March 2026. See what the draft NPPF edits mean for Development, Planning Policy and Recruitment.

Cobalt is delighted to announce the return of James Wakefield as Executive Chair, effective 1 December.

Read the highlights from the Spotlight on the Skills Gap event that RICS and BE News hosted, where Cobalt was invited to take part in a hackathon to resolve the sector's skills gaps, and MD Maria Sinclair was part of a panel of sector leaders debating the topic.

Held at RICS HQ in Westminster on 27–28 October, the Spotlight on the Skills Gap event, organised by BE News and Hackathons UK on behalf of RICS, will bring together policymakers, professional bodies, and industry experts to explore creative, collaborative ways to close the growing gap in talent across both blue-collar and white-collar professions.   As event sponsors and panel participants, we’re looking forward to making meaningful contributions to the conversation.  

The Cobalt Recruitment team are sleeping out on Friday 3rd October to raise money for Action for Children as part of their Boycott Your Bed challenge.

Whether you already work in residential living, hire into it, or want to find out more about what it’s like to work within BTR, later living, co-living and more, you’ll want to see the insights from our interview with Queen Ng'wananogu, General Manager at luxury co-living provider, Dandi.

In a recent poll by Cobalt a massive 83 per cent of facilities managers said they believe they are underpaid. Going beyond the headline, the most revealing part of the research was who disagreed with it - with the majority of those saying FM salaries are over-inflated being Directors or other Senior Leaders within the FM industry.

First came the Northern Powerhouse, then the Levelling Up agenda – and now we have The Great North. Here we explore how changes in policies have shaped the built environment, what they'll mean for the sector over the next decade, and what skills are in-demand and where across the property lifecycle as a result of them.

See how we successfully recruited 9 Personal Assistants for an international energy company operating out of the Middle East.