Insights

Maria Sinclair, Managing Director UK at Cobalt Recruitment, explores why the built environment skills gap goes beyond recruitment, examining retention, career awareness, AI, apprenticeships and what the industry can do to build a stronger talent pipeline.

The built environment’s workforce needs are becoming increasingly complex. This edition of Wednesday Market Insights explores the Map the Gap campaign, the growing importance of sustainability capability across the development lifecycle, and the evolving talent requirements of the later living sector.

Major land acquisitions are signalling renewed confidence across the residential development sector. Discover why developers are recruiting strategically before the market fully recovers, the skills in demand, and what Cobalt's Development Index reveals about the future of hiring.

Cobalt's read on the UK's leading real estate investment and infrastructure forum, from our team on the ground in Leeds across all three days.

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.

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.

While planning, projects, and partnerships were standout themes of UKREiiF 2025, people emerged as a fourth, equally crucial pillar, as without the right people, progress in any of the other three areas is limited. See the skills most in-demand from our conversations and the talks at UKREiiF 2025.

From large-scale infrastructure to local regeneration schemes, the energy at UKREiiF 2025 reflected a shift in sentiment. See our roundup of how the common themes from it - planning, projects, partnerships and people, will form the backbone of growth in UK real estate over the coming years.

See our residential development and town planning case study recruiting for a Senior Development Manager for St.George.

See our residential development and town planning case study recruiting for 2x Senior Planners and an Associate Director for hgh Consulting