Real Estate BSc (Hons) at Northumbria gives you the knowledge and skills to build a career across buying, selling, letting, managing, valuing and transforming both commercial and residential property. Learn from a team of practising surveyors, valuers and property professionals who bring real industry experience into every module, working alongside national real estate firms on module delivery and assessments.
Explore economics, law, construction technology, planning and investment as you build the technical grounding of a chartered surveyor, then apply it directly to live market scenarios. An optional placement year lets you gain paid, professional experience that can count towards the RICS Assessment of Professional Competence, giving you a genuine head start before you graduate. This course is accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
This extended degree offers an alternative route into higher education if you don't yet meet the standard entry requirements. Your foundation year explores architecture, the built environment and their wider context, covering spatial design, sustainability and materials, and can help you develop practical skills with industry-standard tools and technology.
From the start, you'll explore the history of the built environment, construction technology and law for surveyors, building the core theory and practice of the profession. This equips you to apply these fundamentals to real market scenarios.
Next, you'll study urban planning, applied valuation and property asset management, building the specialist knowledge surveyors use daily. This equips you for an optional placement year, or straight into final year study.
Before your final year, you can choose an optional placement year in industry or study abroad, gaining paid, professional experience that can count towards the RICS Assessment of Professional Competence.
In your final year, you'll bring together investment, development and corporate real estate management alongside an independent dissertation of your choice. By the end of this year, you're equipped with the knowledge to enter the profession as a graduate surveyor.
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This extended degree offers an alternative route into higher education if you don't yet meet the standard entry requirements. Your foundation year explores architecture, the built environment and their wider context, covering spatial design, sustainability and materials, and can help you develop practical skills with industry-standard tools and technology.
From the start, you'll explore the history of the built environment, construction technology and law for surveyors, building the core theory and practice of the profession. This equips you to apply these fundamentals to real market scenarios.
Next, you'll study urban planning, applied valuation and property asset management, building the specialist knowledge surveyors use daily. This equips you for an optional placement year, or straight into final year study.
Before your final year, you can choose an optional placement year in industry or study abroad, gaining paid, professional experience that can count towards the RICS Assessment of Professional Competence.
In your final year, you'll bring together investment, development and corporate real estate management alongside an independent dissertation of your choice. By the end of this year, you're equipped with the knowledge to enter the profession as a graduate surveyor.
Module information is indicative and is reviewed annually therefore may be subject to change. Applicants will be informed if there are any changes.
You will be introduced here to the Built Environment as an industry and its context, both nationally and globally; its sectors and professional activity to give a good grounding in the industry, and one from which you can make an informed choice of career pathway. You will cover the structure and nature of the industry, commercial and financial aspects, business approaches, importance of business location and premises, culture, management and employment prospects. You will develop your ability to reflect and self assess.
This module is intended to introduce you to approaches to building surveys and appraisal through the investigation of structural defects in buildings. You will examine the role and function of the surveyor within the context of the built environment, and will explore the work practices of the surveyor at practical and professional level.
You will learn how to develop a client brief on a real project and then progress a professional surveying assignment through to the production of a concluding report. This will take the form of an introduction to academic, study and professional skills and will draw students’ first year studies into a holistic project experience. It aims to reflect the interdependence of the different topic areas studied at Level 3, in the context of the surveying profession. You will learn how to work both individually and as part of a team and be able to assess your own and others role, responsibilities and contribution via reflective practice.
You will study a range of topics to support the above including:
1.Property Portfolios & Estate Management
Buildings/Land/Other Assets; Commercial/Residential; Private sector/Public sector
2. The Role of Property
Property development and the UK planning system; Property investment, residential Buy-to-Let; Commercial property – Location & Use; Retail/Office/Industrial/Leisure - Occupation & Market Valuation
3. Property and Surveys
Plans & maps; Purpose & Methods of survey; Survey inspection; Property valuation techniques
4. Property Market and The Economy
Basic economic theory; The UK housing market; Finance, interest rates and inflation
5. The Property Profession
Role of the surveyor; Who does what? Key players and property professionals; The RICS and key property legislation
6. Managing the Property
Freehold/Leasehold; Landlord & Tenant Relationship;
On completion of this module the knowledge and understanding acquired forms part of the broader contextual framework for the study of your future discipline specific programme.
You will be introduced here to the role and function of the architect and the architectural technologist within the built environment. You will look at the wide range of activities that go together to make up the busy world of design and construction and begin to consider your future position within the workplace. You will consider the practical application of a theoretical background that informs the way in which the built environment is designed and delivered. You will learn about the design process and fundamental construction technology and material solutions.
You will apply basic mathematical skills to the mensuration of land and buildings and to the calculation of building costs. This module will complement other level 3 modules and will contribute to an integrated project. You will develop throughout this module numeracy skills relating to the use and evaluation of data relating to the measurement of buildings and land and the calculation of building costs. Topics include:
• Productivity rates
• Estimating building costs
• Scheduling of building work
• Mathematical and arithmetic operations
• Mensuration formulae and techniques
• Organisation of information using databases
The emphasis is on organising and communicating information relating to the costs of buildings through the use of relational databases.You will apply basic mathematical skills to the mensuration of land and buildings and to the calculation of building costs. This module will complement other level 3 modules and will contribute to an integrated project. You will develop throughout this module numeracy skills relating to the use and evaluation of data relating to the measurement of buildings and land and the calculation of building costs. Topics include:
• Productivity Rates
• Estimating building costs
• Scheduling of building work
• Mathematical and arithmetic operations
• Mensuration formulae and techniques
• Organisation of information using databases
The emphasis is on organising and communicating information relating to the costs of buildings through the use of relational databases.
This module aims to provide an introduction to construction management. You will appreciate the project-based and uniquely structured construction industry, and the professional roles that operate in it. You will develop an understanding of how the construction industry is structured, how it operates, and its economic significance. The module will also provide knowledge about the roles and responsibilities of the key project team members, how they relate to each other and how they influence the construction project outcomes. In addition, you will gain an appreciation of core construction project deliverables and constraints, including how these are managed on a project, how they are linked together, and how they are connected to the client. Overall, the module will develop your skills as a reflective practitioner to support your future personal and professional development.
You will learn about how buildings evolved from antiquity to the modern age, with the intent of your being able to identify differing architectural and constructional styles. Supporting this, you will learn to identify how key developments in materials and technologies led to new ideas on construction and planning for urban living. You will also learn about the surveying professions that work within and look after the built environment, and how you can use academic skills to communicate your ideas and responses within various individual and group assessments, and support your own learning, essential to your success at university.
To facilitate this, the module will create a platform for you to learn some important academic, study and professional skills in relation to your degree programme.. You will learn how to undertake academic work and be able to assess your own and others’ role, responsibilities and contribution via reflective practice.
You will study a range of topics to support the above including:
The history of the built environment
The roles of different Built Environment professionals, including introductory presentations from different professionals and practitioners.
An introduction to academic, study and professional skills.
On completion of this module the knowledge and understanding acquired forms part of the broader contextual framework for the study of your discipline specific programme. The programme is accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. The academic content and skills development within the module is aimed at developing you both in terms of your current and future career aspiration.
The demand for construction and property is generated from the global, national and regional economy. In this module you will learn how the surveyor works within the economic environment to provide the good and services demanded by society. You will learn about the basic and fundamental economic concepts such as demand and supply theory, market mechanism and macroeconomic objectives in order to develop an understanding of economic theory as applied to the construction industry and property. These fundamentals will be developed to help you understand money supply, the concept of risk and return and investment finance. Practical exercises will help you understand the components of value in property, property development and the construction process. You will learn about the role, key activities and the basic skills of the surveying and construction professions in different stages of the development and construction process with introductions to the key functions, professional practice techniques and concepts that are commonly deployed within the built environment such as property valuation, cost estimating and property procurement methods.
This module seeks to provide you with a fundamental understanding of how construction and structural technologies can be employed to address key principles of building, and to satisfy performance and regulatory requirements. You will also be introduced to the aesthetic, environmental, economic and legislative factors that influence the choice of technologies in the construction industry. In particular, you will develop an understanding of the following aspects of technologies for small-scale buildings:
- the construction team and their specific roles in technological decisions
- structural principles
- foundations and groundworks
- principles of enclosure
- principles of environmental control
- building envelope as a climatic modifier
- daylight and lighting need; room conditions and sound transfer
- air transfer mechanisms
- alternative sources of energy
-principles of heat loss
- material properties and choices
- external wall construction methods
- internal walls floors and stairs
- fixtures, fittings and furniture
- principles of sustainability and the impact of construction on the built and natural environments
- health and safety in the construction and use of buildings
- building regulations and associated legislation
- communications and graphical standards in construction technology
You will learn about the key areas of law, which are relevant to the surveying profession, and also start to develop professional skills. Topics include:
• Introduction to the English Legal System and how the law affects the work of surveyors
• Sources of law, reviewing a case, interpreting legislation, legal research and problem solving techniques
• Contract Law
• Land law; land ownership, land registration, public and private rights affecting land and adverse possession.
• The sale of land; overview of the conveyancing process, different methods of sale including auctions and tenders.
• Tort : Negligence, Professional Negligence, Occupiers' liability, nuisance and Trespass.
• Landlord and Tenant Law; reading a lease, key lease obligations and remedies for breach of covenant.
This module is designed as part of a package of first year modules to provide you with the key skills and knowledge to embark on a programme of study leading to professional qualification as a chartered surveyor. The module will draw on and supplement the module on Construction Technology.
The module will be introduced by exercises to identify the characteristics of property matching them to occupier demands. You will learn and experience land and building surveying and measurement, instructed in the use of surveying equipment and be able to apply these techniques in real building surveys. In addition you will learn how to analyse building defects and specify and supervise their remediation, in the context of the contractual obligations imposed in property purchase and leasing transactions.
It is essential that the property professions make a contribution in combating climate change and as such you will be taught a range of low carbon design and construction philosophies and the application of renewable energy technologies. Property refurbishment and enhancement can also make a substantial contribution to minimising the environmental impact of property occupation, you will apply the techniques taught to the refurbishment of a range properties.
You will learn how to use BIM software as a way of recording and communicating proposed and existing buildings and develop practical and technical surveying skills in extracting and/or communicating buildings and assets. You will learn how to work as part of a team to produce solutions to a project related problem/ scenario, to work to tight deadlines and presentation skills for surveyors. You will be able to assess your own and others’ role, responsibilities and contribution in completing a task.
On completion of this module the knowledge and understanding acquired form part of the broader contextual framework for the study of your discipline specific programme. The programme is accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. The academic content and skills development within the module are aimed at developing you both in terms of your current and future career aspirations.
You will develop your understanding of academic conventions in UK higher education aligned to your level of study, including expectations around critical analysis, structure, argumentation, evidencing, and referencing. The module focuses on developing communication strategies that will help you express your ideas clearly and coherently in written assignments and spoken activities. You will also reflect on your current academic and language skills and develop strategies for development ahead of your assessments.
Planning mediates between competing interests in society and guides, shapes and regulates the use of land and property. The primary policy goal is to deliver and/or facilitate 'sustainable development'.
In this module you will explore the significance of planning in order to facilitate economic, social and environmental objectives within the development process. The module explores the nature of planning from a development perspective by engaging with policy, practical examples and key development concepts. It considers the guiding principles of planning, the statutory processes and procedural dimensions, the management of development, contemporary planning practice, key actors and agencies, synergies between planning and urban regeneration and the competing and evolving dynamics of urban development.
You will develop, throughout this module, academic and professional skills relating to the evaluation of policy; effective communication; self-direction and personal responsibility and appreciate social and ethical aspects of the development process.
On this module, you will be learning and developing valuation theory and methodology and applying it to market-based scenarios. You will be introduced to the RICS Valuation –Global Standards (the Red Book) which will give you an understanding of the professional requirements of a chartered surveyor working in valuation. You will develop your IT skills in the use of Excel. You will also be introduced to valuation for statutory purposes through the process of calculating value for business rates.
Within Applied Valuation the range of topics studied include:
• Valuation principles and the role of the valuer
• Collection, analysis and presentation of comparable data
• Context and content of the RICS Valuation –Global Standards
• Use of investment methods of valuation for freehold and leasehold interests and their application to live property scenarios
• Applied use of the residual method of valuation for development purposes and an introduction to development appraisal
• The construction of Excel spreadsheets for valuation
• Statutory valuation for rating purposes
The module introduces you to the concepts and practices of commercial and residential property asset management, including landlord and tenant relationships, leases, and an initial consideration of the legal and practical issues.
At the end of the module you will be able to identify the main legislation and important legal documents applicable to the surveyor’s role. You will be able to apply theory to practice and will have improved your work related skills in various fields.
An indicative outline syllabus is as follows:
• Leases and legal documents
• Rents, codes and lettings
• Service charges (commercial and residential)
• Rent Reviews
• Exit strategies
• Alienation
• Landlord and Tenant legislation
• Tenant Default
• Mixed use
• Residential property law
• The private rented sector
• Social housing
The module will focus on the marketing process from initial receipt of instruction to successful completion of the transaction. This will be for the letting of a commercial property on the basis of a new lease and will include:
• Receipt of Instruction
• Inspection
• Rental Valuation
• Reporting to the client
• Marketing Plan
• Marketing Period
• Negotiation of terms
• Agreement of Heads of Terms
• Preparation of Draft Lease
• Completion
You will also be introduced to real estate research methods in order to be able to analyse market data. You will be expected to relate the detailed marketing process to the local property market. The legislation and professional body guidance framework controlling the role of an agent will be considered and related to market examples to help you to understand the requirements. Throughout the semester you will also be introduced to a range of topics including:
• The principle Legislation affecting the marketing of property
• Letting by Sub Lease and Assignment
• Freehold Sale
• Sale/Assignment of Long Ground Lease
• The use of IT in marketing
• Researching real estate
You will learn about and examine the economy and core economic concepts and how these are related to, and influence real estate markets and their performance. The module aims to provide students with the opportunity to apply economic theory to real estate markets; specifically the development, use, management and adaptation land and buildings in an urban context. At the end of the module you should be able to employ property market and other economic data to analyse the nature, condition and structure of urban property markets. Assessment is by way of a written coursework and an examination, providing both formative and summative feedback.
Indicative syllabus
A syllabus of the topics covered:
• Basic economic principles
• Urban economics and economic geography
• Real estate market dynamics and property cycle
• Economics of the capital market
• Residential market and housing affordability
• Economic data workshop
This module will teach you about the surveying profession, the governing bodies and give you an understanding of the skill set required to succeed within the profession to allow you to consider the direction of your future career. You will learn how to develop your professional CV and how to conduct yourself within an employment interview through a mock interview. You will also look at the RICS Assessment of Professional Competence in order to understand the process to become a Chartered Surveyor to be able to start planning a learning strategy.
You will develop your understanding of academic conventions in UK higher education aligned to your level of study, including expectations around critical analysis, structure, argumentation, evidencing, and referencing. The module focuses on developing communication strategies that will help you express your ideas clearly and coherently in written assignments and spoken activities. You will also reflect on your current academic and language skills and develop strategies for development ahead of your assessments.
Optional modules may include:
In this module you will develop existing knowledge gained in previous years building on valuation techniques and critically applying these skills to current market scenarios. You will consider the appraisal of real estate and how this applies to the profession as a whole and how to advise a client/stakeholder appropriately through the RICS Valuation –Global Standards and other professional requirements such as the International Property Measuring Standards. You will also consider the current issues facing both the profession and real estate markets. This will prepare you for a career as a Chartered Surveyor and build towards the RICS Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) pathway.
Within Commercial Real Estate Appraisal you will study a range of topics including:-
• Valuation/appraisal methodology, applying to scenarios
• Secured lending valuations/appraisal
• Asset valuations/appraisal
• RICS reporting and advising clients
• Modern methods of valuation and appraisal
• Using IT software for Real Estate appraisal
Throughout this module you will develop academic and professional skills relating to the use and analysis of data, understand real estate markets and the impact on appraisal. In addition, you will learn to effectively communicate and advise clients/stakeholders in accordance with RICS governance.
You will learn about the planning and development process in an urban context focusing on the management of pre-construction decision-making and the evaluation of projects including site investigation, planning and development control, viability assessment and development appraisal. The module aims to help you understand the complex social, economic and physical environment and market conditions within which real estate development takes place, develop your knowledge of the management of the development process, acquisition of development sites, identification of sources of development finance and allow you to recognise the crucial role that surveyors play in the real estate development process.
Indicative syllabus topics include:
* Real Estate Development process
* Site evaluation and investigation
* Planning decisions, conditions and challenges
* Market research for development
* Construction procurement and risk
* Acquisition and disposal of development land
* Development finance and funding
* Development control and enforcement
* Development viability and appraisal
You will be introduced to a strategic overview of property portfolio management, which includes the corporate occupier, reflecting the changes in property management practice. The module is intended to provide you with an insight into property and strategic asset management. This includes identifying and analysing current business trends and changing patterns of property occupation set within the context of a legal structure that must be employed by the real estate surveyor.
You will study a range of topics to support the above including:
Property management
Strategic Asset management
Portfolio management
Exit strategies and Insolvency
Assignments and sub lettings
Sustainability issues
Office markets, users and flexible working arrangements
Retail issues
The leisure market
Industrial markets
The programme is accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the academic content and skills development within the module is aimed at developing you both in terms of your current and future career aspirations.
On this module, you will gain the knowledge and skills necessary to actively manage property as an investment asset within the wider professional investment market.
You will develop an understanding of principal investment assets and their characteristics in order to speculate, predict market activity and undertake complex investment decisions which are reflective of current practice. The module will also provide you with knowledge and experience of contemporary issues affecting the investment markets.
Topics covered will include:
• The structure of the investment universe
• Investor profiling
• Competition: alternative assets
• Measuring returns from property investment
• Investment objectives: the concept of risk and return
• Investment theory including stranded assets and contemporary environmental, social and governance requirements
• Applied investment strategy
• Property cycles: when is the timing right?
• Property finance and funding
•
• Indirect investment vehicles
• Diversification within property investment portfolios
• Property disposal
• Purchasing property
• Investment portfolio appraisal
This module is designed to support you in independently pursuing an original piece of research on a built environment topic of your own choice and aims to provide you with an opportunity to design and conduct a substantive piece of investigative work that is directly related to your programme of study. You will draw upon and develop your independent research skills to answer a research question or test a hypothesis of your choosing. You will assemble and review relevant scholarly literature and data and to present a cogent, reasoned and objective critique of published scholarly work on your chosen topic, in order to define a precisely focus for your research.
You will develop expertise to achieve the following:
• identify an appropriate research topic
• critically review relevant academic literature;
• formulate research questions/hypotheses and appropriate methods of inquiry;
• collect your own data and/or using existing datasets and literature
• analyse and interpret your results using appropriate quantitative, statistical and/or qualitative techniques,
• relate your findings to existing and up-to-date literature and theory;
• objectively appraise the ethical considerations of conducting research; and
• independently manage and implement your own research project.
You will develop your understanding of academic conventions in UK higher education aligned to your level of study, including expectations around critical analysis, structure, argumentation, evidencing, and referencing. The module focuses on developing communication strategies that will help you express your ideas clearly and coherently in written assignments and spoken activities. You will also reflect on your current academic and language skills and develop strategies for development ahead of your assessments.
Standard Offer 72 UCAS Tariff Points
From a combination of acceptable Level 3 qualifications which may include: A-level, T Level, BTEC Diplomas/Extended Diplomas, Scottish and Irish Highers, Access to HE Diplomas, or the International Baccalaureate.
Find out how many points your qualifications are worth by using the UCAS Tariff calculator: www.ucas.com/ucas/tariff-calculator
Contextual Admissions 56 UCAS Tariff points
Northumbria University is committed to supporting all individuals to achieve their ambitions and we understand that every applicant’s circumstances can be different, which is why we take a flexible approach and assess your individual circumstances and potential when reviewing your application.
To find out more, review our Northumbria Entry Requirement Essential Information page for further details www.northumbria.ac.uk/entryrequirementsinfo
GCSE Requirements:
Applicants will need Maths, Statistics, or Physics and English Language at minimum grade 4/C, or equivalents.
International Qualifications:
We welcome applicants with a range of qualifications which may not match those shown above.
If you have qualifications from outside the UK, find out what you need by visiting www.northumbria.ac.uk/yourcountry
English Language Requirements:
International applicants should have a minimum overall IELTS (Academic) score of 6.0 with 5.5 in each component (or an approved equivalent*).
*The university accepts a large number of UK and International Qualifications in place of IELTS. You can find details of acceptable tests and the required grades in our English Language section: www.northumbria.ac.uk/englishqualifications
The UK tuition fee for 27/28 is £10,050 and is set in line with the UK Government's tuition fee cap. The University may increase this fee in subsequent years in line with any changes to the tuition fee cap. Students will be notified of any increase ahead of it taking effect.
The remaining fees for 27/28 are to be confirmed and relate to the International Soccer Academy and accommodation fees. Accommodation fees may increase in subsequent years. Students will be notified of any increase ahead of the re-issuing of tenancy agreements.
The University may increase tuition fees in the second and subsequent years of your course at our discretion in line with any inflationary or other uplift, as decided by the UK Government, up to the maximum amount for fees permitted by UK law or regulation for that academic year. To give students an indication of the likely scale of any future increase, the UK government has suggested that increases may be linked to RPIX (Retail Price Index excluding mortgage interest payments). If the University intends to exercise this right to increase tuition fees, notification will be communicated with all students affected by the end of June in the academic year before the one in which we intend to exercise that right. Student fee loans have risen in line with the level of uplift decided by the UK Government.
Extended Degrees: Students will pay the applicable Foundation Year fee in Year 0. Tuition fees will follow the Year 1 (Level 4) cap in the first year of Undergraduate study, with tuition fees in subsequent years increasing as per the above information.
* Fees subject to annual increases over the course of the period of study. Students will be liable for payment of any/all tuition fees which are not sponsored by their employer or other third party.
This is the tuition fee for your first year of study. You should expect to pay tuition fees for every year of study. The University may increase fees in the second and subsequent years of your course at our discretion in line with any inflationary or other uplift. Students will be notified of any increase ahead of it taking effect.
Tuition fees in the academic year 2027/28* will be £10,050. Fees are set in line with the UK Government's tuition fee cap. The University may increase fees in subsequent years in line with any changes to the tuition fee cap. Increases will be linked to inflation. For example, increases may be linked to RPIX (Retail Price Index excluding mortgage interest payments) Students will be notified of any increase ahead of it taking effect. Student fee loans rise in line with the tuition fees cap.
This is the programme fee for your first year of study. The programme fee includes the international tuition fee, International Soccer Academy and accommodation fees. Accommodation fees may increase in subsequent years. Students will be notified of any increase ahead of the re-issuing of tenancy agreements.
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This course is accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, contributing towards the RICS Assessment of Professional Competence and Chartered Surveyor status.
Architecture, Built Environment and Planning at Northumbria is ranked 11th in the UK for research power, out of 38 submissions (REF 2021).
Northumbria is ranked 20th in the UK for Building (Times Good University Guide, 2027).
Learn from real estate surveyors, valuers, planners and solicitors who bring current industry practice directly into your studies.
92.3% of Northumbria's BSc Real Estate graduates were in highly skilled employment or further study 15 months after graduation (surveyed 13 full-time, first degree, UK graduates, Graduate Outcomes 23/24, HESA).
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This course is accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, contributing towards the RICS Assessment of Professional Competence and Chartered Surveyor status.
Architecture, Built Environment and Planning at Northumbria is ranked 11th in the UK for research power, out of 38 submissions (REF 2021).
Northumbria is ranked 20th in the UK for Building (Times Good University Guide, 2027).
Learn from real estate surveyors, valuers, planners and solicitors who bring current industry practice directly into your studies.
92.3% of Northumbria's BSc Real Estate graduates were in highly skilled employment or further study 15 months after graduation (surveyed 13 full-time, first degree, UK graduates, Graduate Outcomes 23/24, HESA).
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