Estate agency figure Ellie Rees (pictured, below) of Brickworks says she is staggered that the property industry lets the huge imbalance between male and female pay continue.

This is despite recent research, including by global consultancy PwC, that 75% of the lowest paid jobs within the property industry still go to women despite 46% of the workforce being female.

Also, the research showed that only 30% of senior jobs are held by women and that they received only 20p for every £1 men get in bonus related pay.

“For real change, serious disruption needs to happen, I’m happy to admit I don’t have all the answers but that doesn’t mean we should avoid poking and prodding and getting the sticky conversation about the gender authority gap started,” says Rees.

She also says that many big firms within the industry lag well behind the rest of UK business and “at best come across as outdated and tone deaf to the current climate, and at worst actively avoidant”.

Unpopular

Rees, who has called out the industry’s lack of opportunity for women in the past, says she’s aware that her comments have made her ‘really unpopular’ with some very established industry names.

“But everywhere I looked I saw a sea of middle-aged white men. The lack of diversity was as antiquated as it was breathtaking and I couldn’t not use my voice on the matter,” she adds.

Reflecting on the last decade Ellie adds: “If we can get people in the property industry, as well as homeowners, talking more, breaking away from the target-driven, macho culture which has dominated to date, and to speak openly about the things that really matter when it comes to our notion of ‘home’ then I will feel as if I have contributed to the sector in a significant way.”

March is Women’s History Month, which every year celebrates women’s contributions to society both in the past and the present.