Course overview

Property development covers everything from doing up a small house to large-scale, multi-million pound development schemes. The problems and challenges that developers face are often enormous. Depending on the nature and size of the project, you may need to deal with planners, financiers, architects, surveyors, solicitors, other property professionals, pressure groups, community organisations, the media and even governments.

Based in the award-winning Portland Building, the School of Civil Engineering and Surveying shares its facilities with the School of Architecture, providing a vibrant and friendly community for both staff and students involved in the built and natural environments.

You will be taught by staff from a wide range of professional practice, including surveyors, architects, project managers, economists, planners and lawyers. Their hands-on experience is reflected in the modern and diverse nature of this course. We aim to provide you with a flexible degree programme that allows you to tailor the course to your own interests whilst acquiring a range of skills and experiences, which will be of direct benefit in the workplace.

Professional accreditation

The University of Portsmouth has delivered property courses for over 40 years and is one of the longest established Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) accredited centres. Many of our former students now hold senior positions in industry and the quality of our courses has been recognised by both the property profession and the national press.

Once you’ve graduated and got your first job, you will begin training to become a chartered surveyor with a professional qualification. This is known as the ‘Assessment of Professional Competence’ (APC) and is a structured on-the-job training scheme ending with an assessment interview. Once you have satisfactorily completed this, you can apply to become a member of the RICS and are able to use the designated status Chartered Surveyor.

Career focused

The entrance criteria of this degree have been designed to comply with the requirements of the major graduate programmes. Competent students can have the opportunity to apply their skills to real-life practical problems as part of the department’s partnership scheme with charities, local and global organisations. Please view the 'Career prospects' section for further details.

To find out more about placement opportunities in the Faculty of Technology, please visit our Placements Office pages.

Studying abroad

During the final year, all students have the option to participate in the unit International Built Environment Fieldwork, a residential overseas field trip, the nature of which will reflect your programme of study. Recent venues have included Barcelona, Paris, Turkey, Dublin and the Netherlands.

A year in industry

The property development degree programme at Portsmouth is a three-year, full-time course. However, we do encourage you to find relevant employment, so far as your studies permit and where appropriate, this may take the form of a year in industry.

Course content

If you are interested in all aspects of the built and natural environments and wish to follow a programme of study that leads to a career as a property professional, then this course is ideal.

We are renowned for our friendly, modern and supportive learning environment, which will provide you with the opportunity to maximise your potential. Graduates from this particular degree programme are in demand in the workplace and this is reflected in one of the highest employability uptake rates nationally. They are also able to attract a competitve starting salary.

First year

During your first year you will study the following core units:

• Professional Development
• Mediation of Space Making of Place
• Law for the Built Environment
• Construction, Design and Sustainability
• Property Economics and Financial Accounting
• Property Valuation

Second and third year

During the second and third years, your studies will include:

• Building Technology and Efficiency Management
• Property Valuation and Specialised Applications
• Heritage Property
• Land Law and Landlord and Tenant Law
• Property Investment and Development
• Planning  Law and Practice
• Building Pathology
• Retail and Commercial Property
• Coastal Properties, Environmental Hazards and Adaptation
• Statutory Valuation
• Estate Management
• International Built Environment Fieldwork
• Integrated Interprofessional Project  

In addition you will be encouraged to study options which could include learning a second language or develop existing language skills through our Institution-Wide Language Programme.

In your final year, you will also be expected to complete a dissertation in a subject of your choice, which is developed and conducted with the advice of a personal tutor.

Teaching and assessment

In addition to the more traditional forms of assessment, the property study programmes are assessed in a variety of different ways, providing you with valuable skills and experience in activities such as team work, report production, making presentations and web authoring. Most lectures are supported by a set of tutor-prepared study guides and increasingly these are accessible electronically. Whilst classroom-based learning has its place, by its very nature 'property' requires a proactive, hands-on approach. You will undertake site visits and carry out fieldwork that will introduce you to the markets and environments in which you will eventually work.

We encourage all of our students to become active learners in order to take full advantage of the many learning resources that are available while they are studying at the University. All students are assigned a Personal Tutor who holds weekly tutorial sessions with a small group of students, where issues raised in the course can be discussed.

During your first year of study, you will undertake core course units across the professional programmes. During your second and final year you are able to elect specialist themes that allow you to tailor your studies to suit your career intentions or personal interests.

Input from industry

Our property development lecture series provides you with the opportunity to attend and contribute to topical debates that surround emerging property and business issues. Delivered by specially invited professional practitioners, the lecture series provides an opportunity for business updates and a first-hand perspective on both local and international property environments.

Career prospects

Placement opportunities

In the Faculty of Technology we feel that students should be given as many opportunities as possible to gain meaningful work experience and build employability skills throughout their studies to make them more attractive to future employers.

Working with other University services, the Faculty’s Student Placement and Employability Centre (SPEC) ensure students have access to a range of volunteering and work experience opportunities, including year-long industrial placements, and provide support for the different types of application processes.

To find out more about how you can gain work experience whilst studying BSc (Hons) Property Development, please visit our Placements Office pages.

Graduate roles

Working in property makes for an interesting, challenging and exciting career. It is well paid and very sociable. It gets you out of the office and you will meet and work with all sorts of interesting people. The best aspect about working in property is the sheer variety of the field.

Property development is an important, high-value business asset and sound professional advice on it is increasingly sought after.

Facilities and features

The undergraduate property courses are based in the award-winning Portland Building. The acclaimed futuristic design of the building incorporates many of the principles of effective and environmentally sensitive property development. Apart from being a fantastic place to learn and study, the building provides an example of how important buildings are in creating an environment that is conducive to learning.

Part of the building is given over to the Learning Resources Centre, which includes a dedicated reference library and extensive computer facilities. It is staffed by librarians and technicians who are able to provide expert support and guidance. We also provide online access to an extensive range of subscription-only professional database and reference sources.

Maths Café

The Maths Café is a daily drop-in facility, where ANY student of the University can receive help on any maths or statistics problem they encounter in their studies. We operate in a friendly, informal location which we hope will encourage students to visit us. Handouts on key topics are available to take away. Students can be shown how to use computer aided learning packages, which can be accessed from any computer attached to the University's computer network.

Entry requirements

View all the entry requirements for BSc (Hons) Property Development for the academic year 2013/14 (opens in new window).