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Many of us would like to know what our bosses and colleagues are earning, but are too polite to ask. Now, thanks to exclusive research by executive search consulting firm Beaumont Bailey for 好色先生TV鈥檚 sister title Housing Today, you can get a reasonable guage.

Beaumont Bailey asked leaders at the largest 50 UK housebuilders questions about pay and job satisfaction, receiving 272 anonymous responses, offering insights into the salaries of 10 high level job titles within the sector.

Salary survey 2023 results 

Salaries are presented as a regional average	Scotland	Yorkshire and North East	North West	Midlands (including East Anglia)	London	South East (Home Counties)	South West & Wales	Salary Average	Salary Ranges	Average Annual Bonus (shown as a % of salary)	Bonus Ranges
												Regional chair / divisional MD	拢232,000	拢242,000	拢244,000	拢262,000	拢289,000	拢271,000	拢219,000	拢251,000	拢219,000 to 拢325,000	98%	85% to 125%
												Managing director	拢169,000	拢174,000	拢183,000	拢191,000	拢220,000	拢188,000	拢156,000	拢183,000	拢140,000 to 拢250,000	69%	40% to 150%
Finance director	拢110,000	拢108,000	拢102,000	拢119,000	拢133,000	拢125,000	拢114,000	拢121,000	拢82,000 t0 拢158,000	40%	20% to 75%
Development director	拢109,000	拢125,000	拢123,000	拢119,000	拢182,000	拢143,000	拢117,000	拢131,000	拢85,000 to 拢263,000	49%	15% to 105%
Land & planning director	拢107,000	拢110,000	拢124,000	拢115,000	拢160,000	拢130,000	拢140,000	拢126,000	拢90,000 to 拢175,000	56%	30% to 105%
Technical director	拢108,000	拢105,000	拢105,000	拢110,000	拢149,000	拢124,000	拢103,000	拢115,000	拢86,000 to 拢168,000	52%	20% to 100%
Commercial director	拢140,000	拢124,000	拢128,000	拢125,000	拢184,000	拢112,000	拢85,000	拢126,000	拢85,000 to 拢184,000	67%	35% to 100%
Construction/build director	拢119,000	拢127,000	拢130,000	拢122,000	拢162,000	拢150,000	拢154,000	拢135,000	拢97,000 to 拢165,000	55%	25% to 105%
Project director	拢97,000	拢114,000	拢119,000	拢105,000	拢133,000	拢121,000	拢107,000	拢114,000	拢80,000 to 拢153,000	44%	20% to 75%
Sales & marketing director	拢135,000	拢125,000	拢108,000	拢107,000	拢117,000	拢130,000	拢138,000	拢123,000	拢88,000 to 拢161,000	66%	20% to 120%

The survey results reveal that a regional chair or managing director at one of the largest 50 UK housebuilders is paid 拢251,000 a year on average.

Almost half (98%) of that 拢251,000 income comes from bonuses, with regional chair and divisional MDs likely to receive a bonus of between 85% and 125% of their yearly salaries.

A regional chair or divisional MD based in London will receive the highest pay at 拢289,000 per year on average. But salaries for both job titles are well above 拢200,000 across the UK regions surveyed. The lowest salary in this bracket is in the South West and Wales region, at 拢219,000.

The research also reveals that the second-highest salaries among leaders in housebuilding are commanded by managing directors, who earn 拢183,000 on average including bonuses.

鈥淭he biggest takeaway from the survey is that there is still a lot of money to earn in this sector. The salaries are very healthy, as well as the bonuses,鈥� says Elliot Course, director of executive search at Beaumont Bailey.

Annual salary changes

Job title	2023	2022	% change
Managing directors	183,000	180,000	1.6
Finance directors	121,000	119,000	1.6
Development directors	131,000	134,000	-2.2
Land & planning directors	126,000	121,000	4.1
Commercial directors	126,000	122,000	3.2
Construction/ build directors	135,000	130,000	3.8
Sales and marketing directors	123,000	120,000	2.5

Note: Table based on 146 survey responses. Regional chair/Divisional MD, technical director and project director categories are excluded as there was a lack of data.

Salaries can feel quite an exposing thing to share. So, perhaps understandably, not all the survey respondents chose to share their salary information for 2022 compared with 2023.

The results from the 146 (54%) respondents who did spill the beans about their 2022 income, however, suggest that construction industry salaries remain steady.

鈥淎cross almost all job titles, there was a marginal increase in annual salaries,鈥� says Elliot. 鈥淭here was a slight annual bump in bonuses as well.鈥� 

Taking into consideration that inflation rose by more than 7% in the 12 months to June 2023, however, the results suggest that even the highest construction industry salaries have failed to keep pace with increases in the Consumer Price Index.

Development directors were the only roles whose average annual income had declined, the survey results suggest, with average salaries down 2.2% from 拢134,000 in 2022 to 拢131,000 this year.

Salaries for land/planning directors saw the biggest rise year-on-year, with a 4.1% increase. 

John Anderson, group chief executive at Allison Homes, says he isn鈥檛 surprised salaries for land/ planning directors are healthy. 鈥淚f you don鈥檛 have enough land you don鈥檛 have a business,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all about relationships and buying land at the right price. When the market place is particularly tough, these skills are incredibly important.鈥�

Salary surprises

The survey revealed that development directors in London earned more on average (拢182,000) than managing directors in the South West and Wales (拢156,000) or in Yorkshire and the North East of England (拢174,000). 

鈥淥ne London-based development director who responded to our survey was paid an annual basic salary of over 拢260,000, which is more than the highest paid managing director in the same region at 拢250,000,鈥� says Elliot.

Commercial directors in the South West and Wales had an average salary of 拢85,000, the lowest average for any of the roles surveyed.

Aside from managing directors or chairs, sales and marketing directors and commercial directors had the highest average bonuses, with some earning 120% of their salary.

However, Beaumont Bailey says potential bonus ranges for all director-level roles are 鈥渓ow compared to previous years鈥�.

Elliot says: 鈥淭he past 12 months have certainly been challenging, with inflation, the cost-of-living crisis and rising interest rates all taking their toll on the wider UK economy. These macro-factors are all likely to have had an impact on the level of bonus offered by employers. Despite the challenges being faced, there are still examples where directors can earn 100%+ of their annual base salary in bonus.鈥�

He adds: 鈥淚 envisage that bonuses will be hit harder next year, because of the way the market is now.鈥�

The value of job satisfaction

The survey asked respondents about the three most important factors to their job satisfaction with a majority (58%) saying it was salary, followed by flexible working (49%) and strong leadership (43%).

Colin Cole, chief executive of Lion Court Homes, says: 鈥淐learly salary is an important aspect of the total remuneration package. However, job satisfaction is the key staff retention tool and that is based on creating the right culture.鈥�

鈥淎part from salary and bonus, culture, flexible working and making employees shareholders have been fundamental to attracting the best people [to Lion Court].鈥�

He adds: 鈥漌e need to do much more to attract new people into our industry, at all levels. Salary alone is not enough. Our industry has a lot to offer but I fear that we are not an attractive industry to attract the best new talent.鈥�

Anderson believes one of the reasons salaries are high is that it鈥檚 difficult to recruit from outside the construction industry, which makes the skills of those who are already working in it more valuable. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 quite rare for somebody to come into the industry and fully understand the industry to the extent that they can be a success quickly. Which is why growing our own talent from within our businesses is really the route to success for most housebuiders,鈥� he says.

鈥淗aving said that, staying with the same business for twenty or thirty years is now a rarity. But staying in the same industry is more common than it would be for other sectors. If you鈥檙e in telecoms, for example, it鈥檚 interchangeable, you can move into most other sectors. Same with finance.

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鈥淥nce you鈥檙e in housebuilding you tend to stay in housebuilding. [Housebuilders] need to value those people, to incentivise them not to want to leave, by paying them what they鈥檙e worth and creating a culture that suits them, is very important.鈥�