RICS Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Progress Report 2025

Following our progress reports for RICS diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) activities, published in 2023 and 2024, we are proud to share updates on what has been accomplished in 2025 with our employees, members and our wider stakeholders.

DEI Strategy

As the initial DEI strategy for 2023-25 now comes to a close, we are very proud to have accomplished most of what we aimed to achieve and this could not have happened without tremendous support from RICS employees, members and partners. Thank you all for your time and collaboration.

Next year we will launch the 2026-2030 DEI strategy, a refined data-driven and impact-focused approach to addressing challenges and accelerating progress. (This strategy is closely aligned to the updated action plan developed by the BE Inclusive collective of built and natural environment professional bodies.)

Global DEI Forum

In 2024 we established a DEI Forum that has grown to 17 volunteer representatives from RICS World Regional, Regional Advisory and Matrics Boards to agree priority areas for collaboration and drive localised activities that are relevant to members in their regions. This approach was approved by Governing Council in response to the recommendations in the Bichard Review.

This Forum has demonstrated its value in representing the diverse needs of our membership and plays an important role in evaluating and refining RICS DEI activities and initiatives, and wider organisational priorities such as membership concessions.

The group agreed on priority topics to align activities and discussions throughout our global regions through member engagement activities and events in 2025.  These topics were agreed upon because of their intersectional ties across other demographic groups and will remain for 2026. They include:

• Gender Equity
• Mental Health
• Social Mobility
• Disability Inclusion

Highlights

• We renewed our Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with BE Inclusive professional body partners and expanded the group from 6 organisation to 9, collectively representing more than 400,000 built and natural environment professionals. We worked collectively throughout the year to develop an updated action plan for 2026-2030 that was reviewed and signed off by CEOs in November.
• RICS hosted a development and networking event for Employee Resource Group (ERG) leaders in partnership with private property firms. This resulted in a significant increase in joint events throughout the year where organisations came together and shared activities and resources, demonstrating the power of collaboration within the sector.
• We continued our efforts to improve member data, exceeding our 2025 targets for response rates. That being said, we still have a long way to go in getting response rates high enough for us to deliver reports on the makeup of the membership. We encourage all members to do their part by logging in and updating their individual member profiles.
• We launched robust accessibility audits of our digital platforms to identify deficiencies and develop project plans for addressing them and ensuring our platforms are accessible for all users.
• Largescale events for International Women’s Day and Social Mobility brought more than 200 students, apprentices and graduates into RICS HQ to learn more about Surveying, develop professional skills and connect with members for insights and mentorship.
• The DEI team engaged with members and stakeholders in Dubai and hosted an event in partnership with Expo City’s Women’s Pavilion where we showcased women experts in the industry with discussions on inclusive design and leadership. We also  travelled to India where we met with members and senior industry leaders through a series of inclusion roundtables, and spoke with students at the School of the Built Environment in Delhi.
• RICS hosted eight member-led network events in our Birmingham and London offices focused on connecting and developing members and candidates. Most notably, our internal networks partnered with industry networks to bring members and employees together for discussions and celebrations across numerous inclusion topics.
•  RICS took part in the Festival of the Girl for the first time, where roughly 1,100 children attended along with their parents/guardians. 12 RICS members and apprentices volunteered to support and introduce children aged 7-11 to Surveying and opportunities in the built and natural environment.
• The DEI Team represented RICS as expert speakers and thought leaders at numerous industry and cross-industry events throughout the year, both in the UK and internationally. In addition to global advocacy, Savanta research showed that UK Government and public awareness of RICS DEI initiatives has risen by 13%.

As an employer

Internally for our employees, we have continued to improve and refine our data and have seen a tremendous response rate in our ‘Count Me In’ campaign in its first year. Employee data helps us understand the makeup of our organisation at all levels, identify and understand gaps and develop strategies to address them. This data is also vital in helping us meeting our legal reporting obligations in the UK when it comes to Gender Pay Gap, and future Ethnicity and Disability Pay Gap reporting.  

After launching our Disability Inclusion Framework in 2024, we continued efforts to improve and embed disability inclusion across the business through bespoke team training and the digital accessibility audits mentioned above. Our external partners at Purple Tuesday developed training to support our teams in delivering more accessible events and shape more disability inclusive working environments for people they line manage.

After 18 months of work with the RACE Equality Code team, which included a robust audit of our policies, practices and governance as well as in-depth discussions with executive and board leadership, we have developed and committed to a three-year action plan to improve representation at all levels of our organisation, with a necessary focus on racial equity.

Our incredible employee networks led numerous inclusion events, many in partnership with members, and worked collectively to deliver our annual Dialogue for Diversity event. This was a two-day virtual event comprised of panel discussions and workshops spanning a wide range of inclusion topics.  

What to expect in 2026

Early in the New Year we will continue discussions with RICS Governing Council and the DEI Forum to align and finalise the 2026-2030 strategy and ensure it meets the needs of our members globally. More details on impact-focused campaigns and initiatives will be shared in this strategy.

We will also launch the Inspired to Hired project, focused on increasing access to support and opportunities within the built and natural environment and improving social mobility. This project aims to support students and early career talent, employers in our industry, and the incredible grassroots organisations working tirelessly to deliver support and drive meaningful change. To support the launch of this project, we will be partnering with a variety of organisations to deliver insight days to increase awareness of Surveying careers and the impact built and natural environment professionals have within society.

Through the DEI Forum we hope to expand initiatives and draw in greater insights at the regional and local level through Regional Board and Matrics activities. If you are a member who is currently serving on a Regional or Matrics Board and would like to join the DEI Forum, please email us at dei@rics.org.

As an employer we will continue embedding our disability inclusion framework, delivering against our RACE Equality Code action plan, and maximising influence and impact of our employee networks.

Lastly, we want to thank all of the incredible employees and members who have volunteered their time to support our DEI activities and initiatives throughout the year. We can’t deliver the strategy and achieve meaningful change without you.

Together we are driving progress and shaping a more inclusive profession for all and remain committed to that aim.