The UK built environment is losing more than £740,000 a year due to fragmented efforts to improve gender equity, according to a landmark new report that calls for urgent sector-wide coordination.
The study published by Building People CIC and Women in Planning ahead of a formal industry agreement at UKREiiF maps 50 “Women in…” networks, initiatives and organisations operating across architecture, construction, engineering, planning, surveying, housing and utilities.
Collectively, these groups engage with more than 15,000 professionals annually, yet operate largely in isolation, duplicating effort, competing for limited funding, and diluting their influence on policy and industry reform.
Women in Planning Co-Chair, Shelly Rouse. said: “The sector does not lack activity, quite the opposite; it lacks coordination, shared priorities and collective leverage. This report quantifies the cost of fragmentation and, critically, the opportunity if we act together. By joining forces, we have a bigger, better impact, which is why we’re launching the report with a Memorandum of Understanding and accompanying Action Plan, with almost 40 built environment gender-focused signatories committing to collective action and a unified voice.”
Key findings from the report
- 50 initiatives mapped, spanning 49 organisations
- 24,500+ combined membership
- 15,000+ professionals reached annually
- 100 per cent open to collaboration
- 94 per cent actively include or welcome men
- CREATE (design and procurement) activity largely absent
The research, based on the first comprehensive mapping of its kind, highlights a paradox at the heart of the sector’s gender equity ecosystem: high levels of activity delivered on extremely limited resources. Finding that:
- 58 per cent of initiatives are run primarily or entirely by volunteers
- 44 per cent have no paid staff at all
- 58 per cent report their budgets as ‘limited’ or ‘none’
- 56 per cent have no formal way to measure impact, thus restricting access to grant funding
Despite these constraints, every initiative surveyed expressed willingness to collaborate – a finding the report positions as a critical opportunity for the sector.
Marsha Ramroop, Executive Director of EDI at Building People CIC and author of ‘Building Inclusion’, added: “These organisations are delivering disproportionate public value on vanishingly small resources. This is not about charity; it is about investing in the connective infrastructure that amplifies what already exists. At a time when funding is harder than ever to secure, every pound needs to count. That requires a collaborative and coordinated approach, rather than a competitive and duplicated one.”
The findings come against a backdrop of acute workforce pressure. The report draws on industry data to highlight:
- A projected shortfall of 251,500 construction workers by 2028
- A 13.9 per cent gender pay gap in skilled trades—the highest of any occupational group
- Persistent attrition, with women leaving the sector significantly earlier than men
The report warns that the industry is attempting to recruit from a talent pool it is simultaneously failing to retain, undermining both productivity and long-term growth.
Alongside fragmentation, the report identifies a major strategic gap: while mentoring and leadership programmes are widespread, there is minimal focus on how the built environment is designed, delivered and experienced by women.
This ‘CREATE deficit’ covering gender-responsive design, procurement and user research is described as “almost entirely absent” across the ecosystem.
Addressing this gap will form a central pillar of the proposed sector-wide collaboration framework.
The report underpins the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which took place at UKREiiF in Leeds on 21 May 2026, bringing together almost 40 organisations across the sector to align priorities, share data and coordinate action.
The aim: to move from dozens of disconnected initiatives to a more unified, strategic voice capable of influencing policy, unlocking funding and accelerating change at scale.
To read the full report click here.
