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, 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 Building People says they operate largely in isolation, duplicating effort, competing for limited funding, and diluting their influence on policy and industry reform.
“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,” said Women in Planning co-chair, Shelly Rouse.
“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% open to collaboration;
- 94% 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% of initiatives are run primarily or entirely by volunteers;
- 44% have no paid staff at all;
- 58% report their budgets as ‘limited’ or ‘none’;
- 56% 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.
Vanishingly small resources
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% gender pay gap in skilled trades – the highest of any occupational group;
- Persistent attrition, with women leaving the sector significantly earlier than men.
Failure to retain talent
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 underpinned the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at UKREiiF in Leeds on 21 May 2026, bringing together almost 40 organisations across the sector to align priorities, share data and coordinate action.
To read the full report, visit Building People.
