Real Estate (International) MSc at Northumbria University
We focus on the physical built environment (how it is constructed and adapted over time) and the business of the built environment e.g., how the built environment is utilised and how value is managed and derived.
We also embed core skills around critical evaluation, problem solving, project management, negotiation, communication and decision-making and collaboration. This means that you have the requirements to pursue any career associated with the built environment.
We embed the latest technological innovations to make sure our graduates have the skills to plan, design, construct, manage and value buildings. Whenever possible we use methods relevant to industry such as presentations, report-writing and mock client meetings to assess student work. Technology driven Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Automated Valuation Models (AVM) are emerging pillars in our teaching.
The course concludes in an independent dissertation in a related specialist area of your choice. There are no examinations for this course.
You will learn in a vibrant and dynamic environment. The diverse professional experience of our staff ranges from real estate surveying, corporate real estate and development appraisal, residential and commercial property valuation, property investment and finance, to building and urban design, planning, construction, project management and law. This is combined with research-active academics whose expertise in the sector span planning and development surveying, urban regeneration, finance, design and architecture.
Lecturers balance their teaching and research with external industry-related projects to inform your learning. This approach creates a research-rich, practice-based environment which will develop your critical abilities, problem solving skills and lay a firm foundation for a career in the property industry.
Our strong links with industry give you the opportunity to work on live projects as part of your course. Industry professionals also regularly deliver guest lectures and share their experiences.
Associate Professor of Real Estate Economics
Associate Pro-Vice Chancellor
All modules have at their heart experiential learning environments that use the built environment as an authentic lab to learn within. This takes place in the North East, where we are supported by the North East RICS board, nationally where we regularly visit landmark buildings and internationally where we analyse global properties and locations.
You will find the latest technologies to support you in our specialist laboratories and studios. Throughout your time at Northumbria, you will be able to survey, visualise, model and take your ideas from the course, out into the world around you. You will also benefit from dedicated project space and study areas for group and individual work in the Built Environment Hub.
The programme team have also developed an agile approach to technology enabled learning (TEL) which you can use on and off campus. This includes specialist software and online access to module information, key texts, podcasts, and a range of teaching-related materials to support active learning.
We take a research-led approach to all aspects of teaching. As practising researchers, our lecturers pass on the latest techniques from their ongoing work to ensure your learning is current and relevant
We take a research-led approach to all aspects of teaching. As practising researchers, our lecturers pass on the latest techniques from their ongoing work to ensure your learning is current and relevant.
Specialist research areas include sub-national governance and spatial planning, professional access and inclusion, property taxation, property market modelling, adaptive re-use, design guidelines, automated valuation models, building information modelling. This research has gone on to have a real impact in society and practice. Recent highlights include contributions to Government Select Committee Enquires into the impact of business rates on business, business rate retention and the future of offices for the British Council for Offices.
We are a top research department, with 50% of our outputs ranked world-leading or internationally excellent according to the latest UK wide Research Excellence Framework (REF2014, UoA16)
You will graduate from this RICS-accredited course with all of the academic requirements for graduate membership, ready to undertake the two years’ professional experience you need to become fully chartered.
With a long history, well established links in the property industry and excellent graduate employment rates, this RICS-accredited Real Estate MSc is perfectly placed to help launch your career. Graduates can expect to earn an average of £26,900. If you go on to do your two years in industry and become fully RICS qualified, this goes up to around £48,000.
An MSc in Real Estate at Northumbria has excellent rates of employment and opportunity, with 95% of our students being employed within 6 months of the course ending and most securing a job before this. This is undoubtedly due to our long established relationships with employers in the global real estate industry, including Cushman & Wakefield, CBRE, JLL, Savills, Knight Frank, Avison Young and Santander.
Working with these employers throughout your course will give you invaluable sector knowledge and connections that will benefit your career in the future. A host of career paths will be available to you which will utilise the RICS competencies that you have gained throughout all of your modules.
The kind of roles you can expect to be prepared for include; surveying roles in commercial real estate, valuation, corporate real estate, planning and development, investment and finance.
The practical experience that you will gain in land development and property opens the doors to careers in urban planning within the public and private sector while the emphasis on investment and finance offers access to the banking and investment sector.
The core skills you will develop offer routes into the allied industries of project management, construction and town and city management. Our current graduates work for corporate financial institutions, government organisations, local authorities, government and private clients across the UK and further afield in roles such as surveying, investment, property valuation, planning and development, and property management.
International Sustainable Construction and Technology (Core,20 Credits)
In this module you will learn the fundamentals of construction technology, exploring current and emerging technologies. This will incorporate aspects of digital design/ management and planning. The syllabus includes the processes and technology of commercial and domestic construction, both current and of the recent past to equip graduates with the knowledge to manage the construction, maintenance and development of property assets. The importance of the environmental impact of materials and the use of life cycle costing to enhance sustainability will supplement the teaching of low carbon construction technology and energy sources.
• Architecture & Construction technology
o Design Theory & Principals
o Architectural History
o Future technologies
o The structural elements, finishes and services found in typical low rise domestic construction
o The structural elements, finishes and services found in commercial and industrial property
o BIM concepts
o BIM Objects
o Revit & Auto CAD
o Augmented and Virtual Reality
• Low carbon design
o Site selection and building orientation
o Passive low carbon design in the domestic and commercial field
o Green roof and wall applications
o Photovoltaic applications
o Biomass heating
o Ground and air source heat pumps
o Solar water heating
Commercial Property Valuation (Core,20 Credits)
Property Markets, Investment and Finance (Core,20 Credits)
Dissertation (Real Estate) (Core,60 Credits)
Real Estate Concepts and Research Methods (Core,20 Credits)
International Real Estate Law & Practice (Core,20 Credits)
You will learn about the key areas of law which are relevant to the surveying profession and examine the nature of relationships between commercial landlords and tenants. You will compare and evaluate the different approaches that countries take to the same legal issues. You will also explore current methods utilised for the marketing of real estate. Topics include:
•	Types of legal system, in particular, Common Law jurisdictions and Civil/Roman law
•	Professional standards and the regulation of surveyors.
•	Land reform and compulsory purchase
•	Methods of adding value to real estate including re-gearing leases, rent reviews and tenant mix strategy
•	Green Leases and Corporate Social Responsibility
International Urban Planning and Development (Core,20 Credits)
You will learn about the planning and development process in an international context focusing on the management of pre-construction decision-making and the evaluation of projects including site investigation, planning and development control, viability assessment and development appraisal. The module aims to help you understand the complex social, economic and physical environment and market conditions within which real estate development takes place around the globe, develop your knowledge of the management of the development process, acquisition of development sites, identification of sources of development finance and allow you to recognise the crucial role that surveyors play in the real estate development process.