Polly Dyer, Property Director at Principle, on the new generation choosing property management on purpose, and why the industry should protect their passion and welcome regulation.
Polly Dyer, MRICS FTPI PG Cert, Property Director
Throughout my career, I have asked people one simple question: why property management?
For years, the answer was almost always the same. "It was an accident." "I just fell into it." "I never planned to do this."
If I am being fair, many of us who have built long and successful careers in this profession probably recognise ourselves in those answers.
But recently, something has changed, and I find it genuinely exciting.
A profession people are choosing
I am meeting more and more people who have chosen property management intentionally, passionately and proudly. People who didn't stumble into the profession but actively sought it out. I think we need to recognise just how significant that change is.
The devastating images of Grenfell Tower in 2017 are seared into our collective memory. It was a tragedy that exposed profound failings and changed the conversation about building safety, accountability and the responsibilities we carry.
Amongst the many changes that followed, I believe something else happened. A new generation began to see property management not simply as a job, but as a profession in which they could make a genuine difference.
Some of the people entering our industry today were inspired by those events. They want to make buildings safer, protect residents and be part of a profession that takes its responsibilities seriously. When their friends and families ask what they do for a living, they don't apologise for working in property management. They proudly say, "My job is to help keep people's homes safe."
I find that incredibly powerful.
A plea to the experienced generation
Of course, those of us who have been around a little longer know that property management isn't always easy. We have experienced the difficult conversations, the unreasonable expectations, the changing legislation, the long hours and the days when it feels as though nothing we do is quite enough.
So here is my plea to the more experienced generation of property professionals: please don't let our experience extinguish their enthusiasm.
Let's not respond to their ambition with cynicism, or tell them, "You'll soon learn," or "Just wait until you've been doing this for twenty years." Instead, let's coach them, mentor them and challenge them. Let's share our knowledge, our mistakes and the lessons we have learned, and give them the benefit of our experience without passing on the weight of our frustrations.
They bring something to this profession that we desperately need: fresh eyes, new ideas, a sense of purpose and, perhaps most importantly, the belief that things can be better. We should be protecting that passion, not dampening it.
Why I welcome regulation
Following Angela Rayner's comments about rogue managing agents and the need for greater regulation, I know there will be some within our industry who feel apprehensive about what comes next.
I don't. I welcome it.
Not because I believe regulation will solve every problem, or because the challenges facing our sector are simple. They aren't. But a profession entrusted with people's homes, their money and, increasingly, their safety should be able to demonstrate its competence, accountability and professionalism.
The people who are deliberately choosing to join our profession deserve to be part of an industry that is recognised, respected and held to high standards. We owe that to them, to the residents we serve, and to the many excellent property professionals who have quietly been doing the right thing for decades.
The legacy we leave
Perhaps the greatest legacy we can leave as experienced property managers isn't the buildings we've managed or the problems we've solved. Perhaps it's the generation of professionals we help develop, who will go on to do the job even better than we did.
The accidental property manager may never disappear entirely, and that's fine. Many of us accidental arrivals have built careers we are immensely proud of. But how wonderful that the next generation is increasingly choosing to be here.
So let's welcome them, invest in them and, above all, never allow them to lose sight of why they chose this profession in the first place.
Regulation? Bring it on. We're not afraid of becoming a recognised profession. We're ready to demonstrate that we already are one.
