UK estate agents adopt AI tools to offset hiring challenges
With payrolled employee growth at a low, agents are embracing PropTech and AI tools as a cost-effective response to a widespread skills deficit.
UK property agents are increasingly leveraging AI and automation to tackle a growing skills shortage in the sector, according to an analysis by PropTech provider Reapit.
Reapit’s Property Outlook Report 2025 shows that although agencies continue hiring, most face recruitment difficulties: more than half receive fewer than five qualified applicants per vacancy. Growth in payrolled employees is minimal, and the slowest year-on-year rise since May 2021 reflects wider labour market tightness.
In response, agencies are turning to time-saving technologies. A majority report that automation is more cost-effective than expanding headcount, with nearly 80 percent citing increased productivity from these tools.
This shift towards PropTech and AI reflects deeper structural pressures in the UK real estate sector: high employment costs, slower workforce growth, and increasing demands for efficiency are reshaping the role of technology in agency operations.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!