Option for Placement Year
Option for Study Abroad
Studying Real Estate at Northumbria will equip you with professionally relevant knowledge and skills needed to work in the world of Real Estate. The programme covers the selling, letting, managing, investing, valuation, appraisal, planning and development of commercial and residential property. This long established programme is accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, taught by an experienced team of surveying practitioners and internationally recognised researchers and involves national real estate firms and organisations in module delivery and assessments. The programme also offers an optional paid work placement year where your professional experience counts towards the RICS Assessment of Professional Competence.
See other similar courses you may be interested in: Building Surveying BSc (Hons) or Quantity Surveying Degree BSc (Hons)
UCAS Code
K440
Level of Study
Undergraduate
Mode of Study
3 years Full Time or 4 years with a placement (sandwich)/study abroad
Department
Architecture and Built Environment
Location
City Campus, Northumbria University
City
Newcastle
Start
September 2025
Fees
Fee Information
Modules
Module Information
Architecture and Built Environment encompasses all of our teaching, research and enterprise in Architecture, Interior Architecture, Quantity and Building Surveying, Real Estate and Housing.
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112 UCAS Tariff points
From a combination of acceptable Level 3 qualifications which may include: A-level, T Level, BTEC Diplomas/Extended Diplomas, Scottish and Irish Highers, Access to HE Diplomas, or the International Baccalaureate.
Find out how many points your qualifications are worth by using the UCAS Tariff calculator: www.ucas.com/ucas/tariff-calculator
Northumbria University is committed to supporting all individuals to achieve their ambitions. We have a range of schemes and alternative offers to make sure as many individuals as possible are given an opportunity to study at our University regardless of personal circumstances or background. To find out more, review our Northumbria Entry Requirement Essential Information page for further details www.northumbria.ac.uk/entryrequirementsinfo
Subject Requirements:
There are no specific subject requirements for this course.
GCSE Requirements:
Applicants will need Maths and English Language at minimum grade 4/C, or an equivalent.
Additional Requirements:
There are no additional requirements for this course.
International Qualifications:
We welcome applicants with a range of qualifications which may not match those shown above.
If you have qualifications from outside the UK, find out what you need by visiting www.northumbria.ac.uk/yourcountry
English Language Requirements:
International applicants should have a minimum overall IELTS (Academic) score of 6.0 with 5.5 in each component (or an approved equivalent*).
*The university accepts a large number of UK and International Qualifications in place of IELTS. You can find details of acceptable tests and the required grades in our English Language section: www.northumbria.ac.uk/englishqualifications
UK Fee in Year 1: £9,535
* The University may increase fees for subsequent years of study at our discretion in line with any inflationary uplift as decided by the UK Government up to the maximum amount for fees permitted by UK law or regulation for that academic year. To give students an indication of the likely scale of any future increase, the UK government has recently suggested that increases may be linked to RPIX ( Retail Price Index excluding mortgage interest payments)
International Fee in Year 1:
ADDITIONAL COSTS
Occasional field trips and site visits are offered at a maximum cost of £100. Attendance is not compulsory in order to pass the course.
* At Northumbria we are strongly committed to protecting the privacy of personal data. To view the University’s Privacy Notice please click here
Module information is indicative and is reviewed annually therefore may be subject to change. Applicants will be informed if there are any changes.
KA4001 -
The Evolution of the Built Environment (Core,20 Credits)
You will learn about how buildings evolved from antiquity to the modern age, with the intent of your being able to identify differing architectural and constructional styles. Supporting this, you will learn to identify how key developments in materials and technologies led to new ideas on construction and planning for urban living. You will also learn about the surveying professions that work within and look after the built environment, and how you can use academic skills to communicate your ideas and responses within various individual and group assessments, and support your own learning, essential to your success at university.
To facilitate this, the module will create a platform for you to learn some important academic, study and professional skills in relation to your degree programme.. You will learn how to undertake academic work and be able to assess your own and others’ role, responsibilities and contribution via reflective practice.
You will study a range of topics to support the above including:
The history of the built environment
The roles of different Built Environment professionals, including introductory presentations from different professionals and practitioners.
An introduction to academic, study and professional skills.
On completion of this module the knowledge and understanding acquired forms part of the broader contextual framework for the study of your discipline specific programme. The programme is accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. The academic content and skills development within the module is aimed at developing you both in terms of your current and future career aspiration.
KA4014 -
Development and Construction Economics (Core,20 Credits)
The demand for construction and property is generated from the global, national and regional economy. In this module you will learn how the surveyor works within the economic environment to provide the good and services demanded by society. You will learn about the basic and fundamental economic concepts such as demand and supply theory, market mechanism and macroeconomic objectives in order to develop an understanding of economic theory as applied to the construction industry and property. These fundamentals will be developed to help you understand money supply, the concept of risk and return and investment finance. Practical exercises will help you understand the components of value in property, property development and the construction process. You will learn about the role, key activities and the basic skills of the surveying and construction professions in different stages of the development and construction process with introductions to the key functions, professional practice techniques and concepts that are commonly deployed within the built environment such as property valuation, cost estimating and property procurement methods.
More informationKA4015 -
Construction Technology (Core,20 Credits)
This module seeks to provide you with a fundamental understanding of how construction and structural technologies can be employed to address key principles of building, and to satisfy performance and regulatory requirements. You will also be introduced to the aesthetic, environmental, economic and legislative factors that influence the choice of technologies in the construction industry. In particular, you will develop an understanding of the following aspects of technologies for small-scale buildings:
- the construction team and their specific roles in technological decisions
- structural principles
- foundations and groundworks
- principles of enclosure
- principles of environmental control
- building envelope as a climatic modifier
- daylight and lighting need; room conditions and sound transfer
- air transfer mechanisms
- alternative sources of energy
-principles of heat loss
- material properties and choices
- external wall construction methods
- internal walls floors and stairs
- fixtures, fittings and furniture
- principles of sustainability and the impact of construction on the built and natural environments
- health and safety in the construction and use of buildings
- building regulations and associated legislation
- communications and graphical standards in construction technology
KA4016 -
Law for Surveyors (Core,20 Credits)
You will learn about the key areas of law, which are relevant to the surveying profession, and also start to develop professional skills. Topics include:
• Introduction to the English Legal System and how the law affects the work of surveyors
• Sources of law, reviewing a case, interpreting legislation, legal research and problem solving techniques
• Contract Law
• Land law; land ownership, land registration, public and private rights affecting land and adverse possession.
• The sale of land; overview of the conveyancing process, different methods of sale including auctions and tenders.
• Tort : Negligence, Professional Negligence, Occupiers' liability, nuisance and Trespass.
• Landlord and Tenant Law; reading a lease, key lease obligations and remedies for breach of covenant.
KA4026 -
Property Surveying (Core,20 Credits)
This module is designed as part of a package of first year modules to provide you with the key skills and knowledge to embark on a programme of study leading to professional qualification as a chartered surveyor. The module will draw on and supplement the module on Construction Technology.
The module will be introduced by exercises to identify the characteristics of property matching them to occupier demands. You will learn and experience land and building surveying and measurement, instructed in the use of surveying equipment and be able to apply these techniques in real building surveys. In addition you will learn how to analyse building defects and specify and supervise their remediation, in the context of the contractual obligations imposed in property purchase and leasing transactions.
It is essential that the property professions make a contribution in combating climate change and as such you will be taught a range of low carbon design and construction philosophies and the application of renewable energy technologies. Property refurbishment and enhancement can also make a substantial contribution to minimising the environmental impact of property occupation, you will apply the techniques taught to the refurbishment of a range properties.
KA4027 -
Professional Practice (Core,20 Credits)
You will learn how to use BIM software as a way of recording and communicating proposed and existing buildings and develop practical and technical surveying skills in extracting and/or communicating buildings and assets. You will learn how to work as part of a team to produce solutions to a project related problem/ scenario, to work to tight deadlines and presentation skills for surveyors. You will be able to assess your own and others’ role, responsibilities and contribution in completing a task.
On completion of this module the knowledge and understanding acquired form part of the broader contextual framework for the study of your discipline specific programme. The programme is accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. The academic content and skills development within the module are aimed at developing you both in terms of your current and future career aspirations.
KA5041 -
Academic Language Skills for Architecture and Built Environment (Core – for International and EU students only,0 Credits)
Academic skills when studying away from your home country can differ due to cultural and language differences in teaching and assessment practices. This module is designed to support your transition in the use and practice of technical language and subject specific skills around assessments and teaching provision in your chosen subject. The overall aim of this module is to develop your abilities to read and study effectively for academic purposes; to develop your skills in analysing and using source material in seminars and academic writing and to develop your use and application of language and communications skills to a higher level.
The topics you will cover on the module include:
• Understanding assignment briefs and exam questions.
• Developing academic writing skills, including citation, paraphrasing, and summarising.
• Practising ‘critical reading’ and ‘critical writing’
• Planning and structuring academic assignments (e.g. essays, reports and presentations).
• Avoiding academic misconduct and gaining credit by using academic sources and referencing effectively.
• Listening skills for lectures.
• Speaking in seminar presentations.
• Presenting your ideas
• Giving discipline-related academic presentations, experiencing peer observation, and receiving formative feedback.
• Speed reading techniques.
• Developing self-reflection skills.
KA5018 -
Urban Planning and Development (Core,20 Credits)
Planning mediates between competing interests in society and guides, shapes and regulates the use of land and property. The primary policy goal is to deliver and/or facilitate 'sustainable development'.
In this module you will explore the significance of planning in order to facilitate economic, social and environmental objectives within the development process. The module explores the nature of planning from a development perspective by engaging with policy, practical examples and key development concepts. It considers the guiding principles of planning, the statutory processes and procedural dimensions, the management of development, contemporary planning practice, key actors and agencies, synergies between planning and urban regeneration and the competing and evolving dynamics of urban development.
You will develop, throughout this module, academic and professional skills relating to the evaluation of policy; effective communication; self-direction and personal responsibility and appreciate social and ethical aspects of the development process.
KA5019 -
Applied Valuation (Core,20 Credits)
On this module, you will be learning and developing valuation theory and methodology and applying it to market-based scenarios. You will be introduced to the RICS Valuation –Global Standards (the Red Book) which will give you an understanding of the professional requirements of a chartered surveyor working in valuation. You will develop your IT skills in the use of Excel. You will also be introduced to valuation for statutory purposes through the process of calculating value for business rates.
Within Applied Valuation the range of topics studied include:
• Valuation principles and the role of the valuer
• Collection, analysis and presentation of comparable data
• Context and content of the RICS Valuation –Global Standards
• Use of investment methods of valuation for freehold and leasehold interests and their application to live property scenarios
• Applied use of the residual method of valuation for development purposes and an introduction to development appraisal
• The construction of Excel spreadsheets for valuation
• Statutory valuation for rating purposes
KA5020 -
Property Asset Management (Core,20 Credits)
The module introduces you to the concepts and practices of commercial and residential property asset management, including landlord and tenant relationships, leases, and an initial consideration of the legal and practical issues.
At the end of the module you will be able to identify the main legislation and important legal documents applicable to the surveyor’s role. You will be able to apply theory to practice and will have improved your work related skills in various fields.
An indicative outline syllabus is as follows:
• Leases and legal documents
• Rents, codes and lettings
• Service charges (commercial and residential)
• Rent Reviews
• Exit strategies
• Alienation
• Landlord and Tenant legislation
• Tenant Default
• Mixed use
• Residential property law
• The private rented sector
• Social housing
KA5021 -
Property Agency and Market Research (Core,20 Credits)
The module will focus on the marketing process from initial receipt of instruction to successful completion of the transaction. This will be for the letting of a commercial property on the basis of a new lease and will include:
• Receipt of Instruction
• Inspection
• Rental Valuation
• Reporting to the client
• Marketing Plan
• Marketing Period
• Negotiation of terms
• Agreement of Heads of Terms
• Preparation of Draft Lease
• Completion
You will also be introduced to real estate research methods in order to be able to analyse market data. You will be expected to relate the detailed marketing process to the local property market. The legislation and professional body guidance framework controlling the role of an agent will be considered and related to market examples to help you to understand the requirements. Throughout the semester you will also be introduced to a range of topics including:
• The principle Legislation affecting the marketing of property
• Letting by Sub Lease and Assignment
• Freehold Sale
• Sale/Assignment of Long Ground Lease
• The use of IT in marketing
• Researching real estate
KA5037 -
Real Estate Economics (Core,20 Credits)
You will learn about and examine the economy and core economic concepts and how these are related to, and influence real estate markets and their performance. The module aims to provide students with the opportunity to apply economic theory to real estate markets; specifically the development, use, management and adaptation land and buildings in an urban context. At the end of the module you should be able to employ property market and other economic data to analyse the nature, condition and structure of urban property markets. Assessment is by way of a written coursework and an examination, providing both formative and summative feedback.
Indicative syllabus
A syllabus of the topics covered:
• Basic economic principles
• Urban economics and economic geography
• Real estate market dynamics and property cycle
• Economics of the capital market
• Residential market and housing affordability
• Economic data workshop
KA5040 -
Business and Professional Development (Core,20 Credits)
This module will teach you about the surveying profession, the governing bodies and give you an understanding of the skill set required to succeed within the profession to allow you to consider the direction of your future career. You will learn how to develop your professional CV and how to conduct yourself within an employment interview through a mock interview. You will also look at the RICS Assessment of Professional Competence in order to understand the process to become a Chartered Surveyor to be able to start planning a learning strategy.
More informationKA5041 -
Academic Language Skills for Architecture and Built Environment (Core – for International and EU students only,0 Credits)
Academic skills when studying away from your home country can differ due to cultural and language differences in teaching and assessment practices. This module is designed to support your transition in the use and practice of technical language and subject specific skills around assessments and teaching provision in your chosen subject. The overall aim of this module is to develop your abilities to read and study effectively for academic purposes; to develop your skills in analysing and using source material in seminars and academic writing and to develop your use and application of language and communications skills to a higher level.
The topics you will cover on the module include:
• Understanding assignment briefs and exam questions.
• Developing academic writing skills, including citation, paraphrasing, and summarising.
• Practising ‘critical reading’ and ‘critical writing’
• Planning and structuring academic assignments (e.g. essays, reports and presentations).
• Avoiding academic misconduct and gaining credit by using academic sources and referencing effectively.
• Listening skills for lectures.
• Speaking in seminar presentations.
• Presenting your ideas
• Giving discipline-related academic presentations, experiencing peer observation, and receiving formative feedback.
• Speed reading techniques.
• Developing self-reflection skills.
KA5044 -
Work Placement Year (Optional,120 Credits)
This module is designed for all standard full-time undergraduate programmes within the Faculty of Engineering and Environment to provide you with the option to take a one year work placement as part of your programme.
You will be able to apply and evaluate placement experience to develop and enhance appropriate areas of your knowledge and understanding, your intellectual and professional skills, and your personal value attributes, relevant to your programme of study, as well as to accreditation bodies (e.g RICS, CIOB, RIBA) within appropriate working environments. Due to its overall positive impact on employability, degree classification and graduate starting salaries, the University strongly encourages you to pursue a work placement as part of your degree programme.
This module is a Pass/Fail module so does not contribute to the classification of your degree. When taken and passed, however, the Placement Year is recognised both in your transcript as a 120 credit Work Placement Module and on your degree certificate.
Your placement period will normally be full-time and must total a minimum of 40 weeks. This may comprise more than one placement, where appropriate.
KA5045 -
Study abroad year (Optional,120 Credits)
This module is designed for all standard full-time undergraduate programmes within the Faculty of Engineering and Environment and provides you with the option to study abroad for one full year as part of your programme.
This is a 120 credit module which is available between Levels 5 and 6. You will undertake a year of study abroad at an approved partner University where you will have access to modules from your discipline, but taught in a different learning culture. This gives you the opportunity to broaden your overall experience of learning. The structure of study will be dependent on the partner and will be recorded for an individual student on the learning agreement signed by the host University, the student, and the home University (Northumbria).
Your study abroad year will be assessed on a pass/fail basis. It will not count towards your final degree classification but, it is recognised in your transcript as a 120 credit Study Abroad module and on your degree certificate in the format – “Degree title (with Study Abroad Year)”.
KA5041 -
Academic Language Skills for Architecture and Built Environment (Core – for International and EU students only,0 Credits)
Academic skills when studying away from your home country can differ due to cultural and language differences in teaching and assessment practices. This module is designed to support your transition in the use and practice of technical language and subject specific skills around assessments and teaching provision in your chosen subject. The overall aim of this module is to develop your abilities to read and study effectively for academic purposes; to develop your skills in analysing and using source material in seminars and academic writing and to develop your use and application of language and communications skills to a higher level.
The topics you will cover on the module include:
• Understanding assignment briefs and exam questions.
• Developing academic writing skills, including citation, paraphrasing, and summarising.
• Practising ‘critical reading’ and ‘critical writing’
• Planning and structuring academic assignments (e.g. essays, reports and presentations).
• Avoiding academic misconduct and gaining credit by using academic sources and referencing effectively.
• Listening skills for lectures.
• Speaking in seminar presentations.
• Presenting your ideas
• Giving discipline-related academic presentations, experiencing peer observation, and receiving formative feedback.
• Speed reading techniques.
• Developing self-reflection skills.
KA6023 -
Commercial Real Estate Appraisal (Core,20 Credits)
In this module you will develop existing knowledge gained in previous years building on valuation techniques and critically applying these skills to current market scenarios. You will consider the appraisal of real estate and how this applies to the profession as a whole and how to advise a client/stakeholder appropriately through the RICS Valuation –Global Standards and other professional requirements such as the International Property Measuring Standards. You will also consider the current issues facing both the profession and real estate markets. This will prepare you for a career as a Chartered Surveyor and build towards the RICS Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) pathway.
Within Commercial Real Estate Appraisal you will study a range of topics including:-
• Valuation/appraisal methodology, applying to scenarios
• Secured lending valuations/appraisal
• Asset valuations/appraisal
• RICS reporting and advising clients
• Modern methods of valuation and appraisal
• Using IT software for Real Estate appraisal
Throughout this module you will develop academic and professional skills relating to the use and analysis of data, understand real estate markets and the impact on appraisal. In addition, you will learn to effectively communicate and advise clients/stakeholders in accordance with RICS governance.
KA6024 -
Real Estate Development (Core,20 Credits)
You will learn about the planning and development process in an urban 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, 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.
Indicative syllabus topics include:
* Real Estate Development process
* Site evaluation and investigation
* Planning decisions, conditions and challenges
* Market research for development
* Construction procurement and risk
* Acquisition and disposal of development land
* Development finance and funding
* Development control and enforcement
* Development viability and appraisal
KA6025 -
Corporate Real Estate Management (Core,20 Credits)
You will be introduced to a strategic overview of property portfolio management, which includes the corporate occupier, reflecting the changes in property management practice. The module is intended to provide you with an insight into property and strategic asset management. This includes identifying and analysing current business trends and changing patterns of property occupation set within the context of a legal structure that must be employed by the real estate surveyor.
You will study a range of topics to support the above including:
Property management
Strategic Asset management
Portfolio management
Exit strategies and Insolvency
Assignments and sub lettings
Sustainability issues
Office markets, users and flexible working arrangements
Retail issues
The leisure market
Industrial markets
The programme is accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the academic content and skills development within the module is aimed at developing you both in terms of your current and future career aspirations.
KA6026 -
Real Estate Investment And Finance (Core,20 Credits)
On this module, you will gain the knowledge and skills necessary to actively manage property as an investment asset within the wider professional investment market.
You will develop an understanding of principal investment assets and their characteristics in order to speculate, predict market activity and undertake complex investment decisions which are reflective of current practice. The module will also provide you with knowledge and experience of contemporary issues affecting the investment markets.
Topics covered will include:
• The structure of the investment universe
• Investor profiling
• Competition: alternative assets
• Measuring returns from property investment
• Investment objectives: the concept of risk and return
• Investment theory including stranded assets and contemporary environmental, social and governance requirements
• Applied investment strategy
• Property cycles: when is the timing right?
• Property finance and funding
•
• Indirect investment vehicles
• Diversification within property investment portfolios
• Property disposal
• Purchasing property
• Investment portfolio appraisal
KA6032 -
Surveying Dissertation (Core,40 Credits)
This module is designed to support you in independently pursuing an original piece of research on a built environment topic of your own choice and aims to provide you with an opportunity to design and conduct a substantive piece of investigative work that is directly related to your programme of study. You will draw upon and develop your independent research skills to answer a research question or test a hypothesis of your choosing. You will assemble and review relevant scholarly literature and data and to present a cogent, reasoned and objective critique of published scholarly work on your chosen topic, in order to define a precisely focus for your research.
You will develop expertise to achieve the following:
• identify an appropriate research topic
• critically review relevant academic literature;
• formulate research questions/hypotheses and appropriate methods of inquiry;
• collect your own data and/or using existing datasets and literature
• analyse and interpret your results using appropriate quantitative, statistical and/or qualitative techniques,
• relate your findings to existing and up-to-date literature and theory;
• objectively appraise the ethical considerations of conducting research; and
• independently manage and implement your own research project.
To start your application, simply select the month you would like to start your course.
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