Achieving your MRICS qualification is a major career milestone. It represents years of study, commitment, and professional development — and importantly, it significantly increases your value in the market.
One of the first questions newly chartered surveyors ask is:
“What should my salary look like now?”
Based on our 2025 Salary Survey, the average salary uplift on becoming chartered is around 13%. However, this is only the average. In practice, I’ve regularly seen uplifts of 20–25%, particularly where a surveyor’s pre-chartership salary was below market rate.
So what should you do once you’ve secured those letters after your name?
1. Leverage Your Current Role
Becoming chartered strengthens your position within your existing business – but only if you actively use it.
Start with responsibility.
Now is the time to push for more complex instructions, greater client exposure, or project leadership. MRICS demonstrates competence, credibility, and reduced risk to the business – all strong justifications for expanded responsibility.
Have a progression conversation.
Chartership is often a natural trigger point for promotion or a step towards leadership. If your employer doesn’t raise this themselves, you should.
Talk about salary — with facts.
Your employer should be proactively reviewing your salary post-chartership, but that doesn’t always happen. Go into discussions armed with market data and a clear understanding of your value. A well-timed, well-informed conversation can make a significant difference to the outcome. Call me for tailored advice on this.
2. Explore the Wider Market
Even if you’re happy where you are, this is the moment to understand your options.
You will never be more in demand than right now.
New MRICS professionals are highly sought after. Employers see newly chartered surveyors as ambitious, motivated, and ready to progress – and many are willing to move quickly to secure the right person.
Opportunities aren’t always advertised.
At this level, businesses will often create roles rather than wait for a vacancy. If you’re holding out for the perfect job advert, you may miss opportunities that exist behind the scenes.
Exploring the market doesn’t mean you have to move – but it does give you leverage, clarity, and confidence in your decisions.
Make Your Chartership Count
Your skillset has never been more valuable than it is today. Whether you use your MRICS to accelerate progression internally, secure a meaningful pay uplift, or explore new opportunities, the key is to act deliberately.
If you’ve recently become chartered and want to understand what your salary increase should realistically look like, I’m always happy to provide tailored guidance based on your experience, role, and location.
You’ve earned the qualification – now make sure it delivers the return it should.
Andy Lambert – Director
07568 490452
0 Comments