The IHBC’s first Research Note (RN) for 2026 (RN2026/1) has been posted on the IHBC’s ToolBox, offering our annual update on ‘Market Intelligence’ on England’s local authority (LA) conservation-related posts based on our ‘IHBC Jobs etc.’ service.
Bob Kindred MBE IHBC, Research Note author and research lead of the programme, writes:
This new Research Note summarises job vacancies advertised via the IHBC’s web pages in the calendar year 2025, under the ‘Jobs etc’ section. It provides a detailed picture of long-term trends in the market including job requirements, qualifications and levels of remuneration (and their regional variations).
The main point to note is that regrettably, the number of advertised local planning authority posts declined for the fourth year in succession, with no vacancies advertised in North Branch (Cleveland, Cumbria, Durham, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear) – the first time since 2013; and just one post in the North West (Cheshire, Greater Manchester, IoM, Lancashire, Merseyside).
- The Institute’s continuous data from 1998 (28 years) now covers 2,333 posts.
- Eighty-six percent of the vacancies were for full-time posts on the permanent establishment with the average median salary for advertised posts in 2025 being £40,720. This marked a sharp rise of 6.4% over the previous year. (The equivalent average full-time salary [in the UK in 2025] according to ONS calculations was £39,039.
- A return to the long-term trend of higher salaries than the national average in London and the South East (but also in East Anglia and Yorkshire this year) was maintained in 2025, but was notably lower in both the East and West Midlands.
- Sixty-nine percent of local government recruiters expected job applicants in 2025 to be Full Members of IHBC (or working towards this status), a percentage that has remained near constant since 2023.
- Reactive job functions: development management advice, appeals and enforcement continued to be prioritised with only very limited emphasis placed on more proactive tasks (such as conservation area designation or review of heritage-at-risk) a likely reflection of continuing resource constraints.
NB: Although the IHBC is active across the United Kingdom, analysis in this Research Note relates only to information gleaned about English Local Planning Authorities.
