Job overview

Commercial Real Estate is at the heart of solving some of our City’s biggest challenges – housing pressures, TfL’s financial sustainability, and the need to keep London moving, working and growing. 

We have an ambitious housing programme which will provide more than 20,000 homes, with 50 per cent affordable housing across all sites brought to the market since May 2016. Construction has already started on some 1,500 and we have thousands of more homes coming forward. All profits from development are reinvested back into the transport network. 

What will I be doing?

As an apprentice, your five year development programme will be made up of up to eight placement rotations. Our aim is to equip you with the range of skills and experience you need for a successful career in the property sector.

We understand that everyone’s career is different, so each apprentice’s journey is unique. Here’s an idea of what yours could look like:

Year 1: Property Management – 12 months - Focused on the renewal of excluded and protected leases, you’ll be undertaking the rent reviews, lease assignments, licences to alter, inspections and measurements. You’ll also maintain and observe the Health and Safety regulations and manage the maintenance of the building using a service charge budget.

Year 2: Commercial Revenue –12 months - You’ll undertake asset strategies and projects, including refurbishments and unit amalgamation, lettings, market liaison, valuations, business planning, budgeting and associated place making aligned to our customer strategy.

Year 3: Operational Property – 12 months– Depending on your chosen APC competencies, you may gain experience in rating or compulsory purchase orders (CPO). In addition, you’ll liaise with third party surveyors on dilapidations, service charges, inspections and measurements. You’ll get the unique experience of acting as agent for both landlord and tenant.

Year 4:  Property Development – 12 months - This is a key area of Commercial Development’s growth, where you’ll be involved in delivering new homes for Londoners. You’ll produce development appraisals, including carrying out inspections and measurements for the purpose of valuation. A primary role will also involve working within planning regulations and policies.  You’ll receive training on the valuation tool Argus.

Year 5: Other – 6 months+ - You’ll rotate through strategy and customer and performance teams, providing an insight into the strategic approach we take, working on performance reporting and how we manage our customer base.  This’ll give you some key experience on scorecards, finance and strategy.

Your first placement will be fixed, and your following placements will be mutually agreed to ensure you gain experience on the widest possible range of technologies, tools and teams.

Where can this career take me?

Property provides a fantastic opportunity to make a difference using your own skill set. There are many avenues to pursue and a myriad of options depending on the choices you take and the work you choose to get involved with. At TfL, we provide the opportunity to gain qualifications and develop a career in the property world through our diverse teams.

Upon successful completion of this scheme, you’ll roll-off into one of the teams in Commercial Development, either as a Property Surveyor or Assistant Development Manager.

What training and support will you get?

You’ll be working towards a Level 6 qualification (degree level), which will involve attending university one day per week (either remotely or in person), as well as completing assignments outside of work. Alongside this, you’ll also be supported to complete your APC through the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Throughout the apprenticeship, we’ll support your technical development through a wide range of on-the-job practical experiences and placements. We’ll also support your professional development through a combination of classroom-led training courses, online training courses, mentoring opportunities and structured networking opportunities. You’ll receive one-to-one support throughout the programme from your scheme sponsor and your Line Manager. You’ll also be connected to a ‘buddy’ who’ll be a more experienced apprentice from the scheme. 

In Commercial Development, there’s an established Graduate and Apprentice Committee as well as an Alumni group. These are powerful networks that’ll help to develop your understanding of the organisation and opportunities to develop your career.

What do we look for?

Everything we do as an organisation is to ensure that our evolving city is futureproofed for millions of Londoners. Our talented apprentices form a vital part of that vision, so it’s important that we find the best people to help us do this. We’re looking for people who have:

• A creative approach to problem solving
• An inquisitive mind
• Strong communication skills

As a member of the team, we’ll give you significant responsibility and the opportunity to add value. It’s not uncommon for our apprentices to manage high value contracts or projects. If you’re excited by the chance to shape the future of London, then this is the apprenticeship for you.

Entry requirements

You should already hold or be working towards a minimum of 2 GCSE’s (or equivalent) Grade A* - C or Grade 4 and above including Maths and English. Plus 3 A Levels A*-C (or equivalent) in any subject.

You’re not eligible for this scheme if you currently hold or are working towards a qualification at the same or higher level in a related subject or have already studied content from the qualification for this scheme.

You must be 18 years of age by September 2022 to be eligible for this scheme.

Required entrance criteria are correct at time of publishing and may be subject to change due to retendering of apprenticeship training provision. 

Application process

The application process consists of 5 steps, including online assessments which will need to be completed within an allocated time frame. We highly recommend that you read through this document thoroughly so that you can familiarise yourself with the process. Should you need to speak to anyone within the Recruitment team, then please email the recruitment team at apprenticeshiprecruitment@tfl.gov.uk or graduaterecruitment@tfl.gov.uk or call us on 0203 005 1680 Monday – Friday 9:00 am – 17.00pm (excluding bank holidays).

Please click on this link which describes each stage of the application process.

If you already hold your qualification certificates, please upload copies of these to your application. If you’re due to sit final exams or need to replace any certificates, these can be provided at a later stage.

Inclusive recruitment process

We operate a transparent recruitment process, that removes barriers for disabled candidates.

We're a Disability Confident employer, and we offer guaranteed interviews to candidates who apply via the scheme where the minimum criteria for skills, knowledge and experience has been met.

Our candidate experience continues to be underpinned by a fair and robust reasonable adjustments process, in collaboration with our Occupational Health colleagues, and other expert organisations.