Editor: Your leader last week responding to a complaint about the lack of gender diversity in the magazine made for difficult reading. And that’s because you are completely right – property has a diversity problem and the responsibility lies with us, your readers, not you.

Diversity inclusion hands

Property Week has a special and important role to play in our industry. To borrow from the BBC, you inform, educate and occasionally entertain. You challenge us when we need to be challenged and your track record for calling out the sector, even at risk of alienating your readers, is to be applauded.

Property Week has a responsibility to report on our industry and your magazine can only serve up a menu to our ingredients. If as an industry we aren’t putting women forward for your pages, then surely that’s our fault for not stepping up to the plate.

Read Liz’s full leader here: It’s not about us, it’s about you

I have no doubt the complainant was well intentioned. I for one would very much wish to see a variety of faces as diverse as the Benetton ads within the pages of our industry press, but as Real Estate Balance knows all too well, you can’t dream them up if they aren’t there. That wouldn’t be journalism, but propaganda.

There is clearly frustration with the property industry for the lack of progress on diversity. I share this frustration, as do the majority of our members, and while I can point to signs of progress, there is no denying that we still have a long road ahead of us.

Property Week has taken a strong and clear position on diversity but, with the best will in the world, a magazine can’t deliver the sort of change that’s required; that’s for us to do, so let’s make it happen.

Vivienne King, chair, Real Estate Balance

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