Hiring in financial services is tilting towards higher qualifications and deeper expertise. Recent government analysis found that in the financial services sector, recruitment was generally for Regulatory Qualification Framework (RQF) 6+ roles, rather than RQF 3 to 5 GOV.UK - Temporary Shortage List: Stage 2 report. In plain terms, employers are reaching for degree-level and professional qualifications, not entry-level ones.
That matters for insurers moving into social housing cover. Writing policies for housing associations and local authority stock is not a simple product extension. It pulls together risk assessment, regulated advice, building safety knowledge and an understanding of how social landlords actually operate. The talent you need sits at the more qualified end of the market, which is exactly where demand is already concentrated GOV.UK - Temporary Shortage List: Stage 2 report.
The move into social housing cover is creating hybrid roles. Insurers want underwriters who can price property and liability risk across large, varied housing portfolios. They want claims specialists who understand damp, fire safety and disrepair. And they want advisers and account managers who can speak the language of registered providers while meeting regulatory standards.
Because these roles blend financial expertise with housing knowledge, they sit firmly in the higher-qualification bracket the market is chasing. The government's review pointed to recruitment generally being for RQF 6+ roles in financial services rather than RQF 3 to 5 GOV.UK - Temporary Shortage List: Stage 2 report. For employers, that means competing for people who are already in demand, and often looking beyond the usual insurance talent pool to find them.
Start by mapping the skills you genuinely need versus the ones you can train. A strong underwriter who understands housing risk may come from a social landlord, a surveying firm or a broker, not only from another insurer. Widening where you look is the single biggest lever when demand sits at the qualified end of the market, as the national picture shows it does GOV.UK - Temporary Shortage List: Stage 2 report.
Write job descriptions around outcomes, not job titles, so you catch people whose experience transfers. Move quickly once you find them: qualified specialists rarely stay on the market long. And be clear about progression and purpose, because people drawn to social housing often care about the social value of the work as much as the role itself.
When you are hiring for roles that blend regulated financial skills with housing knowledge, the hardest part is finding people who tick both boxes. We search a database of 15 million candidates to surface those hybrid profiles fast, then rank them so you can focus on the strongest matches. Our recruitment agent manages recruitment end to end for 8% on a successful hire, with no monthly fee and no upfront cost, through Reed.ai. Tell us what good looks like, and we will build your shortlist today.
