Rental costs price public service staff out of housing, says UNISON

High rental costs mean many public service employees in England are spending more than a third of their wages on rent, according to research published today (Tuesday) by UNISON. Hospital porters are struggling the most, with rents effectively unaffordable for them in all nine English regions. The most expensive areas for porters are London, the South East and the East of England where housing costs swallow up over half their take home pay. Teaching assistants do not fare much better – in half a dozen English regions, rental costs are more than a third of their monthly wage. The same is true for refuse drivers in five regions, and for nurses and police community support officers (PCSOs) in four. The findings are based on the average private rent for a one bedroom property in each local authority area across England, compared with the pay for some public sector jobs*. Unsurprisingly, London is the most expensive region for public service workers to rent. For example, the average rent in Kensington and Chelsea is £2,141 per month, more than one and a half times the pay of porters after tax and national insurance, making it impossible for them to live there. In London, a teaching assistant would have to spend 78% of their monthly take home salary on a one bedroom property, a refuse driver 74%, a nurse 71% and a PCSO 70%. Oxford, and Epsom and Ewell are the most expensive areas in the South East, where 84% of an NHS porter’s salary would go on rent, 70% of a teaching assistan...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - Category: Food Science Authors: Tags: News Press release housing Source Type: news