Call for discount housing schemes to help teachers

Teachers are expected to back calls for the creation and extension of discount schemes of up to 30% off the market value of homes to buy and rent to help address an acute housing affordability crisis.

A motion at the NASUWT Annual Conference in Glasgow will hear calls for greater support and policy change as young teachers say increasing housing costs are impacting where they choose to live and work and whether they will stay in teaching.

A survey of NASUWT members aged 30 and under found 88% supported the call at Conference to create and extend discount schemes for buying and renting affordable housing.

The survey of 1,100 members reveals housing is a major influence on whether they will continue teaching as a career with 71% saying costs are making them consider whether they will stay in teaching long term. One in five young teachers are living at home with their parents.

Among those surveyed, two thirds (66%) have seen their mortgage and rent go up in the last 12 months leading them to cut back on food (70%), heating (63%), clothes (82%) and essential household items (43%).

Of those who had seen mortgage or rent go up 32% said up to £100 a month, 31% said by between £100 and £200, 16% said between £200 and £300, 10% between £300 and £400 and 5% between £400 and £500.

Almost a third of teachers (32%) said their housing situation affected their ability to teach.

One in five teachers have had to increase overdrafts (22%) or apply for credit and loans (25%) while 74% have stopped saving and 20% have had to take a second job.

The cost of housing is increasingly influencing where and in what roles young teachers work with 29% saying it has meant they have left a previous teaching job or considered leaving their current post.

Four in ten teachers (42%) say housing costs have influenced where they have applied for a teaching post and almost three quarters (72%) don’t believe there is sufficient affordable housing for teachers where they live. Of those who wish to buy more than half (57%) do not think this will be achievable on a teachers’ salary.

Teachers commute an average of between five and 20 miles to their workplace and one in five say they commute further to work because of the cost of housing.

NASUWT General Secretary Dr Patrick Roach said:

“No teacher should have to consider leaving or be unable to apply for a teaching post because they can’t afford to put a roof over their head.

“For the past decade the Government have failed to address the shortage of affordable housing and this has been made worse by huge real-term cuts to teachers’ pay.

“The lack of affordable homes to buy and rent is having significant negative effects on schools’ ability to attract and retain teachers.

“Ministers must urgently address this crisis with new and imaginative policy responses. We are calling on the Government to prioritise teachers’ access to affordable housing and to extend discount schemes for rental and first-time buyers.”