New PriceHubble study shows: Affordable housing shortage pushes low-paid NHS workers with long hours further from work
● 1 in 20 renters starting new tenancies in 2023 were employed in the NHS.
● On average, NHS workers live 3.6 miles from work compared to 6.2 miles for other renters.
● In places where median rents were below £1250 pcm, 38% of NHS workers who rented, lived within 2 miles of work. In places where median rents were above £1250 pcm, 22% of NHS workers rented within 2 miles of their workplace.
● The average income of an NHS employee in the UK is £31,514 pa, which falls between band 5 and 6 of the NHS payscale.
● 78% of homes rented in the private rental sector would be beyond the budget for a single-income household earning £31,514 pa.
[London, June 2024] – PriceHubble, Europe’s leader in property data solutions for finance and real estate, unveils a new study presenting stark statistics that shed light on this key segment of our social infrastructure and the critical need to address the need for affordable housing.
This study explored how close NHS workers live to their workplace, how it is affected by affordability and highlighted the challenges faced by key workers. It was conducted by PriceHubble using data for new rentals started in 2023. The analysis is based on the Dataloft Rental Market Analytics (DRMA) dataset of achieved rents and renter demographics. It includes a case study of NHS workers in King’s College Hospital.
Health check: an analysis of health workers in the private rental sector
The study found that NHS workers living in the private rental sector, generally live closer to their workplace than other renters. However, in areas with affordability constraints, NHS workers live further from their workplace than other renters.
We identified over 30,000 NHS workers moving into privately rented homes in 2023 within PriceHubble’s DRMA dataset. They represent 5% of all new rentals in 2023 and tend to be clustered within reasonable distances of large hospitals. How close depends on the availability of affordable housing.
We found that 35% of NHS workers in the private rental sector live within 2 miles of their workplace, compared to 22% of other renters. The median distance is 3.6 miles for an NHS worker and 6.2 miles for other renters. Lower-paid NHS workers tend to live closer to their workplace than those on higher incomes, underlining the importance of affordable housing.
Impact of rental values on commuting distances
Our study reveals that rental values in a local market had a significant impact on the travel-to-work distance for NHS workers. In places with the largest clusters of NHS workers, where median rents were below £1,250 per month, 38% of workers lived within 2 miles. In areas where median rents were higher than £1,250 per month, 22% lived within 2 miles of work.
Affordability stretched, particularly in London
For an NHS worker on Band 5 earnings or below, less than 15% of rental homes were let at a rent they could afford on their income (assuming one earner spends up to 30% of income on rent).
The average income of an NHS employee in the UK is £31,514 pa, which falls between Band 5 and Band 6 on the NHS pay scale. Of all the homes rented in 2023, almost 78% would have been beyond the budget for a single-income household with earnings of £31,514. In London, only 2% of rental homes are affordable on this basis. Even with the additional allowance, NHS workers renting in London face considerable pressures.
Sandra Jones, Managing Director of PriceHubble in the UK, comments: “This research highlights the challenges faced by key workers in the housing market. We chose to shine the spotlight on NHS workers but we could equally have looked at the pressures on renters employed in education, retail, or hospitality. The institutional rental sector is keen to help address this issue and we hope that whoever is in government on July 5th, will be ready to engage with them.”