Public sector workers 'priced out of housing market'
Key public sector workers like nurses and teachers cannot afford to buy a house in 70 per cent of Britain's towns, a study shows.Building society Halifax's annual key housing review shows a dramatic increase in the number of out-priced properties in Britain, up from 65 per cent last year and only 36 per cent in 2002.For nurses, firefighters, police officers, teachers and paramedics â€" all of whom have their pay increases restricted by chancellor Gordon Brown's anti-inflation efforts â€" the problem is now becoming acute, Tim Crawford, group economist at Halifax, believes."Housing affordability continues to deteriorate for key workers across Great Britain and it is now clearly not a problem confined to the south of England," he said."Nurses face the most difficulties climbing onto the housing ladder but all key worker occupations are likely to struggle to purchase a house apart from in Scotland."Only one per cent of towns in Britain passed the affordability calculation for British nurses.Britain's ten most expensive towns are all located in the south-east, with Gerrards Cross, Weybridge and Sevenoaks all in the top five. London's boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster and Camden all also feature."The government's key worker schemes are providing some relief but given recent trends there would clearly be benefits from broadening their reach," Mr Crawford added.Halifax classifies towns as unaffordable when the house price: earnings ratio exceeds the first-time buyer average of 4.46 in all five key worker occupations.
Share this..
Related stories
Scottish government injects £45 million into low-cost homes
The Scottish government has today announced plans to inject £45 million into a program which will construct up to 800 new low-cost homes across Scotland. The money is made up of a £31 million injection from the previous budget and £14 million which has been freed up by the Scottish government from its existing housing program. So will this make a difference? There is a definitive lack of aff...
Read MoreChildren 'know about Christmas crunch'
Many children are aware of the financial crisis and are downgrading their expectations for Christmas gifts as a result.Liverpool Victoria (LV=), an insurer and investment firm, said that two thirds of under-18s know that the economy is in trouble at the moment.What's more, 44 per cent said that they were expecting less of a present haul for 2008.Even among those eight to ten-year-olds who still be...
Read MoreBanks under investigation for PPI mis-handling
09/09/2013 Two unnamed banks are reportedly under investigation for the mis-handling of PPI complaints. The banks have been accused of rejecting an ‘outrageous’ amount of valid PPI complaints, something that Martin Wheatley, chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) described as “absolutely not acceptable.” Furthermore, the financial ombudsman, who deals with comp...
Read MoreNew 50% tax rate kicks in today
More than 300,000 of the UK's highest earners will today feel the pain of an increase in the top rate of tax in the UK from 40% to 50%. The new 50% rate will apply to those earning over £150,000 a year although there is also a further twist for those high earners in the UK. They will also lose their tax-free personal allowance of £6,475 a year which will mean somebody earning over £200,000 a ye...
Read MoreAre you making best use of tax efficient investment vehicles?
In everyday life the government seem intent on taking as much tax as possible with many taxpayers questioning what they actually receive in return. However, there are a number of long-term tax efficient savings vehicles which many people seem to ignore at their peril and their long-term cost. But why would a government incentivise the UK public to save for their future?
In simple te...