Many places 'too dear for public workers'

Posted: 13 Apr 2007 11:40:32 GMT

Key workers are finding it difficult to afford properties in a number of regions in the UK according to new reports, prompting concern over the affordability pressures facing public sector employees.

Key workers are finding it difficult to afford properties in a number of regions in the UK according to new reports, prompting concern over the affordability pressures facing public sector employees.

Research from Halifax has found that 70 per cent of towns are now too expensive for key workers to buy property in, up from 65 per cent in 2006. An increase in average house prices has led to affordability problems, leaving workers in the emergency services, teaching and nursing unable to buy.

Affordability pressures were found to be highest in notoriously expensive London and the south west, while nurses and firefighters face the biggest problems overall. Statistics show that the average house price was unaffordable for the typical nurse in 99 per cent of all towns, and 97 per cent for firefighters.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has reported that house prices rose in March for the first time in five months, predicting that prices are unlikely to fall in the short term.


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