Homeless Heroes: 87% Of Public Sector Workers CAN’T Afford A Mortgage in the UK

With our public sector workers going above and beyond the call of duty over the last six months, property and mortgage experts at OnlineMortgageAdvisor.co.uk wanted to find out if people working in public sector roles could afford a mortgage and where in the UK would be most feasible .

After looking at all average annual salaries for all public sector roles, along with property price averages across the UK, the results were astonishing.

London Mortgage Affordability

Across all eight chosen public sector professions (NHS GP Doctor, Firefighter, Police Officer, Social Worker, Secondary School Teacher, Primary School Teacher, NHS Nurse (Registered Nurse), and Military Soldier) none were able to afford a mortgage in London.

Even though the London weighting allowance was added to our front-line heroes, they were still unable to buy a London property.

However, the OnlineMortgageAdvisor team understood that mortgages are usually achieved with a second income. Finding the average London salary of £34,473, they used this to determine the potential for a joint mortgage and still it proved unattainable.

UK Mortgage Affordability

Based on their income alone an NHS GP was the only public sector profession that could afford a mortgage within the UK. With an average annual salary of £64,999, an NHS GP could afford to live in seven out of 11 regions in the U.K. such as the West Midlands, East Midlands, North West England, North East England, Wales, Scotland, and finally Yorkshire and The Humber.

Yet, the other seven key workers; Firefighters, Police Officers, Social Workers, Secondary School Teachers, Primary School Teachers, NHS Nurses (Registered Nurses), and Military Soldiers could not afford to live in any of the regions listed.

UK Mortgage Affordability with a Partner

The only way our front-line heroes could afford to have a mortgage is by living with a significant other. OnlineMortgageAdvisor took the average UK income–earning of £29,600.

NHS GP Doctor

The take-home for a NHS GP and their partner would be an average of £94,599 making them the highest income earners for all eight selected public sector workers. Therefore a  NHS GP was able to afford mortgages across these nine regions: East of England, South West of England, West Midlands, East Midlands, North West of England, North East of England, Wales, Scotland, and Yorkshire and The Humber.

Firefighter

After extinguishing blazing fires and rescuing civilians from dangerous situations, our brave firefighters have a potential household earning of £61,308, leaving them able to buy within seven regions across the UK (West Midlands, East Midlands, North West of England, North East of England, Wales, Scotland, and Yorkshire and The Humber).

Police Officer

Keeping our streets safe police officers come in third place with a joint average potential income of £59,594, granting them properties in the West Midlands, East Midlands, North West of England, North East of England, Wales, Scotland, and Yorkshire and The Humber.

Social Worker

Social workers follow closely behind with an average household income of £59,437, permitting them properties in the West Midlands, East Midlands, North West of England, North East of England, Wales, Scotland, and Yorkshire and The Humber.

Secondary School Teacher

Secondary school teachers are the last public sector workers to afford seven regions in the UK, with a joint potential income of £59,244 on average, meaning they can afford properties in the West Midlands, East Midlands, North West of England, North East of England, Wales, Scotland, and Yorkshire and The Humber.

Primary School Teacher

Our early learning educators come in sixth place with a household earning of £56,244. They can subsequently afford a mortgage in the East Midlands, North West of England, North East of England, Wales, Scotland, and Yorkshire and The Humber.

NHS Nurse (Registered Nurse)

After braving the front-line over the past six months, our NHS nurses come second to last with an average household income of £54,706. The extra £4,706 allows NHS nurses to buy in one more region than our military soldiers (East Midlands, North West of England, North East of England, Wales, Scotland, and Yorkshire and The Humber).

Military Soldier

They may be protecting and keeping us safe, but our soldiers are unfortunately at the bottom of the mortgage affordability list with an average earning of £50,139 if applying with a partner, allowing soldiers to only afford properties in the North West of England, North East of England, Wales, Scotland, and Yorkshire and The Humber.