“High London rents pricing out young teachers, says NUT

The success of London schools is at risk as high rents increasingly price young teachers out of London, says the National Union of Teachers.

Teacher recruitment expert Prof John Howson confirmed the rate of teacher vacancies advertised in London was higher than anywhere else in England.

A survey of 1,200 NUT members in London aged under 35 found 60% were planning to leave the city within five years.

And almost two-thirds of these said housing costs were the main reason.

The union has urged candidates in May’s mayoral elections to adopt policies to boost affordable housing in London.

Prof Howson, of Oxford Brookes University and director of the Teach Vac website, told the BBC that London schools’ teacher recruitment difficulties meant more children were taught by non-specialist teachers, particularly at secondary level.

The NUT says newly qualified teachers in inner London take home £1,655 a month after tax – and £1,583 in outer London.

But the rent on a one-bedroom flat in the capital averaged £1,155 in the year to the end of March 2015, according to government figures.

This compares with £525 for England as a whole and £625 for the south east of England.

This leaves young teachers struggling to make ends meet, says the union”.

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