London teachers “priced out”

The largest teaching union in Britain has released a statement saying that high rents in the London area are “pricing out” young teachers.

The National Union of Teachers (NUT), which has over 350,000 members across the country, surveyed 1,200 teachers under 35 working in London and found that 60% were planning to leave the capital within five years.

The majority of these named housing costs as the main reason for their intended departure. Average rents in London for a one-bedroom flat totalled £1,155 last year, which represents over 70% of the average pay of a junior teacher in outer London and is over double the average rent for the rest of the country.

This means that many young teachers are struggling to make a living, the union says, and leads to many students at secondary level being taught by non-specialist teachers.

But these issues may have a wider impact outside the specific realm of teaching: the union says that candidates for the position of London Mayor must address the problem, which joins several other concerns over housing prices which stand to face Boris Johnson’s successor after the election in May.