Special report: average wage rises 5% at UK housing providers

This trend was also reflected in Hays’ UK salary and recruiting trends guide for the 2024 period, he said. “Over the last 12 months, more than three-quarters (78 per cent) of employers across the construction and property sector increased salaries for their workforce, by an average of 2.5 per cent across the industry. Notably, social housing professionals received above-average pay rises, by an average of 4.3 per cent, partly driven by National Living Wage (NLW) increases, and impacting inflation in rates that sit above the NLW.”

In addition to providing UK-wide assessment on staffing trends, Social Housing’s report breaks the data down by nation, as well as HA type, covering traditional, large-scale voluntary transfer (LSVT) and HAs that specialise in care.

In England, traditional HAs reported an average pay rise of 4.87 per cent, bringing salaries to £38,108. FTEs grew by 3.86 per cent, reaching 108,065. Managed units rose by 2.58 per cent, totalling 2.89 million. There was a slight drop of 1.23 per cent in units per staff member, however, which could suggest more staffing per unit and a rise in operational complexity.

LSVTs in England saw even sharper increases. Average pay rose by 7.44 per cent to £36,169, while FTEs grew by four per cent. Managed units recorded a far more modest growth of 0.57 per cent, while total staff costs surged by 10.59 per cent.

Care-specialised HAs in England experienced the highest salary growth across the board, although at £27,730 it was still far less than average pay levels among traditional and LSVT HAs. Average pay for care providers jumped by 9.52 per cent, while FTEs increased by 6.67 per cent. Staff cost per unit soared by 16 per cent, indicating a significant rise in operational expenses.

Commenting on the reasons behind the large discrepancy between care salaries and traditional/LSVT HAs, Gera Patel, partner at Campbell Tickell, highlights research recently carried out by her organisation that looked into pay and reward for typical front-end staff in the sector.

She says it found that many organisations use job evaluation schemes that fail to draw out the nuances of how highly skilled care work can be. “They tend to flatten out the skills and experience and it’s very much described as manual labour,” she says. “So, it’s partly this but it’s also due to the competitiveness of the contract and commissioning landscape.”

She adds: “Care worker salaries are typically depressed and have been for a very long time. Most care workers aren’t paid anywhere near what they should be and the system is inherently unfair. We have huge amounts of turnover with people coming in and out of the care sector and there’s lots of labour needed from abroad because there aren’t enough people in the UK who want to do those jobs. It’s a big political issue and is a complex environment. But in the middle of it, you’ve got a huge number of people who are looking after incredibly vulnerable people and doing it for very little money.”

Across all the HAs covered in England for this report, total staff costs climbed by 7.43 per cent, driven by salary increases and expanding workforce levels. Units per staff member decreased slightly, perhaps pointing to a greater focus on staffing-intensive activities.

Individual HAs

Traditional HAs accounted for two-thirds of the overall data, with the group having an average pay of £38,108, which was up by 4.87 per cent. The biggest changes among individual HAs included The Guinness Partnership, whose figures were impacted by its merger with Shepherds Bush Housing Association (SBHA). The HA recorded an 11 per cent decrease in average pay to £36,594, while its level of FTEs increased by the same amount.  

A spokesperson for the group says: “The figures for 2023 and 2024 are distorted by staff movements within and in and out of the group over both years, including the transfer of SBHA colleagues into the group, the transfer of domiciliary care workers out of the group, and the transfer of other care and support colleagues within the group. In both years, we have made pay awards in line with sector norms. We are confident that our salaries and benefits package remain competitive as we regularly benchmark these with sector peers.”

Places for People, meanwhile, saw a 14 per cent lift in its average salary and a 17 per cent increase in its staff costs, which a spokesperson highlights was across the whole of the group rather than just social housing.

They say: “We employ 13,000 people, a quarter of whom are in our social housing business, with the other almost 10,000 people working in our leisure, developments, property management, investment management businesses and other support functions. The average cost per FTE grew last year because we have employed more people across our group and because of wage increases, again across our group.”

They add: “The median wage increase for our teammates who work to support customers in our social housing business was 6.5 per cent. This was driven by us introducing the Real Living Wage, keeping the salaries of our 1,000 tradespeople competitive, and focusing the biggest salary increases on our lowest-paid teammates. Across our group, senior managers’ pay increased by less than three per cent over the last two years, which is below inflation.”

Other increases in staff pay included GreenSquareAccord (up 32 per cent), West Kent Housing Association (up 30 per cent) and EMH Group (up 18 per cent).

A spokesperson for GreenSquareAccord says the change was a reflection of its new pay framework following its 2021 merger to offer “a fair and competitive remuneration package”.

They say: “By December 2023, we had been able to align all colleagues to our new pay framework, resulting in over 600 colleagues receiving a pay increase outside of our annual pay review. Meanwhile, we have many colleagues who work in care and support and the increase of 9.7 per cent in the National Living Wage has seen pay increases for most colleagues in this area of our business.”

West Kent Housing Association’s increase was due to an accounting change. The organisation transitioned from a December financial year to a March year end. This meant 15 months were covered for the period rather than 12, which skewed the data.

Geoff Clarke, executive director of finance at EMH Group, says that the HA had not increased wages beyond the five per cent annual cost of living rise, although he notes changes in frontline care staff where the group had closed non-viable schemes in North Derbyshire.

On this, he adds that the organisation is still committed to the care and support sector, but rationalised certain schemes that are “hard to reach”.

Regenda Group, meanwhile, saw an 11 per cent decrease in average wages, while FTEs went up 14 per cent, which the group said was “a strategic shift designed to enhance customer service, while maintaining financial sustainability”.

A spokesperson says: “Following a restructuring exercise in November 2022, senior roles within the housing and care and support teams were removed, enabling a redirection of resources toward frontline services.

“This restructuring reduced both staffing costs and the average number of FTEs within Regenda Homes (from 295 to 285). Simultaneously, the maintenance team was expanded to strengthen direct support for residents. Across the wider Regenda Group, both the salary bill and FTEs increased due to the acquisition of Ecogee and the continued growth of The Learning Foundry. These changes reflect our commitment to meeting the needs of our customers and communities, while ensuring value for money and efficiency.”

Elsewhere across the UK, the biggest changes among Scotland’s 20 traditional HAs included a near-10 per cent increase in the average staff wage at Link Group, to £37,763. At the same time, the group’s number of FTEs increased by seven per cent to 860.

A Link spokesperson says: “Link’s staff resourcing is planned to meet the needs of the business and is reviewed regularly. Our pay levels are benchmarked periodically to ensure our salaries align with others in the sector and Link remains an attractive employer.”

Castle Rock Edinvar, meanwhile, also recorded a 10 per cent rise in its average wage to £41,314, while its FTEs decreased by 17 per cent to 118. The group recorded a 10 per cent decrease in its total staff costs, while its staff cost per unit dropped by 13 per cent to £816. 

A spokesperson for Castle Rock Edinvar said its parent, Places for People, had changed the methodology for accounting for staff working in Scotland, which resulted in the changes seen in this report.

The highest increase across Wales’ 20 traditional HAs was seen at Linc Cymru (up 22 per cent). The most notable decrease among this group of HAs was at Hendre, which saw a 15.6 per cent drop in average pay. However Hendre changed its year end and had a 15-month year in 2023, so 2024 looked lower in comparison. Several organisations in Wales mentioned the impact of the Welsh government’s pledge made in 2022-23 to introduce the Real Living Wage for social care workers. The Real Living Wage is higher than the national minimum wage and is calculated by the Resolution Foundation.

A spokesperson for Welsh housing association Hafod – which is part of Hendre Group – says that the accounting change was behind the decrease. “If you annualise the 15-month period, you will get a comparative figure to the other organisations you have explored. You will see that the average pay within Hafod increased by 5.4 per cent, which was in line with other HAs. Each year, we undertake industry benchmarking as part of our internal diligence.”

All of Northern Ireland’s five HAs recorded increases in average staff pay. For Co-Ownership Housing and Apex Housing this was an increase of around eight per cent. Co-Ownership’s staff costs for 2024 included redundancy costs of £85,942. Apex’s 2023 figures included redundancy costs of £82,122.

Apex Housing and Co-Ownership Housing were contacted for comment.

Looking ahead

When looking ahead to 2025, Campbell Tickell’s Ms Patel highlights the impact of the increase in National Insurance contributions (NICs) on employers, as well as the reduction in the NIC secondary threshold. These changes mean UK employers will pay more in employer NICs because the earnings level at which contributions begin has been lowered.

“[These changes] are very much about the government focusing on people who earn less, especially part-time workers, which, while very important, is a burden that will fall on employers,” Ms Patel says. “For organisations with a significant number of lower-paid staff, such as those in care or supported housing, this will have a big impact on business plans.”

She also shared findings from the organisation’s annual informal WhatsApp poll conducted across more than 250 housing provider chief executives. The poll asked for insights on annual pay awards for the upcoming period.

A pay award is typically expressed as a percentage increase and applied to the salaries of all or specific groups of staff. It acknowledges employees’ contributions and seeks to ensure wages remain fair and sustainable.

Last year, the poll showed an annual pay award of five per cent, which contrasts with this year’s figures. When asked what they were budgeting for from 1 April 2025, the majority of responding chief executives cited an annual pay award of two to three per cent. While the poll remains open – 60 responses have been received to date – it provides an interesting insight into the sector’s current mood.

“So that feels quite different,” Ms Patel says. “The main reasons for this are general financial constraints. However, for a number of organisations, the National Insurance increase and the reduction of the threshold were cited as key contributory factors.”

Adding to this, Hays’ Mr Bird says that developments as part of the Social Housing (Regulation) Act (in England only), which was legislated in April 2024, will continue to increase the workload for social housing professionals.

He also says there would be a need for more supported living housing for older people, and the workforce to staff those developments. “Retirement living demand between now and 2040 is set to increase at a sharp rate, as today’s cost of living affects tomorrow’s saving plans,” he says. “Today, there are 634,000 supported living units in Great Britain, and it is estimated that between 995,000 and 1.275 million supported living units will be needed by 2040, with aged living cited as the major reason for this unit growth.”

2024 recruitment landscape

Mr Bird says that staff shortages will continue to cause problems for the sector in 2024.

“85 per cent of hiring managers across social housing said a shortage of suitable applicants will be their biggest challenge when recruiting next year,” he says. “Naturally, with permanent roles becoming harder to fill, departments are more open to onboarding interim and temporary staff to deal with workloads.”

He says the pressure on wages is likely to continue, with Hays survey data showing that 72 per cent of hiring managers intend to raise pay again next year to help support workers with the cost of living.

Beyond that, Ms Patel says that the sector needs to be thinking “more proactively about succession planning and the next generation of workers, and whether we are designing jobs in a way that recognises different generations want different things”.

Methodology

Data represents accounts of the largest HAs according to type of business and country, a total of 155 HAs in the UK by category.

Average pay represents salary and wages, and excludes National Insurance and pension contributions. It is the total pay for the organisations divided by the number of full-time equivalent staff, so a fall in staff number can result in a rise in average pay if the amount spent on salaries and wages stays the same.

Sizeable changes in staff data may be explained by a significant change in the size of an HA, or by an expansion in its activities.

Changes to an organisation partway through a financial year will also affect year-on-year comparisons.

Data for 2022-23 is from the 2022-23 accounts and has not been restated.

FTE = full-time equivalents

Social Housing has identified 11 HAs using the following definition: at least a third of the HA’s turnover is represented by care or supported housing activities. Four are in Scotland (Bield, Grampian, Maryhill and Trust), two are in Northern Ireland (Clanmil and Radius) and the remaining five are in the care table for England.

These HAs typically employ more staff than would be necessary to manage general needs rental or leasehold units alone. For such HAs, average pay and the number of units per staff member may be lower than average, while total staff costs per unit may be higher than average.

In calculating bottom-line total average figures, data for these 11 HAs has been excluded from the calculation in these measures:

• Average pay
• Number of units per member
• Total staff costs per unit

Source: Audited accounts for 2023-24 (for 2024) and 2022-23 (for 2023)

Accounts to 31 March 2024 apart from Wales and West (December 2023), West Kent changed its year end from December to March so accounts cover 15 months. Hendre changed its year end from December to March in 2023 so had a 15-month year then.

Click on the button below to download the data tables for ‘Special report: staff pay’*.

*This feature is only available to Social Housing subscribers

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