Special report: pay up by nearly 3%, as staff numbers also increase

Insight07 Jan 2022Chloe Stothart and Robyn Wilson

Social Housing analysis finds that pay and staff numbers increased over the past year, but wider cost pressures were felt across the sector. Chloe Stothart and Robyn Wilson report

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Social Housing analysis finds that pay and staff numbers increased over the past year, but wider cost pressures were felt across the sector. Chloe Stothart and Robyn Wilson report #UKhousing #SocialHousingFinance

Average staff pay for the UK’s largest housing associations (HAs) increased 2.8 per cent in 2021, a Social Housing special report has found. Annual wages inched up to £31,669 for the 12 months to March 2021, which covered the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although smaller than last year’s growth of 3.6 per cent (which was for a slightly different cohort of organisations), the pay increase was ahead of inflation, with the Consumer Price Index standing at one per cent, after recovering from lows of 0.5 per cent over the tumultuous period.

The number of staff (classed as full-time equivalents, FTEs) was up 1.9 per cent for the period, to 141,909. This is an interesting rise, given that, at the time, many organisations were forced to furlough thousands of their staff in an attempt to shield their businesses from the economic impact of the pandemic.

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At the same time, increases in total staff costs across the UK outpaced wage growth, suggesting wider cost pressures beyond salaries and wages were being felt across the sector. Costs were up by more than four per cent to £5.3bn, which translated to a cost of £1,580 per unit. This was up nearly three per cent on last year.

Sue Ramsden, policy leader at the National Housing Federation, said: “Costs having risen more significantly than pay is an indicator of churn, recruitment costs and the use of agency staff,” which she said could cost organisations double the price of FTEs.

She added: “This will be pandemic-related, but also Brexit-related in terms of the much smaller pool of labour people are having to recruit from and the shortage in particular specialisms such as repairs and maintenance.”

The data has been taken from the latest available full dataset in audited accounts and covers the largest 185 HAs across the UK.

Broken down by country and HA type (traditional or LSVTs), the report also looked at the number of units under management across the sector and how many of those were managed per staff member. Staff costs were also analysed on a per-unit basis.

When calculating the bottom line for the total averages for pay, number of units per member and staff costs, Social Housing excluded seven HAs where at least a third of their income was made up from care or supported housing activities.

This is because, typically, these organisations require more staff per unit, which drags down the average pay and increases staff costs.

Expansion activities such as mergers can have a sizeable impact on staff data and is something that comes through in the organisational analysis later in this report. The report uses data from 2020 accounts, but restated data has been used for merged organisations if it is supplied in the 2021 accounts. Mergers include Eastlight forming from Colne and Greenfields Community, Arcon joining Bolton at Home, Equity joining Great Places, Dumfries and Galloway joining Wheatley, and Mid Wales and Tai Ceredigion forming Barcud.

The number of managed units across the whole of the UK increased by 1.7 per cent to 3,332,374, while the number of managed units per staff member decreased fractionally by 0.12 per cent to 24. Staff in England managed more units (25 each) than elsewhere in the UK.

As last year, average pay was higher among traditional associations in England compared with LSVTs, but the opposite was true in Scotland and Wales (Northern Ireland does not have LSVTs). The pay gap between LSVTs and traditional HAs was largest in Wales. LSVT staff members here were paid on average £5,805 more than staff within traditional HAs. In Scotland, this pay gap totalled £751 excluding Wheatley. Average pay at traditional associations in England was £442 higher than for LSVTs.

Employees’ pay and total staff costs 2021: 185 largest HAs

		Staff				No. of managed units				Staff costs
England	No. of HAs	Average pay (£)	Change (%)	No. of FTEs	Change (%)	Total	Change (%)	Per staff member	Change %	Total £m	Change %	Per unit £	Change %
Traditional	65	32,486	3.0	86,416	1.3	1,985,553	1.7	24	0.2	3,239	4.5	1,611	2.7
LSVT	65	32,044	2.3	34,774	2.7	974,128	1.8	28	-0.8	1,406	4.9	1,435	2.9
Total England	130	32,357	2.8	121,190	1.7	2,959,681	1.7	25	-0.1	4,645	4.6	1,553	2.8
Scotland
Traditional	20	29,867	1.8	5,256	3.8	104,519	2.5	25	0.1	168	3.5	1,422	1.4
LSVT	4	30,618	4.7	731	-1.4	19,010	0.7	26	2.1	28	-0.6	1,491	-1.3
Wheatley	1	27,885	-0.2	2,730	5.1	61,656	0.5	23	-4.4	101	5.1	1,634	4.5
Total Scotland	25	29,179	1.3	8,717	3.7	185,185	1.7	24	-1.4	297	3.6	1,506	2.3
Wales
Traditional	20	26,151	3.0	7,617	2.6	94,031	2.0	12	-0.5	233	5.9	2,478	3.8
LSVT	5	31,956	2.5	1,998	0.6	45,501	0.6	23	0.0	86	-2.0	1,886	-2.6
Total Wales	25	27,357	2.8	9,615	2.1	139,532	1.5	15	-0.6	319	3.6	2,285	2.1
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland	5	22,671	5.3	2,387	0.9	47,976	4.7	20	3.8	67	6.6	1,404	1.8

Total UK	185	31,669	2.8	141,909	1.9	3,332,374	1.7	24	-0.1	5,328	4.5	1,580	2.7

Elaine Johnson, director of people at Great Places Housing Group, said this could be in part due to LSVTs inheriting final salary pension schemes from councils which are competitive.

She added: “Another driver could be that most of the stock transfer organisations are unionised and that makes a difference sometimes, because you’re going into salary negotiations with an organised trade union.”

England accounted for the bulk of the HAs across the UK, with 130 in total. These were equally split between LSVTs and traditional HAs. Average pay in England increased by 2.8 per cent to £32,357, with a rise of three per cent among traditional associations.

Total costs increased by 4.6 per cent to £4.6bn, with staff costs per unit increasing 2.8 per cent to £1,553.

Average pay in Scotland increased marginally to £29,179, with staff costs also increasing by 3.6 per cent to £297m. FTEs rose by 3.7 per cent to 8,717, as did the number of managed units, which was up 1.7 per cent to 185,185. Across the UK, the number of units managed per staff member dipped slightly by -1.4 per cent to 24.

In Wales, average pay saw a 2.8 per cent increase to £27,357. Staff costs increased 3.6 per cent to £318.8m.

Data from Northern Ireland, which was made up of the five largest organisations, showed an increase in average staff pay, which was up 5.3 per cent to £22,671. It saw some of the largest increases in staff costs – 6.6 per cent to £67m.

Traditional RPs England 2021: employees’ pay and total staff costs

	Staff				No. of managed units				Staff costs
Top 65 (by no. of units)	Average pay (£)	Change (%)	No. of FTEs	Change (%)	Total	Change (%)	Per staff member	Change (%)	Total (£m)	Change (%)	Per unit (£)	Change (%)
A2Dominion	42,356	2.1	1,197	11.1	38,395	0.7	32	-9.4	62	12.9	1,620	12.1
Abri	35,545	3.5	1,376	12.3	36,453	-7.1	26	-17.3	60	14.5	1,642	23.3
Accent	34,717	8.4	421	0.0	20,448	-1.3	49	-1.3	18	19.1	887	20.7
Accord	24,399	7.6	2,461	3.5	13,504	1.4	5	-2.0	66	11.0	4,892	9.5
Anchor Hanover	22,384	6.9	8,178	1.0	53,919	0.0	7	-1.0	209	8.4	3,884	8.4
Bournville Village Trust ⁺	31,813	6.7	257	0.4	3,995	1.1	16	0.7	10	16.7	2,501	15.4
bpha	35,432	5.9	447	2.1	19,464	1.2	44	-0.8	19	4.0	997	2.7
Broadland	34,296	5.7	216	-0.9	5,471	2.3	25	3.3	9	4.6	1,578	2.3
Bromford	34,797	13.1	1,759	-1.0	44,962	1.1	26	2.1	72	10.5	1,601	9.4
Catalyst	41,601	6.0	1,116	3.8	33,730	0.1	30	-3.6	54	9.9	1,612	9.9
Clarion	40,370	4.1	3,510	-1.8	127,970	1.0	36	2.8	169	1.8	1,319	0.8
Connect	29,105	7.9	171	-3.9	3,612	3.2	21	7.4	6	3.3	1,556	0.2
East Midlands	30,058	9.4	963	5.0	20,204	1.6	21	-3.2	34	13.3	1,675	11.5
Estuary	26,596	-3.4	329	8.6	4,623	0.1	14	-7.8	10	5.8	2,168	5.7
Great Places	34,487	9.8	714	21.8	24,392	25.9	34	3.3	28	33.5	1,149	6.0
Guinness Partnership	32,971	-2.3	2,390	5.4	64,236	0.3	27	-4.8	91	2.0	1,415	1.7
Hastoe	40,866	0.1	97	5.4	7,681	0.2	79	-5.0	5	6.0	601	5.9
Hexagon	37,976	0.6	124	1.6	4,452	0.9	36	-0.8	6	2.1	1,275	1.2
Hightown	34,868	5.1	707	3.8	7,227	6.0	10	2.1	28	8.8	3,816	2.6
Home	30,058	4.1	2,587	6.2	55,392	0.6	21	-5.3	89	8.7	1,601	8.1
Housing 21 ^#	21,047	8.4	3,146	-1.7	21,547	2.3	7	4.0	75	7.1	3,458	4.7
Hyde	43,436	4.8	1,083	2.7	48,721	0.9	45	-1.7	58	11.6	1,197	10.6
Irwell Valley	33,044	-1.2	272	6.7	7,678	0.2	28	-6.1	11	6.5	1,377	6.3
Johnnie Johnson ^#	29,022	-2.3	181	5.8	5,007	1.0	28	-4.6	6	4.9	1,186	3.8
Leeds Federated	36,338	-2.9	130	16.1	4,467	1.4	34	-12.7	5	13.6	1,208	12.1
LiveWest	34,251	-0.4	1,292	3.3	38,238	7.8	30	4.3	51	3.1	1,338	-4.3
L&Q	41,315	5.2	3,437	0.0	107,404	2.0	31	2.0	176	6.0	1,639	3.9
Longhurst	30,689	3.1	1,009	5.9	24,018	1.7	24	-3.9	35	7.0	1,455	5.1
Midland Heart	32,855	8.5	950	-18.2	33,670	0.5	35	22.9	36	-10.3	1,063	-10.7
Moat	40,157	3.0	345	2.1	21,252	1.4	62	-0.7	16	4.7	774	3.2
Mosscare St Vincent’s	32,013	8.8	312	-1.0	8,742	1.3	28	2.3	12	8.6	1,348	7.2
Muir Group	34,549	8.1	182	5.8	5,690	-1.5	31	-6.9	7	14.5	1,299	16.2
Network	45,902	4.8	532	2.3	21,440	-0.1	40	-2.4	29	12.0	1,372	12.1
Newlon	26,783	6.3	674	-2.3	8,187	1.8	12	4.2	21	0.8	2,570	-1.0
North Star	34,600	1.5	90	1.1	3,916	4.9	44	3.7	4	1.0	915	-3.7
Notting Hill Genesis	42,060	23.0	1,631	-20.3	66,537	0.1	41	25.7	83	-0.8	1,250	-1.0
Nottingham Community	25,800	3.1	1,009	1.8	9,914	2.0	10	0.2	31	5.1	3,160	3.1
Octavia Housing	34,382	0.9	382	4.1	5,156	0.6	13	-3.4	16	5.1	3,044	4.5
One	33,011	-0.5	1,667	5.3	17,312	1.4	10	-3.7	63	4.4	3,640	3.0
Optivo	39,112	-3.0	1,434	-3.8	44,891	-1.1	31	2.8	67	-8.0	1,484	-6.9
Orbit	37,438	-3.0	1,210	4.8	45,702	2.1	38	-2.5	53	1.7	1,149	-0.4
Origin	41,669	11.1	248	0.8	7,360	5.8	30	4.9	13	13.8	1,708	7.6
Orwell ⁺	24,461	9.0	510	3.0	4,035	3.0	8	0.0	14	10.5	3,446	7.3
Paradigm	39,946	-4.7	466	7.1	15,650	2.9	34	-4.0	22	3.5	1,395	0.6
Paragon Asra	35,936	4.9	625	4.5	23,020	1.3	37	-3.1	29	10.5	1,276	9.1
Peabody Trust	35,827	-2.1	2,847	-0.8	67,331	1.5	24	2.2	123	-5.4	1,827	-6.7
Places for People	30,075	-5.9	5,985	-3.1	219,616	4.9	37	8.3	210	-7.7	954	-12.0
Platform	29,610	4.5	1,373	16.6	46,151	1.4	34	-13.0	50	14.3	1,086	12.7
Plus Dane	32,794	2.1	557	0.2	13,774	0.0	25	-0.2	23	2.5	1,648	2.5
Regenda	29,452	-2.3	630	0.6	13,019	0.4	21	-0.2	21	-1.7	1,616	-2.1
Riverside	30,069	-4.3	3,059	6.7	58,671	0.5	19	-5.7	107	2.9	1,821	2.3
Salvation Army ^#	33,456	1.7	217	-8.1	3,819	-6.4	18	1.8	9	-7.8	2,293	-1.5
Sanctuary *	28,498	6.3	10,299	2.0	105,219	2.5	10	0.5	330	8.5	3,138	5.9
Shepherds Bush	42,042	-5.3	189	8.0	4,973	-2.5	26	-9.7	9	-6.1	1,848	-3.7
South Yorkshire	28,264	3.4	546	-5.4	5,771	-0.5	11	5.2	17	-2.0	2,995	-1.5
Southern	34,618	2.7	1,064	7.0	30,490	1.2	29	-5.5	44	6.9	1,443	5.6
Sovereign	35,253	1.9	1,996	1.9	60,538	1.4	30	-0.5	82	4.2	1,348	2.8
Stonewater	37,192	2.7	676	-2.0	34,255	3.0	51	5.1	30	2.9	863	-0.1
Swan	42,405	-6.1	548	6.0	11,229	0.1	20	-5.6	27	0.0	2,383	-0.1
Thames Valley	39,959	-1.9	1,882	3.0	58,063	0.4	31	-2.5	86	1.6	1,475	1.2
Trident	24,328	22.6	600	-7.7	3,620	-0.4	6	7.9	16	12.7	4,442	13.1
Wandle	42,305	6.6	174	0.6	7,474	-0.7	43	-1.2	8	7.2	1,120	7.9
Westward	29,909	3.4	276	1.1	7,754	2.7	28	1.6	10	4.2	1,331	1.5
Yorkshire	34,490	-1.0	616	2.8	17,408	1.9	28	-0.9	24	2.3	1,389	0.4
Your	31,955	4.7	1,045	3.1	26,694	-0.4	26	-3.4	38	7.3	1,418	7.8
Total	32,486	3.0	86,416	1.3	1,985,553	1.7	24	0.2	3,239	4.5	1,611	2.7

England

The percentage rise among the LSVT organisations in the top 10 increases in average staff pay ranged between 22 and seven per cent. All bar one paid more than £30,000 a year.

NSAH (Alliance Homes) saw the largest increase in average staff pay of 22 per cent to £31,971.

It was followed by One Vision Housing, Poplar Harca and Bolton at Home, the latter of which expanded over the period after partnering with Manchester-based HA Arcon Housing.

Despite this, its FTEs slightly decreased by 0.4 per cent to 963, and its staff costs inched up by 0.41 per cent to £44.4m. Its average pay, however, increased by nearly 10 per cent to £34,572.

We have omitted the percentage change figures for Livv Housing Group because it underwent a company restructuring. Previously known as Knowsley Housing Trust (KHT), the registered provider had been part of an unregistered parent. That structure was dismantled in April 2020, bringing the activities of the unregistered entity into the renamed registered provider (Livv) as group parent.

Livv did not restate its figures for 2020 in its 2021 accounts to reflect the change, so the 2020 figures would only cover KHT.

Had the percentage changes been calculated from the numbers in the accounts (in accordance with our general methodology), then these would have shown Livv Housing as having the largest rise in staff costs and being in the top 10 increase list of English LSVTs for both average staff pay and staff costs per unit. But the changes are much smaller once like-for-like numbers, which were not included in the 2021 accounts, are used.

LSVTs (England) 2021: employees’ pay and total staff costs

	Staff				No. of managed units				Staff costs
Top 65 (by no. of units)	Average pay (£)	Change (%)	No. of FTEs	Change (%)	Total	Change (%)	Per staff member	Change (%)	Total (£m)	Change (%)	Per unit (£)	Change (%)
Acis	29,482	-2.1	274	8.7	7,591	0.9	28	-7.2	9	6.7	1,217	5.8
Aspire	28,070	-0.6	474	6.0	9,063	0.2	19	-5.5	17	10.0	1,873	9.7
Aster	34,109	0.6	1,347	10.3	32,729	2.2	24	-7.4	54	8.2	1,639	5.9
Believe	30,637	2.2	518	3.2	18,076	-1.7	35	-4.7	21	10.8	1,154	12.7
Bernicia	29,660	0.2	506	-1.4	14,562	0.6	29	2.0	18	1.3	1,251	0.7
Beyond	30,408	4.0	693	3.1	15,049	-0.2	22	-3.2	27	3.1	1,776	3.3
Bolton at Home	34,572	9.9	963	-0.4	19,117	-0.1	20	0.3	44	0.4	2,324	0.5
Broadacres	29,968	-4.3	344	12.4	6,516	1.6	19	-9.6	12	4.8	1,913	3.1
Castles & Coasts	28,879	0.1	207	8.4	7,075	0.0	34	-7.8	7	8.6	975	8.7
Chelmer	36,708	7.5	315	2.9	10,684	2.3	34	-0.6	15	8.5	1,367	6.0
Citizen	33,506	2.3	956	5.5	30,884	1.1	32	-4.2	40	3.6	1,280	2.4
Community Gateway	30,785	2.9	260	6.1	6,672	0.7	26	-5.1	9	8.5	1,413	7.8
Connexus	28,895	7.2	495	-3.9	10,898	1.0	22	5.1	18	0.5	1,619	-0.5
Cross Keys	34,240	5.3	342	6.2	12,115	2.5	35	-3.5	14	11.1	1,130	8.4
Curo	35,250	-2.7	560	7.3	12,623	-6.3	23	-12.7	23	4.5	1,837	11.6
Eastlight	35,262	3.0	321	11.5	12,510	1.4	39	-9.0	14	14.9	1,082	13.3
First Choice Homes Oldham	32,152	4.6	355	-8.7	11,608	0.3	33	9.9	15	-10.8	1,273	-11.1
Flagship	33,796	2.4	1,247	10.6	31,825	0.8	26	-8.9	50	13.4	1,573	12.5
Freebridge	30,063	3.9	207	-2.8	6,827	0.0	33	2.9	8	0.0	1,133	0.0
Futures	32,484	3.7	349	7.4	10,127	-1.2	29	-8.0	14	8.4	1,384	9.8
Gentoo	31,703	2.8	1,022	-5.7	29,866	-0.2	29	5.9	48	-1.1	1,593	-0.9
Golding	35,176	-1.5	233	4.5	8,131	2.8	35	-1.6	10	1.6	1,221	-1.2
Grand Union	35,359	4.2	337	9.1	12,249	0.5	36	-7.8	15	8.9	1,228	8.3
GreenSquare	31,269	-7.9	561	3.9	12,470	1.8	22	-2.1	21	-14.2	1,700	-15.7
Halton Housing	33,555	6.9	299	-2.9	7,381	1.0	25	4.0	13	4.5	1,703	3.5
Havebury	33,117	5.3	223	4.7	6,913	1.8	31	-2.8	9	6.1	1,330	4.3
Housing Plus	30,458	7.2	740	-10.4	19,255	1.8	26	13.6	27	-3.3	1,393	-5.0
Housing Solutions	42,596	3.8	146	-1.4	5,931	-4.2	41	-2.9	8	1.1	1,332	5.5
Incommunities	29,952	4.9	944	-2.1	22,651	-1.5	24	0.6	38	-0.8	1,678	0.7
Jigsaw	33,366	9.3	1,187	-6.4	35,482	1.5	30	8.4	49	3.3	1,369	1.8
Karbon	33,150	2.3	861	8.2	27,542	1.3	32	-6.4	36	10.4	1,319	9.0
Lincolnshire HP	31,537	6.7	363	1.1	12,552	3.6	35	2.5	14	9.2	1,088	5.4
Livin	34,979	5.3	141	4.4	8,474	0.2	60	-4.1	6	15.6	751	15.3
Livv	32,485	n/a	480	n/a	13,083	n/a	27	n/a	18	n/a	1,369	n/a
Magenta Living	32,558	1.4	543	9.9	12,735	0.5	23	-8.6	23	8.5	1,826	8.0
Magna	29,879	5.0	428	-0.5	8,863	-0.1	21	0.4	16	2.3	1,751	2.4
NSAH (Alliance Homes)	31,971	22.2	384	-16.5	6,689	0.4	17	20.3	15	-1.1	2,188	-1.5
One Manchester	33,248	3.7	416	4.5	12,193	-0.4	29	-4.7	18	4.4	1,456	4.9
One Vision	31,274	12.6	179	0.6	13,545	1.0	76	0.5	6	11.1	478	10.0
Ongo	27,316	-3.4	215	2.9	10,394	1.3	48	-1.5	8	-8.3	725	-9.5
Onward	30,510	-2.8	884	5.2	35,232	0.4	40	-4.6	33	4.4	938	3.9
Plymouth Community	30,826	7.2	619	-3.6	15,960	-0.5	26	3.2	23	6.2	1,470	6.6
Poplar Harca	39,979	12.3	331	-7.8	9,867	1.6	30	10.2	15	4.1	1,550	2.5
Progress ^#	34,173	4.6	567	8.8	10,342	0.5	18	-7.7	23	14.2	2,182	13.7
Raven	35,398	0.4	274	10.0	7,118	1.9	26	-7.4	11	10.5	1,605	8.4
Red Kite	42,623	3.6	138	3.8	6,490	-0.3	47	-3.9	7	7.3	1,092	7.6
Richmond HP	37,901	9.6	252	-0.8	10,821	3.4	43	4.3	12	7.9	1,079	4.3
Rochdale Boroughwide	29,501	3.1	551	1.1	12,656	-0.4	23	-1.5	20	4.3	1,596	4.7
Salix	31,103	5.6	312	-1.0	8,643	-0.2	28	0.7	13	-1.3	1,466	-1.0
Saxon Weald	34,363	-1.4	237	3.5	6,721	-0.6	28	-3.9	10	-5.7	1,549	-5.2
Selwood	29,301	1.8	329	10.0	6,778	1.6	21	-7.6	12	10.5	1,698	8.7
Settle Group	41,422	5.5	258	12.7	9,411	-23.5	36	-32.1	12	18.9	1,324	55.5
Silva	37,200	-2.1	215	9.7	7,726	0.3	36	-8.6	10	-0.6	1,253	-0.9
Soha	36,579	6.0	121	3.4	7,291	4.1	60	0.6	5	9.6	736	5.3
Thirteen	31,488	2.4	1,470	-4.9	34,124	0.2	23	5.4	57	0.8	1,682	0.6
Together	30,456	5.1	1,403	5.3	36,669	0.4	26	-4.6	59	3.3	1,602	2.9
Torus62	33,043	5.1	1,380	-3.3	39,632	1.2	29	4.7	55	1.4	1,389	0.1
Trent & Dove	34,089	8.7	191	-3.0	6,376	2.2	33	5.5	8	6.5	1,187	4.2
Vale of Aylesbury	38,547	4.7	267	0.8	8,414	0.7	32	0.0	12	4.2	1,467	3.5
Vivid	34,438	2.4	931	3.3	32,284	2.6	35	-0.7	37	6.5	1,155	3.8
Wakefield and District	32,853	2.3	1,189	-5.8	31,698	0.2	27	6.3	48	-3.0	1,527	-3.2
Walsall	35,953	6.3	700	-0.6	21,619	1.2	31	1.8	33	0.5	1,543	-0.7
West Kent HA ⁺	34,868	0.5	265	10.4	7,893	4.1	30	-5.7	12	6.3	1,494	2.1
Wrekin	28,205	1.8	974	1.4	13,689	0.6	14	-0.7	34	1.0	2,493	0.4
Wythenshawe Community	30,607	3.8	481	-5.9	13,724	0.7	29	6.9	19	-2.9	1,367	-3.5
Total	31,329	4.02	35,391	3.4	1,007,572	2.5	28	-0.83	1,395	6.8	1,385	4.2

A spokesperson said its total employee costs figure for 2019-20 was £16.329m for 445 staff, rather than £3.861m for 116 staff. The number of units is unchanged for 2019-20 at 13,206. The changed figures give a 7.9 per cent rise in staff numbers, a 9.7 per cent rise in employee costs and a 10.7 per cent rise in staff costs per unit, and an 8.16 per cent fall in units per staff member. The rise in average pay increase would be 1.7 per cent if £99,000 of redundancy costs from 2020 were included, or 2.5 per cent if they were omitted.

The highest-paying HA in the LSVT list was Red Kite Community Housing with £42,623. Ongo saw a drop in average pay of 3.4 per cent to £27,316.

Eastlight, which was fourth for increase in number of FTEs, said the percentage was increased by vacant roles which had been undertaken by agency staff in 2019-20. These were filled by permanent staff after the merger of Colne and Greenfields Community in 2020-21.

For the 65 traditional HAs, London-based Notting Hill Genesis had the largest increase in average staff pay. It was up 23 per cent to £42,060, while its number of FTEs was down 20 per cent to 1,631, from 2,047. Housing management or maintenance staff made up 661 of their FTEs.

Care and support staff saw the largest decreases, with FTEs reducing from 606 in 2020 to 386 in 2021. Overall, it made £551,707 of redundancy payments during the period.

Wales and Northern Ireland HAs 2021: employees’ pay and total staff costs

	Staff				No. of managed units				Staff costs
Top 20 (by no. of units)	Average pay (£)	Change (%)	No. of FTEs	Change (%)	Total	Change (%)	Per staff member	Change (%)	Total (£m)	Change (%)	Per unit (£)	Change (%)
Wales – traditional
Ateb (Pembrokeshire HA)	30,053	6.4	122	2.3	3,005	4.4	25	2.1	4.3	7.9	1,438	3.4
Barcud	28,898	3.5	274	0.0	4,110	3.8	15	3.8	9.2	2.8	2,250	-0.9
Bro Myrddin	30,596	-4.4	42	20.0	1,006	4.0	24	-13.3	1.5	14.0	1,535	9.6
Cadwyn	26,018	-0.4	113	2.7	1,447	0.0	13	-2.7	3.8	7.1	2,601	7.1
Cardiff Community	36,833	1.0	108	20.0	3,076	1.0	28	-15.9	5.1	20.0	1,666	18.9
Clwyd Alyn	22,542	6.9	770	1.7	6,240	3.2	8	1.4	19.6	8.5	3,137	5.2
Coastal	29,767	2.7	262	2.3	6,036	1.4	23	-1.0	9.8	5.6	1,621	4.2
Cynon Taf	32,507	-2.9	74	2.8	1,898	1.0	26	-1.7	2.8	-0.6	1,487	-1.6
Family HA (Wales)	24,790	13.0	224	-3.4	2,897	1.0	13	4.7	6.3	9.3	2,168	8.1
Grwp Cynefin	29,455	1.0	253	3.7	4,046	0.5	16	-3.1	8.2	2.8	2,038	2.3
Hendre	18,121	4.3	1,372	2.2	6,218	1.9	5	-0.3	27.8	6.5	4,472	4.5
Linc-Cymru	28,116	-1.9	491	10.1	4,892	4.3	10	-5.3	16.1	10.0	3,288	5.4
Melin	31,042	-0.6	240	0.4	4,420	3.7	18	3.3	9.3	-1.0	2,107	-4.5
Merthyr Tydfil	33,288	4.4	40	0.0	1,177	3.1	29	3.1	1.6	5.2	1,329	2.0
Newydd	27,980	0.9	49	6.5	3,074	1.7	63	-4.6	1.6	7.3	520	5.6
North Wales	26,667	-1.5	141	0.7	2,726	1.7	19	1.0	4.4	2.4	1,619	0.7
Pobl	27,969	4.7	1,892	-0.5	17,689	0.8	9	1.3	60.9	3.3	3,444	2.5
Taff	29,313	4.4	147	1.4	1,527	2.3	10	1.0	4.9	5.6	3,218	3.2
United Welsh	28,997	-1.6	384	10.0	6,322	2.8	16	-6.5	13.1	10.8	2,069	7.8
Wales & West	28,916	-0.9	619	5.1	12,225	1.8	20	-3.2	22.6	6.8	1,849	5.0
Total	26,151	3.0	7,617	2.6	94,031	2.0	12	-0.5	233.0	5.9	2,478	3.8
Wales – LSVT
Adra (Cartrefi Cymunedol Gwynedd)	30,374	-2.6	302	4.9	6,499	2.6	22	-2.1	12.1	-2.1	1,856	-4.7
Bron Afon	32,623	-7.6	393	1.8	9,035	0.4	23	-1.4	17.0	-7.4	1,878	-7.7
Newport City Homes	31,123	-2.0	413	12.8	9,695	0.4	23	-11.0	17.5	0.3	1,808	-0.1
Tai Tarian (NPT Homes)	28,577	4.1	496	-1.0	9,474	-0.1	19	0.9	18.9	-3.0	1,991	-2.9
Trivallis (RCT Homes)	37,629	19.9	394	-11.5	10,798	0.4	27	13.4	20.4	2.1	1,887	1.7
Total LSVT	31,956	2.5	1,998	0.6	45,501	0.6	23	0.0	85.8	-2.0	1,886	-2.6
Total Wales	27,357	2.8	9,615	2.1	139,532	1.5	15	-0.6	318.8	3.6	2,285	2.1
Northern Ireland – top five HAs (no. of units)
Apex	22,650	5.0	710	0.3	6,413	5.2	9	4.9	20.2	6.2	3,152	0.9
Choice Housing Ireland	27,477	5.4	417	2.0	13,110	8.1	31	6.1	14.2	6.0	1,087	-2.0
Co-Ownership Housing	38,870	2.8	63	0.0	9,701	5.9	154	5.9	3.5	12.6	358	6.3
Clanmil	20,922	6.7	301	3.8	5,537	3.8	18	0.0	7.6	11.4	1,378	7.3
Radius	19,900	5.3	896	0.0	13,215	0.7	15	0.7	21.8	4.9	1,648	4.1
Total	22,671	5.3	2,387	0.9	47,976	4.7	20	3.8	67.3	6.6	1,404	1.8

Its staff costs were down slightly by 0.83 per cent to £83.2m. This was made up of £68.6m in wages and salaries, £6.8m in social security costs and £7.8m in other pension costs.

Great Places had the highest increase in total staff costs (33.5 per cent) to £28m, as well as one of the highest increases in average staff pay (10 per cent) to £34,487 for the period.

Ms Johnson said this was in part due to the group’s merger with Equity in April 2020, as well as “general growth of the business”. The organisation is looking to build 1,000 homes a year, which she said “has its own pressures in terms of growing people to support that”.

She added: “But there’s no doubt about it, there is significant volatility in the salaries market in part due to COVID-19, but also because of Brexit and the labour pressures this has caused.

You look across the country and we’ve got the highest levels of vacancies we’ve seen in years and recruitment into those vacancies, getting the skills and experience, is a real struggle.”

She said these pressures were forcing some organisations to hire “well outside” their commuting radius. “We have not gone down this path, but a number of housing organisations are recruiting senior people who live a significant distance away and, with homeworking, are not expecting them to be in the office. There are examples of North West [providers] recruiting from the North East and the South West.”

Scotland HAs 2021: employees’ pay and total staff costs

	Staff				No. of managed units				Staff costs
Total traditional	29,867	1.8	5,256	3.8	104,519	2.5	25	0.1	168.3	3.5	1,422	1.4
Top 20 (by no. of units)	Average pay (£)	Change (%)	No. of FTEs	Change (%)	Total	Change (%)	Per staff member	Change (%)	Total (£m)	Change (%)	Per unit (£)	Change (%)
Albyn	31,402	-2.9	87	1.2	3,543	0.5	41	-0.6	3.2	-1.6	909	-2.1
Bield Housing & Care ^#	27,534	1.9	457	-2.4	5,413	0.6	12	3.0	14.4	-2.5	2,654	-3.0
Cairn	24,447	6.3	191	-5.0	3,980	-0.6	21	4.6	6.4	6.7	1,603	7.3
Caledonia	32,189	0.1	159	-5.9	5,471	-1.8	34	4.3	6.6	-6.1	1,213	-4.3
Castle Rock Edinvar	31,735	3.9	196	-1.5	7,560	2.9	39	4.4	7.5	3.9	996	1.0
Clyde Valley	36,767	5.9	72	12.5	4,243	2.2	59	-9.1	3.1	19.0	742	16.4
Grampian	34,469	2.4	113	0.9	4,020	1.0	36	0.1	4.6	3.1	1,134	2.1
Hanover (Scotland) ^#	28,237	3.7	469	1.1	5,880	-0.1	13	-1.1	15.2	4.6	2,577	4.6
Hillcrest Homes (Scotland)	27,696	0.5	912	1.4	9,281	3.0	10	1.5	28.3	2.1	3,048	-0.8
Home in Scotland	35,941	4.9	51	-1.9	4,325	0.4	85	2.4	2.1	3.1	496	2.6
Kingdom	24,486	5.0	490	1.7	5,328	5.9	11	4.2	13.7	7.2	2,563	1.2
Langstane	33,237	0.5	70	1.4	3,076	0.0	44	-1.4	2.9	3.6	932	3.6
Link Group	32,015	-3.7	674	14.6	10,832	3.3	16	-9.9	25.1	10.2	2,321	6.7
Maryhill	33,538	2.8	89	-1.1	3,057	0.1	34	1.2	3.7	-4.5	1,196	-4.6
North Glasgow	33,962	7.9	123	0.8	5,434	0.0	44	-0.8	5.4	1.2	989	1.1
Queens Cross	29,512	2.4	214	2.9	4,532	3.5	21	0.6	7.7	6.6	1,690	3.0
Sanctuary Scotland *	48,167	28.9	12	9.1	8,097	16.6	675	6.9	0.7	32.7	89	13.9
Thenue	34,545	7.0	72	-5.3	3,123	0.0	43	5.5	3.0	-2.0	955	-1.9
Trust ^#	14,243	-13.6	733	15.8	3,737	1.6	5	-12.2	11.6	0.5	3,096	-1.1
West of Scotland	36,306	2.6	72	0.0	3,587	0.4	50	0.4	3.2	-0.7	905	-1.0

Top 4 LSVT (excluding Wheatley)
Total Scotland	29,179	1.3	8,717	3.7	185,185	1.7	24	-1.4	297.4	3.6	1,506	2.3
	Staff				No. of managed units				Staff costs
HA	Average pay (£)	Change (%)	No. of FTEs	Change (%)	Total	Change (%)	Per staff member	Change (%)	Total (£m)	Change (%)	Per unit (£)	Change (%)
Argyll Community	29,170	9.0	229	3.6	5,177	-0.4	23	-3.9	8.1	13.7	1,556	14.1
Hebridean Housing Partnership	30,743	7.2	51	0.0	2,255	1.0	44	1.0	2.3	-2.2	1,012	-3.2
River Clyde Homes	31,141	1.1	290	-3.4	5,827	2.4	20	6.0	11.7	-3.9	2,012	-6.2
Scottish Borders	31,694	5.9	161	-4.7	5,751	0.0	36	4.9	6.3	-8.7	1,091	-8.7
Total LSVT	30,618	4.7	731	-1.4	19,010	0.7	26	2.1	28.3	-0.6	1,491	-1.3

Wheatley	27,885	-0.2	2,730	5.1	61,656	0.5	23	-4.4	100.7	5.1	1,634	4.5

Hertfordshire and London-based Origin was fourth for increase in average pay over the 2021 period. It increased by 11 per cent to £41,669.

It was also in the top 10 list for increases in staff costs. For 2021, costs increased by 14 per cent to £12.6m. The number of its FTEs had increased by 0.8 per cent to 248, of which 161 were housing support and care staff, 63 were administration and 24 worked with development.

Housing 21 also appeared in the top 10 list for average wage increase. It rose eight per cent to £21,047, while its total staff costs increased seven per cent to £74.5m.

On this, Sophia Nakhooda, its head of people and culture, said: “Our average pay increased during the period mainly due to the significant increase in the National Living Wage that year, as well as a cost of living pay increase to all of our employees. Housing 21 is proud to have retained our sector-leading commitment of paying our care workers at least 10 per cent above the National Living Wage, which is a strong offer compared to the Real Living Wage. This pay position has been very beneficial in attracting and retaining people during the period of the pandemic and in the face of challenges present in the care sector more generally.”

Scotland

Sanctuary Scotland had the largest increases in average pay and staff costs, but this related to its acquisition of Thistle Housing in February 2021. It had the highest average wage among the largest traditional Scottish HAs, with £48,167. This was up by nearly a third for the period, as were its staff costs, which increased to £722,000.

A spokesperson said: “There was only a minimal change in the normal year-on-year staffing costs for Sanctuary Scotland in the 2020-21 financial year. The increase shown in the accounts was almost entirely down to one-off payroll and administrative costs relating to the acquisition (transfer) of Thistle Housing.”

Clyde Valley was next in the list for cost increases. Average pay increased six per cent to £36,767, while staff costs rose 19 per cent to £3.15m.

Out of the four LSVT organisations in Scotland, Argyll Community Housing had the largest increase in average staff pay, which rose nine per cent to £29,170. Staff costs saw a greater increase of 13.7 per cent to £8m.

River Clyde Homes had the largest total staff costs with £11.7m, which was down 3.9 per cent on last year. The decrease correlated with a 3.4 per cent fall in staff numbers, which led to a 1.12 per cent rise in average staff pay to £31,141.

Wales and Northern Ireland

Clwyd Alyn had the second-largest increase in staff pay among Wales’ 20 largest traditional HAs. It rose 6.9 per to £22,542. Staff costs also increased by 8.5 per cent to £19.6m, while staff numbers rose 1.7 per cent to 770.

Among Wales’ largest LSVTs, Trivallis (RTC Homes) had the biggest increase (20 per cent) in pay, which rose to £37,629.

Northern Ireland’s 5.3 per cent rise in staff pay reflected similar increases at most of the five large HAs surveyed, apart from Co-Ownership, where pay rose 2.8 per cent.

Looking ahead, the NHF’s Ms Ramsden said recruitment issues would continue to bite. “There are issues around recruitment and increased costs in terms of the need to attract and retain staff with higher wages, and around repairs and maintenance, and on the care and support side, who have started work on schemes.”

She said this was becoming an increasing problem for landlords that have started working on schemes and are unable to offer the levels of pay needed to attract and retain staff because of the contract price set by the local authorities.

Notes for tables

Data represents accounts of the largest HAs according to type of business and country – a total of 185 HAs in the UK by category.

Average pay represents salary and wages, and excludes NI and pensions contributions.

Year-on-year percentage changes include the expansion of existing HAs and HA groups. Restated prior-year figures are given for mergers if given in 2021 accounts.

See text for explanation of Livv’s data.

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 part-way through a financial year will also affect comparisons.

Other symbols

* Accounts under EU IFRS rather than FRS102.

⁺ Accounts year-end December 2020.

^# A number of HAs have a significant level of care services or supported housing.

FTE = Full-time equivalents.

Social Housing has identified seven HAs using the following definition: at least a third of the HA’s turnover is represented by care or supported housing activities. May include housing for older people, care for older people, nursing, social care, supported housing or Supporting People contracts. These HAs typically employ more staff than would be necessary to manage general needs rental or leasehold units alone. 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 seven HAs has been excluded from the calculation in these measures: average pay; number of units per member; and total staff costs per unit.

Source: Audited accounts for 2020-21 (2021) and 2019-20 (for 2020)