Homes cost six times teachers' salaries

Average house prices in London and the South-East are more than six and a half times the average pay of teachers in the region, a report reveals today.

It says that even the combined salaries of two teachers will be barely enough for a mortgage on an average house.

Today's report from the Halifax comes as the Government's Comprehensive Spending Review is expected to propose new ways to help key workers buy or rent a home.

The study found that, while London and the South-East have been the most difficult regions for teachers to buy their own home for more than a decade, the situation recently has got much worse.

In London, the average price of a property is now almost six and three-quarters a teacher's average annual pay, compared with just over four times 10 years ago.

The Halifax research also shows that even current demands for London weighting allowances of up to £4,000 a year, which have been widely rejected, would not solve the problem.

"It would require a hike in teachers' average earnings of between £9,800 and £18,750 a year to restore the relationship between house prices and teachers' pay to levels that pertained in the South-East", the report says.

In London, average teachers' pay would need to be raised from £29,020 to £47,775.