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Teachers in inner London are paid up to 17 per cent more than their peers elsewhere in England, under a pay framework aimed at boosting supply in high-cost areas.

But ����Vlog analysis suggests that the current pay system is increasingly misaligned with economic trends and emerging recruitment patterns.

This is causing school leaders in high-cost areas outside of the capital to question why pay uplifts are so London-focused.

The status quo, they warn, is shrinking applicant pools and leading to concerns about leadership progression, long commuting times for staff and workforce instability.

So where are these problems most acute? And what does this say about the current teacher pay system?

How much is pay weighting worth?

Teacher pay in England is set nationally, with limited regional variations through uplifts for inner London, outer London and the “London fringe”.

These uplifts increase the salary of a full-time teacher at the midpoint of the main pay scale (M4) from £39,556 to £46,339, £44,128 and £41,075, respectively.

These uplifts reflect concerns about the high cost of housing in London, which led to pay allowances being introduced before changes were made to the national teacher pay scale 

However, ����Vlog analysis sets out how housing markets in many parts of the country now resemble those traditionally associated with London - but without any corresponding pay uplift.

As a result, schools in high-cost areas outside of London are increasingly struggling to recruit staff, particularly early- and mid-career teachers.

James Zuccollo, director for school workforce at the Education Policy Institute, says the problem is structural: “Teacher salaries are remarkably uniform across most of England, whereas housing costs are anything but.

“The current pay structure doesn’t capture the reality and disparity of local housing markets.”

�ձ��’ analysis compares average house prices and private rents in every English local authority with the full-time salary of an M4 teacher in these areas.

The house prices stated indicate the average price paid in each local authority as of September 2025, while the stated rent reflects the average monthly cost of private rental in the same period.

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Inner London pay pressures

Unsurprisingly, inner London local authorities are at the extreme end of housing affordability for teachers.

In all but two inner London boroughs, average house prices are more than 10 times an M4 teacher’s annual salary.

To put this into context, the median average home in England costs 7.7 times the average full-time worker’s earnings, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which defines “affordable” as less than five times earnings.

Meanwhile, rents in most inner London boroughs absorb 60 to 80 per cent of an M4 teacher’s post-tax income.

A headteacher at one inner London school, who does not wish to be named, says rising living costs do not just affect recruitment but also leadership progression.

More teachers are seeking promotion earlier than they otherwise would, they say, not because they are ready to lead but because higher pay is increasingly necessary to remain in London.

This, they argue, has created a more competitive and performative culture, with some early-career teachers taking on additional responsibilities before they have had time to fully develop their classroom practice.

This has wide-ranging implications for leadership development and quality, the headteacher adds.

Challenges in the London fringe

However, similar dynamics affect schools outside of the capital.

For example, in St Albans, Hertfordshire, an average rent of £1,884 a month accounts for 68.3 per cent of an M4 teacher’s post-tax income of £2,758, while the average house price of £658,000 equates to 16 times salary.

This rent-versus-earnings figure is worse than for seven local authorities in inner London, but teachers in St Albans only receive London fringe weighting, meaning they miss out on more than £300 per month.

House prices in St Albans, as a proportion of an M4 teacher’s salary, are higher than in all but three of the inner London boroughs.

Similarly, in Windsor and Maidenhead, Berkshire, rents account for 64.8 per cent of monthly income, and house prices reach 15.4 times salary, but teachers are paid fringe uplifts rather than London rates.

Louise Hatswell, pay specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, says the impact of high housing costs on staffing goes far beyond London.

“Although there is some regional variation, this is a widespread pattern across the country. The current pay framework does not support recruitment and retention of teachers or leaders, and we have to fix this as a matter of urgency.”

A Northern city with London pressures

York provides a clear example of how these pressures are emerging beyond the South East. Teachers on the M4 pay scale in the city can expect house prices to be 7.7 times their annual salary, with rent consuming more than 40 per cent of their monthly take-home pay.

Gail Brown, chief executive of Ebor Academy Trust, which runs 25 primary schools across York, North Yorkshire, the East Riding and Hull, says high housing costs and strong demand for property cause recruitment difficulties that may not be immediately apparent.

“York is a very desirable place to live, and we don’t have an issue recruiting to York schools,” she says.

But, she adds, affordability affects who applies and who can realistically stay.

Many teachers working in York studied there and understand the rental market, Brown says, but other candidates can struggle to relocate and buy a home there.

And these pressures are intensified by a shortage of long-term rental housing, driven in part by the growth of Airbnb and other short-term lets.

As a result, she says, schools increasingly rely on staff commuting from less expensive areas, bringing additional travel costs and time pressures that can affect retention.

The high cost of rent

Across England, 84 out of 298 local authorities for which data is available have average rents that exceed 50 per cent of an M4 teacher’s post-tax income.

In 48 councils, rents rise above 60 per cent, and in 27 they exceed 70 per cent.

Crucially for teacher recruitment, 45 of the 84 councils are outside London, meaning that more than half of the areas where rents consume the largest share of income do not benefit from the biggest pay uplifts.

Of these, 23 local authorities sit on the England (excluding London) pay scale, so teachers there receive no uplift at all.

For comparison, private renters with a median household monthly income of £3,396 would spend 36.3 per cent of their income on a typical rented home in England, according to the latest ONS figures.

Teachers look for shorter commutes

Caroline Barlow, headteacher at Heathfield Community College in East Sussex and co-chair of the Headteachers’ Roundtable, says housing and travel costs are directly affecting recruitment and staffing budgets.

She says many teachers and trainees in East Sussex, who do not qualify for any pay uplift, commute 20 to 25 miles each way, with journeys of up to an hour, adding significant costs.

This has led to increased requests for retention allowances to cover travel, placing further pressure on school finances, she says.

Barlow argues that without intervention, these pressures risk further narrowing recruitment, and suggests that solutions could include greater provision of key worker housing or stronger requirements on developers to deliver affordable homes in high-cost rural and coastal areas.

Sir Dan Moynihan, chief executive of the Harris Federation, has previously called for government-funded teacher housing.

Similarly, Russell Hobby, chief executive of the Kenmal Academies Trust (29 primaries, 14 secondaries and two special schools), says housing costs increasingly affect where schools can realistically recruit from.

“What I have seen is a growing reluctance to commute,” he says, pointing to high fuel costs, unreliable public transport and lower car ownership among younger professionals. “That creates real challenges for recruiting to more expensive or more isolated areas.”

His comments are echoed by Sarah Findlay-Cobb, chief executive of the Landau Forte Charitable Trust, which runs two primaries, three secondaries and one sixth form in Derbyshire and Staffordshire.

She agrees that rising housing and travel costs are directly affecting recruitment, with more staff seeking to reduce commuting distances as costs become unaffordable.

Not just an early-career problem

Using M4 as a benchmark provides a picture for the average established classroom teacher rather than for a new entrant to the profession.

But conditions are even more challenging for those who are earlier in their careers. For a newly qualified teacher on the M1 pay scale, in outer London and the London fringe rent consumes more than 60 per cent of monthly post-tax income, and more than 40 per cent for those on the England pay scale.

Ian Hartwright, head of policy at the NAHT school leaders’ union, says falling real-terms pay compounds the problem across the board.

“The value of teacher and leader pay has dropped for everyone,” he says, with salaries now 16 per cent lower in real terms than in 2010.

Call for a single London rate

Hartwright argues that while London weightings have long existed across many sectors, increasingly complex regional pay systems are not the solution.

Instead, he calls for a reformed national pay structure, including mandatory minimum pay points, pay portability across schools, improved progression pathways and a review of leadership pay.

The NAHT wants the government to adopt a single rate across the capital at the inner London level.

It argues that, as few teachers can afford to live in central London, living costs tend to be similar regardless of where in London their school is based - putting those in outer boroughs at a disadvantage.

And Brown says that, even in areas where recruitment currently appears strong, the issue of housing affordability may be storing up future problems.

Zuccollo warns that without reform, schools in high-cost areas inside and outside London face sustained staffing instability.

Taken together, leaders say, the figures point to a clear risk: a pay framework designed around London is no longer sufficient to support recruitment across a national school system.

Without action, they warn, more schools outside of the capital will face the staffing instability associated with London - and some will fare even worse.

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