Dear Sadiq Khan and members of The London Assembly, 

We are asking you to follow through on your promise to recognise the “service and sacrifice” made by care, support, and other essential workers during the pandemic by granting us greater access to cheaper housing.

Despite being lauded as “essential” during the pandemic, we are currently excluded from the key worker lists that would give us preferential access to genuinely affordable housing through housing association key worker schemes. 

In London, the average wage for care workers in the independent sector is £1,483 per month while the median monthly rent was most recently estimated at £1,475 per month. Extortionate housing costs mean despite working incredibly hard, huge numbers of us can barely get by. 

We are asking to be included in the Greater London Authority’s ‘core’ definition of key workers, therefore giving us priority for cheaper housing. This housing should be genuinely affordable for those of us on low wages and accessible to all that require it. 

As this past year and a half has demonstrated, society would not be able to function without the work we do. Every single one of us deserves to be able to afford to live comfortably and securely within the communities we work so hard to serve. 

Care and Support Workers Organise (CaSWO!)

Care and Support Workers Organise! (CaSWO!) formed during the coronavirus pandemic following the PPE crisis. We are organising across unions for the rights and recognition of care and support workers in the UK.

https://www.thersa.org/globalassets/_foundation/new-site-blocks-and-images/reports/2021/04/key-workers-in-the-capital.pdf

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/apr/18/supermarket-and-care-staff-in-london-could-get-key-worker-access-to-housing