Brighton Homeless NHS Worker Joe Walker Speaks Out To Councillors
Joe Walker who works for the NHS locally asked a question this week at the Housing Committee. Joe who recently became homeless and lives in Temporary Accommodation said
"I currently live in temporary supported housing, I am Brighton raised and Work for the NHS as a social prescriber, I am have been looking for a room to rent in a shared house for last 3 months and have sent 107 messages to request a viewing in that time, viewing 6.
Landlords variously quoted 80-130 applications. Some properties are for short term rent as Air BnB in spring/summer, there is clearly a serious lack of available rooms for rental available to workers in the city. What has the administration done to address the issue and what research has been undertaken to assess the extent of the problem?"
In a brave plea to the housing committee with elected councillors and senior council officers in attendance and members of the public in the Gallery, Joe Articulately spoke for thousands of key workers who are being priced out of the city and this is backed up by latest Housing Data.
In exclusive data secured by Charles Harrison from Brighton and Hove Housing Coalition after the council have failed to publish the Housing Strategy Reports since 2019, As above you can see the costs for rents in Brighton and Hove for Quarter 1 2022.
Cllr Siriol Hugh-Jones the co-chair of the Housing Committee said
“I have to say air-bnb is a great frustration to us and really we need a change of national legislation to control so many family homes lost to air bnb”.
Cllr Hugh-Jones went on to say “I would say that the private rented housing stock in Brighton and Hove is amongst the highest in the country. Of the 333 Local Authorities in England, Brighton and Hove has the 14th highest proportion of private rented accommodation”.
Yeah I do have a question, especially on the back of those comments. You mention that Brighton and Hove has an extremely high level of privately rented accommodation, relative to the rest of the country.
From my experience and literally hundreds of others who are currently trying to find somewhere to live in Brighton and Hove who have like myself I suspect a good job, good on paper, are simply not able to find a a room that is available."
Joe then said "You understand I am trying to fund a room and not a property?""affordability isn't an issue, it's about where am I going to live?.
Joe is right if you did a rent vs mortgage calculation then the average room rent is £620in Q1 2022. The equivalent Mortgage value is £106,083. He contacted so many yet they are over subscribed, which is largely due to holiday lets. But we also do have foreign students who often take rooms in family homes.
Are you struggling to find a room in Brighton and Hove?
if so we want to hear from you. or leave a comment.
2 Comments
I’m an NHS worker and I’m currently on the verge of homelessness. I have no idea on what to do or who to turn to. I’m brighton born and bred. It’s sad to see and experience the lack of affordable property’s that we now have. I earn roughly £1,400 a month. When it comes to finding a property in brighton, that pay is no longer liveable. There seems to be no help available and by the end of next week I’ll most probably be on the street and yet I’ll still be an NHS worker. The claps we got in 2020 definitely seem more important than a proper pay rise lol.
[…] we exclusively told you about Joe Walker’s frustration at the lack of supply of new rental properties in Brighton and Hove. Joe who works for the NHS locally asked a question at this week’s at the Housing […]