HIGH CITY RENT IS CREATING JOB “BLACKSPOTS” IN RURAL AREAS
Sky-high rent in big cities is pricing thousands of graduates out of the race for the best vacancies, new stats show.
The problem is creating job “blackspots” where young jobseekers in rural regions cannot afford to move to urban areas where they would have more chance of finding better-paid positions with greater long-term career potential.
New research by housing campaign group PricedOut shows that while jobs in urban areas tend to pay a little more than those in rural areas, it is not enough to balance out the higher rent now demanded by landlords in big cities. In other words, graduates living outside big cities are finding it makes more financial sense to stay put and take a low-paying local job than it does to move to their nearest city, even if their salary would be slightly be higher.
Graduates who move to England’s top cities typically pay £251 more in rent than the national monthly average, yet on only usually earn an additional £167 a month after tax. PricedOut spokesman Dan Wilson Craw said the findings illustrated a broken housing market that is failing to make work pay, particularly for the young who are most likely to move to seek work and be in rented property. He added:
“The gulf between disposable incomes in different parts of the country creates a dilemma for people who could stay where they are and keep looking for work, or ‘get on their bike’ and potentially earn less after rent.
“While paid work is better than unemployment, higher rents in booming cities can act as a considerable disincentive, and one that the government should act on. We desperately need more houses built in places where jobs are being created to ease the pressure on rents.”
Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the TUC, said:
“Unless we start building more affordable homes now, people will continue to get trapped in employment blackspots because they can’t afford to move to where the job opportunities are”.
Graduate Fog finds these new figures troubling as it puts some graduates at a huge disadvantage in the competition for the best jobs – based purely on where their family lives.
*Do you live in a graduate job “blackspot”?
What options are available to you? What help have you received? What is the solution to the problem? If you have managed to find a way to move to the city, how did you do it? Share your views and experiences below!
Grads MAY be able to track down flat-shares that are more affordable by working through their own networking contact lists … anything’s worth trying.
At least finding a flat through friends of friends should protect you against getting stung with bond payments.
@CareersPartnershipUK:
This is why I’ve tried to keep my room in Birmingham, even when I was out of work and paying 70% of my income in rent. I know I’d struggle to move back out if I was forced to move back in with relatives in the countryside, and would struggle to get work there without a car or paying train fares so high I may as well keep paying my rent here.
Given all the no DSS signs, you need a job usually to seek these flat/houseshares, unless you’re paying mates’ rates or nothing.
Even cities other than London can be prohibitively expensive for recent graduates living with parents in rural areas with few jobs to move to. But in my experience, employment agencies won’t touch you for most vacancies unless you already live somewhere or have a car, so Catch 22.