Can the people who care for and protect our communities afford to live in them? This was the central question explored in a special live episode of Under One Roof, recorded as part of the 2026 ESRC Festival of Social Science at the University of Huddersfield.
Housing affordability is often discussed in terms of household finances, access to homeownership and the availability of suitable accommodation. However, housing can also have implications for employment, workforce wellbeing and the delivery of essential public services.
For healthcare professionals, firefighters and other frontline workers, the relationship between where they live and where they work can be particularly important. Shift patterns, commuting requirements and, in some cases, the need to live close to a workplace can constrain housing choices.
In this special episode, Dr Tom Simcock, Research Manager at the Healthy Housing Initiative, was joined by Dr Dillon Newton, Research Fellow at the University of Huddersfield, and Dr Iqbal Hamiduddin, Associate Professor at University College London, to discuss emerging research on housing affordability and the experiences of health and emergency service workers.
The conversation considered what existing evidence tells us about these challenges, their potential implications for workforce sustainability, and how housing and public service organisations might respond.
Housing affordability and the NHS workforce
Research undertaken by the University of Huddersfield and Sheffield Hallam University examined the housing and cost-of-living challenges facing health and care workers across the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West (BOB) and Frimley Integrated Care Systems.
The research combined economic modelling, a survey of 340 health and care workers, 20 follow-up interviews and engagement with housing stakeholders to understand both the challenges facing staff and possible responses.
As discussed by Dr Dillon Newton, the findings highlighted considerable affordability pressures, particularly among lower-paid workers.
Economic modelling using 2022 costs suggested that an entry-level Band 2 worker living in a small flat and commuting by car could spend more than 75% of their income on housing, energy and transport in some circumstances.
The survey also identified pressures on household finances and working arrangements:
- Approximately 45% of respondents reported taking additional shifts to help meet living costs.
- 61% reported having considered leaving their employment because of wider cost-of-living pressures.
- Staff dissatisfied with their housing circumstances were more likely to report considering leaving their jobs.
These findings suggest that housing and living costs warrant consideration alongside other factors influencing workforce wellbeing and retention. However, the results reflect the experiences of respondents within the study areas and should not be interpreted as nationally representative estimates or evidence that housing pressures directly caused staff to leave.
Dr Iqbal Hamiduddin discussed related research undertaken with two NHS trusts in London, where housing affordability was also identified as a significant concern.
Across the two workforce surveys, more than half of respondents reported spending over a third of their salary on housing costs. The research also explored challenges relating to commuting, housing conditions and living arrangements, including reports of long journeys to work and problems with damp and mould.
Together, the studies highlight the importance of considering the combined effects of housing costs, transport accessibility and working arrangements when seeking to understand the experiences of healthcare workers.
Housing challenges within the Fire and Rescue Service
The discussion also explored how housing pressures can affect emergency service personnel, drawing on Dr Tom Simcock's research into organisational culture and workforce wellbeing with the UK Fire and Rescue Service.
Although housing was not a primary focus of these organisational culture reviews, it emerged during conversations with firefighters about working arrangements and their experiences of employment.
For firefighters working under certain day-crewed and on-call arrangements, operational requirements can mean needing to live within a specified travelling distance or response time of their fire station.
These requirements can limit the geographical areas in which staff can live. In locations with high housing costs, limited rental availability or significant demand from tourism, finding suitable accommodation may be particularly challenging.
During the research, some staff described difficulties securing accommodation following postings to different stations, including accounts of temporarily staying in vehicles while seeking suitable housing.
While these qualitative accounts cannot establish how widespread such experiences are across the sector, they illustrate how housing availability can interact with operational requirements and individual circumstances.
They also raise questions about the potential implications for employee wellbeing, satisfaction with working arrangements and decisions about transfers or continued employment.
The findings suggest that housing should be considered alongside wider organisational and workforce factors when examining the experiences of fire and rescue personnel.
From individual housing challenges to workforce planning
An important theme emerging from the discussion was that housing affordability should not be considered solely as an individual financial issue.
For public service organisations, difficulties accessing suitable and affordable accommodation may also influence recruitment, retention and workforce planning.
Housing costs can affect whether someone can realistically accept a position in a particular location. For existing employees, changing circumstances, including increasing rents, commuting costs or family housing needs, may influence decisions about remaining in an area or continuing in their current role.
However, housing is one of several factors influencing employment decisions, alongside pay, working conditions, career opportunities, leadership and organisational culture.
Understanding these interactions is important. While the research identifies associations between housing pressures and reported intentions to leave, further longitudinal research is needed to establish how housing circumstances influence actual workforce outcomes over time.
What could organisations do differently?
The conversation also considered practical approaches to addressing housing challenges, recognising that no single intervention will be appropriate across all locations or organisations.
Dr Iqbal Hamiduddin highlighted examples of emerging initiatives, including housing advice and support services for NHS employees, nomination agreements between healthcare organisations and housing providers, and partnerships to develop accommodation for key workers.
These approaches demonstrate different ways that organisations are beginning to respond to the housing needs of their workforce.
However, developing and implementing such initiatives is not straightforward.
Drawing on further research with NHS and housing stakeholders, Dr Dillon Newton identified several barriers to progress, including unclear organisational responsibility for housing, financial and regulatory constraints, limited specialist expertise and difficulties establishing effective partnerships.
The discussion highlighted the potential value of closer collaboration between NHS organisations, local authorities, housing associations and other housing providers, supported by clearer leadership and strategic coordination.
There are also important questions about equity. Prioritising accommodation for particular groups of workers needs to be considered within the wider context of housing need, affordability and access to suitable homes across communities.
The aim should not simply be to transfer responsibility for housing to individual public service organisations, but to better understand how housing policy, local housing markets and workforce planning can work together.
Developing the evidence and informing future responses
The research discussed during the episode provides valuable insights into how housing affordability and availability intersect with the experiences of frontline workers.
It also highlights opportunities for further investigation.
For example, there is a need to better understand how housing circumstances influence employment decisions over time, whether particular working arrangements create additional housing pressures, and which housing interventions are most effective at improving outcomes.
Evaluating initiatives against measures such as workforce retention, commuting experiences, staff wellbeing and affordability would help establish whether different approaches deliver meaningful benefits.
Ultimately, the discussion reinforces the importance of recognising housing as part of the wider conditions that support health, wellbeing and employment.
For the people delivering our essential public services, access to suitable and affordable housing is not only a question of where they can live, but may also shape where they can work and the choices available to them.
Understanding these relationships provides an opportunity to strengthen collaboration between housing, health and public service organisations, and to develop more informed responses to the challenges facing frontline workers.
Listen to the episode
🎙️ Under One Roof – Housing the Frontline: Can Emergency and Healthcare Workers Afford to Live Where They Serve?
Recorded live at the University of Huddersfield on 5 November 2026 as part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science.
Listen to the full episode on Spotify
Further reading
Health and Care Staff: Life in the Cost-of-Living Crisis – HHI Research Project
This blog post was written by Dr Tom Simcock, Research Fellow, University of Huddersfield.
