Mention the housing crisis and most people picture unaffordable rents, families living with damp and mould, rough sleeping, and the lack of safe, affordable homes.
What most people forget, are the housing workers on the frontlines—those employed in councils and housing organisations—who face these challenges daily, often without the resources, training, or the support they need.
Increasingly, they feel like ‘glorified social workers’, firefighting crisis after crisis.
UNISON’s Housing Worker Survey 2024–25, based on over 1,100 responses reveals an overstretched, under-resourced workforce experiencing rising stress, frequent exposure to violence, and severe recruitment and retention problems.
Most housing staff describe their work as stressful (77%), with four in five saying pressures have worsened over recent years. Nearly a third manage patches of more than 1,000 homes, and over three-quarters support a growing number of high-need tenants.
Yet training is often inadequate: 45% say they lack the training needed for their jobs, and almost one in five have gone more than three years without health and safety training.
A quarter reported taking time off due to stress. Burnout is widespread, with knock-on consequences for the tenants and communities who rely on housing services.
The survey highlights a recruitment crisis, with over half of employers struggling to fill roles and many turning to agency staff. Low morale is the real warning sign with nearly two-thirds of housing workers looking for another job, and more than half are considering leaving the sector altogether.
This churn risks a vicious cycle. As experienced staff leave, those remaining face even greater pressure, further fuelling turnover and weakening the sector’s ability to respond to the housing crisis.
Violence at work – our most shocking finding
Nearly three-quarters (72%) of respondents reported experiencing violence at work in the past year. Alarmingly, 40% said they were not adequately supported afterwards, and half reported their employer had taken no steps to prevent repeat incidents.
Many are left managing situations beyond their training, with 57% asked to take on duties outside their remit. The result is a workforce that feels unsafe, unsupported, and overstretched. Nearly three-quarters (73%) work for councils, often on modest pay: 43% earn £30–40k, while almost one in five earn below the real living wage.
But housing workers have the solutions
Despite the pressures, housing workers remain deeply committed. Their top priorities are:
- More funding to build genuinely affordable, social rented homes.
- Adequate funding for councils to house the vulnerable.
- Ending the five-week wait for Universal Credit.
- Reforming the private rented sector.
- Raising local housing allowance to cover average rents.
The housing crisis is not only about bricks and mortar—it is also about the people holding up a crumbling system.
Those working in the housing sector are clear – to solve the crisis, we must invest not only in homes but also in the people who make housing services possible.