We are very excited to announce that as a result of our campaigning, and the 41k signatures we got for this petition, affordable housing for care and support workers is going to be discussed at the London Assembly next week!

On Thursday 11th November, Labour London Assembly member Sakina Sheikh will present the motion below calling for the Mayor to include care and support workers in the Greater London Authority’s ‘core’ definition of key workers.

“The Assembly notes the tremendous effort made by care and support workers across the city on a daily basis, particularly since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, care and support workers are currently excluded from the key worker lists that would give them preferential access to genuinely affordable housing through housing association key worker schemes.

In London, the average wage for care and support 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 carers can barely get by. This Assembly also notes that the overwhelming majority of London’s 220,000 care and support workers will be detrimentally affected by the reduction in Universal Credit of £20 per week.

The Assembly calls on the Mayor for care and support workers to be included in the Greater London Authority’s ‘core’ definition of key workers. This is so they be considered for key worker schemes and be given a chance of securing genuinely affordable housing.”

This is incredibly exciting and brings us one step closer to securing key worker status for care and support workers. But we think that to really make an impression we need care and support workers and our supporters to turn out in force on the day! 

If you are in London, it would be great to have you join us outside City Hall on the 11th! To be kept up to date on the details of this, click attending on our Facebook event. 

We want to thank everyone who signed and shared our petition and of course Sakina who has been so supportive of our campaign.

We will continue to update you on our progress and even if you cannot make it in person on the 11th, we encourage you to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to be kept up to date on all the other exciting work we are doing.