Corporate report

Homes England — Gender and ethnicity pay gap report 2024 (accessible version)

Published 30 September 2024

Applies to England

Foreword

We’ve achieved our lowest gender pay gap since 2017, and we’ll continue to drive forward improvements.

We are working to make Homes England a place where everyone can find the opportunity to succeed. We aim to integrate diversity and inclusion into everything we do and lead by example. Fair and equal pay is an important area of focus for us and we continuously monitor and analyse our data to better understand how we can improve.

This year we achieved our lowest mean and median gender pay gap since we started pay gap reporting in 2017. Comparing to our 2023 results, our mean pay gap reduced by 1.69% and median pay gap by 3.2%. We have also achieved an increase of women in the upper middle quartile grades to 48.5 % from 43.4% the previous year. We are pleased to see the progress and commit to continuing our efforts to reduce the gap.

Our gender pay gap since 2017

	March 2017	March 2018	March 2019	March 2020	March 2021	March 2022	March 2023	March 2024
Mean gender pay gap — hourly rate	18.4%	18.2%	18%	16.9%	13.2%	11.59%	12.52%	10.83%
Median gender pay gap — hourly rate	19.6%	17.5%	15.5%	15.3%	7.9%	7.74%	10.5%	7.30%

Last year we reported on our ethnicity pay gap for the first time, above and beyond our statutory obligation, as part of our ambition to Build a Brilliant Place to Work. While public bodies are not legally required to monitor and publish their ethnicity pay gap at present, we believe that it is important to use the data to identify gaps and committed in 2023 to doing so on an annual basis.

In the second year of reporting, we recorded a slight increase in ethnicity pay gap figures which is both disappointing and a driver that more work is needed. This result confirms to us that continued monitoring and analysis of data is the right approach for us as an agency. We will not only continue monitoring the gap but will put more emphasis on advancing racial equality within the agency through our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and Action Plan. We want to ensure that we lead on a positive change and that everyone at the agency takes responsibility for this collective aim.

Peter Denton, Chief Executive Officer

Gender pay gap

We have made further progress in reducing the pay gap, achieving the smallest pay gap since 2017. We’re encouraged by the progress and continue working on reducing the pay gap.

This year our mean pay gap is 10.83% and our median pay gap is 7.3% (read Glossary for definitions). This represents a positive change and a decrease of 1.69% mean and 3.2% median from March 2023 and a decrease of 7.6% mean and 12.3% median since March 2017. This progress confirms that we are going in the right direction and we know that we have to sustain our efforts to continue reducing the gap.

Mean and median pay gap and bonus pay gap

Mean pay gap

Women’s hourly rate is 10.83% lower.

Median pay gap

Women’s hourly rate is 7.3% lower.

There are multiple factors that impact our pay gaps and we conduct an in-depth analysis to understand the figures year by year. The factors include a combination of starters, leavers, pay, disparities within grades and overall representation across quartiles (read Glossary for definition) and we highlight here those that are the key drivers for this year’s figures.  

We are delighted that in the last 12 months we have seen more women joining the agency at senior roles (grade 19 and higher) which improves both mean and median figures. More representation of women in senior positions further reduces the gap. The distribution of the 2023 annual pay award, which aimed to reduce pay gaps between the lowest and highest paid colleagues in each pay band, has contributed to a lower gender pay gap.  

We know that one of the key drivers for our gender pay gap is gender representation across quartiles. Women continue to be underrepresented across the top quartile of pay ranges and overrepresented across the lower ones. Additionally, our median pay gap is lower than mean pay gap which further confirms the gender disproportion at the lowest and highest grades. To see a meaningful change in our pay gap, we will continue to support more women in leadership positions and improve gender representation across grades.

The improvements we have achieved inspire us to continue our efforts to bring a positive change and prioritise positive action for gender equality at all levels.  

We take our commitment seriously and have highlighted gender representation, opportunities and pay as one of 4 priority areas in our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and Action Plan. Our work on career and talent frameworks will also support access to career development opportunities and career mobility.

Bonus pay gap

Mean bonus gap

Women’s bonus rate is 5.06% lower.

Median bonus gap

Women’s bonus rate is 14.29% higher.

The mean bonus rate for woman is lower than for men by 5.06% (mean) but the median bonus amount is 14.29% higher (read Glossary for definitions). We can see that women received a lower mean bonus than men by £15.54 (bonus value for women at £291.86 versus £307.40 for men).

Gender diversity in bonus payments

	Men	Women
Received a bonus	84.16%	82.61%
Did not receive a bonus	15.84%	17.39%

In common with the prior year we saw a similar percentage of men and women receive a bonus (84.16% and 82.61% respectively). Median bonus figure shows a negative pay gap of -14.29%, which means that median bonus value was actually higher for women than men (£200 for women compared to £175 for men).

Proportion of men and women in each pay quartile

	Men	Women
Upper quartile	58.1%	41.9%
Upper middle quartile	51.5%	48.5%
Lower middle quartile	49%	51%
Lower quartile	38.2%	61.8%

While women make up over half of employees of the agency (50.8%), they represent only 41.9% of employees across the upper pay quartile. That means that amongst 25% of highest paid employees, only 4 out of 10 are women. In the lower pay quartile, representing the 25% of lowest paid employees, women make up 61.8%, so more women are in lower paid jobs than men. Women continue to be underrepresented across the higher quartiles and overrepresented across the lower ones, which is one of the key drivers for our pay gap. Comparing to 2023, we see a higher proportion of women across the upper middle quartile, increasing from 43.4% to 48.5%.

Our gender pay gap since 2017

	March 2017	March 2018	March 2019	March 2020	March 2021	March 2022	March 2023	March 2024
Mean gender pay gap — hourly rate	18.4%	18.2%	18%	16.9%	13.2%	11.59%	12.52%	10.83%
Median gender pay gap — hourly rate	19.6%	17.5%	15.5%	15.3%	7.9%	7.74%	10.5%	7.30%

Gender identity

For the purposes of gender pay reporting we are required to report gender in binary terms (men or women) however we recognise that a number of colleagues may not be represented by this breakdown.

Declaration

We confirm the data reported is accurate and in accordance with the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap) Regulations 2017. The pay relates to the period between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024.

Ethnicity pay gap

We committed to analysing and sharing our ethnicity pay gap with you. This is the second year of reporting and the data confirms that we need to prioritise improvement. 

Last year we committed to reporting our ethnicity pay gap to help us better understand our current data standpoint, identify barriers and measure our progress. While there is no statutory duty to analyse or report ethnicity pay, the government published employer guidance that allows us to use the proposed methodology.  

This year the ethnicity mean pay gap is 14.8% and our median pay gap is 19.04% (read Glossary for definitions). This represents a small increase of 0.08% from 14.72% mean pay gap and increase of 0.28% from 18.76% median pay gap in March 2023.  

Those results reaffirm the importance of our efforts to monitor and take action to reduce the gap over time. As a result, we chose ethnicity as one of our four priority areas of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and Action Plan, focusing on representation, opportunities and pay.

Mean and median pay gap

Comparing our median hourly wages as of 31 March 2024, ethnic minorities earn 85.2p for every £1 that white employees earn. The 14.8% median pay gap is driven by a range of factors particularly underrepresentation of ethnic minorities across the highest grades and overrepresentation at lower grades.

We completed an in-depth analysis of factors impacting our ethnicity pay gap and identified representation across the quartiles as the main driver of the gap and a more significant one than disparity within the same grades.

Mean pay gap

Ethnic minorities hourly rate is 14.8% lower.

Median pay gap

Ethnic minorities hourly rate is 19.04% lower.

Ethnic minorities’ mean hourly pay as of 31 March 2024 is 19.04% lower than white employees hourly pay. Mean hourly pay for ethnic minorities actually increased by £1.17 per hour in comparison to March 2023, however, the mean hourly pay for white employees increased even more (by £1.39) which increases the pay gap. The distribution of the annual pay award, which aimed to close the gaps on the lowest and highest paid colleagues in each pay band has contributed to lowering the pay gap. However, this has been offset by other factors linked to starters, leavers and overall underrepresentation at highest grades. The impact of the pay award is also more limited due to the lower number of ethnic minority colleagues in the higher quartiles.

There were more ethnic minority colleagues taking a senior position in the agency since the last snapshot date. Ethnic minorities still represent only 4% of 19 plus grade roles in the agency, compared to ethnic minority representation of 11% across the agency.

Bonus pay gap

Mean bonus gap

Ethnic minorities hourly rate is 15.96% lower.

Median bonus gap

Ethnic minorities hourly rate is 23.6% lower.

Mean bonus for white employees was £298.14 and non-white ethnic minorities was £250.54 (read Glossary for definition). That means that ethnic minority bonus rate is 15.96% lower. The median bonus was also higher for white ethnicity than non-white ethnic minorities, with £200 and £152.81 respectively, leading to a 23.6% median bonus gap.

Bonus payments

	White	Ethnic minority
Received a bonus	85.56%	82.35%
Did not receive a bonus	14.44%	17.65%

We saw a similar percentage of white and non-white ethnic minorities receive a bonus (85.56% and 82.35% respectively).

Proportion of ethnic groups within each quartile range

	Upper quartile	Upper middle quartile	Lower middle quartile	Lower quartile
Ethnic minority	15.38%	17.48%	31.47%	35.66%
White	26.06%	26.72%	23.98%	23.23%
Prefer not to say	36%	32%	24%	8%
Not declared	24.32%	16.22%	27.03%	32.43%

The quartiles highlight a low representation of colleagues that have declared as ethnic minority across all quartiles. They make up only 15.38% of roles in the upper quartile compared to 26.06% white colleagues and 17.48% of roles in the upper middle quartile compared to 26.72% of white colleagues. We can also see over representation of ethnic minority colleagues at lower quartile with 35.66% compared to 23.23% white colleagues and 31.47% across the lower middle quartile compared to 23.98% of white colleagues.

At 31 March 2024, 10.8% of colleagues had identified as being from a non-white ethnic minority, compared to 18.3% in the UK (ONS, 2021), which highlights overall underrepresentation of ethnic minorities in the agency. To address this, our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy places a focus on increasing ethnicity representation across the agency and senior leadership profile.

Mean and median ethnicity pay gap since 2023

	March 2023	March 2024
Mean ethnicity pay gap — hourly rate	14.72%	14.8%
Median ethnicity pay gap — hourly rate	18.76%	19.04%

Our declaration

Our calculations follow the guidance for employers on Ethnicity Pay Gap reporting. The pay relates to the period between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024.

Glossary

Mean and median pay gap explained 

The gender pay gap shows the difference in the average pay between all men and women in a workforce. Mean and median gender pay gap figures are based on a comparison of men and women’s hourly pay across the organisation irrespective of grade, which means that the gap shows the difference in the average pay between all men and women in the organisation’s workforce. The mean figure is the percentage difference between the mean average hourly rates of men and women’s pay. The median figure is the percentage difference between the midpoints in the ranges of men and women’s pay.  

Bonus pay gap explained 

The bonus pay gap refers to bonus payments paid to men and women during the 12 month period prior to the snapshot date. Bonus data includes performance-related pay and Employee Recognition Scheme payments. 

Pay quartiles gap explained 

Pay quartiles are calculated by dividing all employees to four even groups according to their pay. The upper quartile includes colleagues with the highest level of pay and the lower quartile has the lowest level of pay.

Specifics of reporting ethnicity pay gap 

Whilst the methodology is similar to that of gender pay calculations, in reality it is more complex. Unlike gender, colleagues voluntarily declare their ethnicity and therefore an accurate analysis requires 100% voluntary declaration. At the time of reporting a proportion of colleagues chose to not share their ethnicity information in the HR system, which meant that we could only look at approximate results. This highlights the importance of encouraging colleagues to update diversity information, enabling us to generate more insights and take steps to become a more inclusive place to work.  

Another complexity is linked to the number of colleagues within different ethnic groups. The guidance recommends only conducting pay calculations where there are a minimum of 50 colleagues in an ethnic group; this is to ensure statistical robustness and avoid possible identification of individual colleagues. At present, many of our colleagues selected ethnic groups where we have fewer than 50 respondents, therefore we report our ethnicity pay gap using two groups, white and non-white ethnic minorities. White group includes all colleagues who selected their ethnic group as white, including white ethnic minorities. Non-white ethnic minorities group contains aggregated data combining all colleagues who consider themselves to be from a non-white ethnic group.