The COVID-19 pandemic inspired a trend of assignees working remotely and moving from downtown living spaces to more suburban areas. The demand on rentals in primary cities has reduced significantly. A regular update and review on housing allowances is encouraged to capture this market movement from a cost perspective.
AIRINC recently conducted a housing benchmark related to the financial services industry. We are seeing that most financial institutions do update the housing allowance at least on an annual basis. As most financial services share similar job levels and structures, the allowances are similarly aligned. Generally, allowances vary by family size to cover 5-6 different job levels from junior to executive levels. Some institutions also conduct benchmarking projects every few years to stay competitive among their peers.
If you plan to provide housing allowances as part of the mobility program but do not know where to start, or you want to know how your allowances look compared to your peers, AIRINC will be the best point of contact.