Northumberland key workers get housing help
Filed Under Country Curtain | Posted on January 12, 2008
Related ItemsWandsworth development is to launch as part of a London initiative. NHS key worker housing in Plymouth Show flat opens at hospital scheme Show flat opens at hospital schemeNot enough affordable housingBack of the net for Key workers!Troops go homeKey workers including nurses, police and teachers in Northumberland are being given new support to help them onto the housing ladder in the North East, Housing Minister Yvette Cooper has announced.
Long term increases in house prices, due to rising housing demand has meant many key workers are increasingly finding it difficult to buy a home in the region.
Rising economic growth and household growth in the North East region means there is growing demand for housing but the number of new homes in the region has not kept up.
A recent Halifax survey showed that first time buyers are facing housing affordability pressures in most towns and cities across England.
%26pound;283 million of new government investment is planned for thousands more affordable and social homes in the North East region over the next few years.
However in the meantime the Government wants more to be done to increase access to low cost homes for key workers and other first time buyers in the North East. Up to now, shared equity and shared ownership homes have predominately been available in the South East, but the Government wants to see more people take up these opportunities in all parts of the country.
Whilst many key workers may be eligible for support, some are not aware of the opportunities available to buy an affordable home, either with a shared equity loan that could boost their purchasing power by up to 32.5 per cent, or to buy a part share in a newly built home. That%26#39;s why the Government is simplifying the rules and launching a new campaign to make it easier to get help.
Currently, a family on a combined income of %26pound;40,000 could typically obtain a mortgage of just %26pound;160,000. But if eligible for the Government%26#39;s low cost homeownership scheme, they could potentially buy a home worth around %26pound;200,000.
Measures being announced to target support at key workers are:
* A new campaign to provide information about the housing support available at their work place. The Government%26#39;s Homebuy agents, who provide a one stop shop affordable housing service, will work directly with employers in the region, from schools and hospitals to the fire and police services, to raise awareness of the scheme and make it easier and simpler for employees to apply.
* Clarifying the rulebook to make sure all key workers in the region know they are eligible to apply for housing help. The Government is introducing new national criteria that will give key workers an automatic right to apply for the scheme. Up to now, they have qualified for support in the region if they meet conditions set by the Regional Assembly.
* Setting out for the first time that key workers are a priority for support in the North East when applications to the low cost home ownership programme are considered. This status has previously only been for key workers in the South East, East and London, and recognises the increasing pressures on housing affordability in the region.
The Government will also be shortly announcing new long-term steps to help both key workers and other first time buyers to access shared equity support, as part of its %26pound;8 billion programme to provide thousands more affordable homes.
Housing Minister Yvette Cooper said: %26quot;Over the last ten years, we have helped more than 80,000 families to buy an affordable home. But we want to do more. It is not just in the South East where people face housing affordability pressures.
%26quot;That%26#39;s why we want to make it easier for nurses, teachers, and other first time buyers to get support to help them onto the housing ladder and are building more thousands more homes over the long-term.%26quot;
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