More housing help for key workers

One-stop shops in England are to market a £690m programme
designed to keep social workers, teachers and nurses in areas where
house prices are high and recruitment is low.

The one-stop shops, located in London, the South East and the East,
will advise key workers on the options available to them under the
Key Worker Living scheme. The new programme will replace the
£250m Starter Homes Initiative, which the government says has
helped more than 9,000 key workers into homes since 2001.

The new scheme will also help key workers who are existing home
owners wanting to buy larger properties.

Meanwhile, the government has accepted that there is a “good
case” for extra investment in social housing after a review
of the sector recommended that at least £1.2bn each year
should be ploughed into providing affordable homes.

In the Budget, chancellor Gordon Brown acknowledged that greater
affordability, more social housing, and incentives to local
authorities to build more houses would all require additional
investment.

He said the government would look at further investment in social
housing in the 2004 spending review in July.