HELP FOR KEY WORKERS UNDER THE STARTER HOME INTIATIVE

28 May 2002 11:13 AM

Starter Home Initiative allocations announced today will help 2,000 key public sector workers, particularly nurses, teachers and police officers, working in housing hot spots outside London to buy their first home.

The £20 million Starter Home Initiative funding is being allocated to schemes, providing £10,000 equity loans to key workers. The equity loan scheme will help 1,000 nurses and health care workers, 700 teachers, 220 police and 80 other key workers, including fire fighters and social workers.

#250 million has been made available for the Starter Home Initiative to help key workers in areas where high house prices are undermining staff recruitment and retention. Bids to administer the £10,000 equity loan scheme have been assessed by the Department and the Housing Corporation. The schemes will be run primarily by registered social landlords, who submitted the majority of the bids.

Housing Minister, Lord Falconer, said the Starter Home Initiative was providing help to dedicated and essential staff, such as teachers and nurses, to ensure they were not priced out of the communities they served.

Note to Editors

1. The Starter Home Initiative was allocated £250 million over three years 2001/02 to 2003/04 in the 2000 Spending Review.

2. The scheme is run jointly by the Housing Corporation and DTLR.

3. £230 million was allocated on 6 September 2001 to 95 schemes to help 8,000 key workers buy their first homes.

4. The remaining £20 million is being allocated to schemes providing £10,000 equity loans to help 2,000 key workers on the brink of home ownership, who can manage to buy with a generally lower level of assistance than that provided in the first round of allocations.

5. Bids to run the equity loan scheme were received from registered social landlords and an employer of specialist Health and Care support staff. Subject to allocations being accepted the schemes will help key workers in the following areas:

Table of areas and key workers targeted for the Starter Home Initiative equity loan scheme

Health Teachers Police Other key
Workers workers

LOCAL AUTHORITY AREA
SOUTH EAST
ASHFORD, MAIDSTONE,
SEVENOAKS, TONBRIDGE AND
MALLING, TUNBRIDGE WELLS 30
BASINGSTOKE & DEANE 10
BRACKNELL FOREST 10
BRIGHTON & HOVE 70 10
CHICHESTER 40
CRAWLEY 40
EAST HAMPSHIRE 20
EASTLEIGH &
WINCHESTER 50
HORSHAM 40
MEDWAY 30
MID SUSSEX 30
MILTON KEYNES 10
OXFORD 10
PORTSMOUTH 17
READING 10 10 3 SOUTHAMPTON 10
SLOUGH 10
WEST BERKSHIRE 20 10
WINDSOR &
MAIDENHEAD 40 10 4 WOKINGHAM 10 3

COUNTY WIDE
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 35 25
EAST SUSSEX 20 22
HAMPSHIRE 40 59 20 13 KENT 30 45
OXFORDSHIRE 28
SURREY 15 53 18 10 SUSSEX (INCLUDING
EAST SUSSEX, WEST SUSSEX,
BRIGHTON AND HOVE) 33

TOTAL SOUTH EAST 520 354 116 33

EASTERN
LOCAL AUTHORITY AREA
BASILDON 30
BEDFORD 20
BRAINTREE ** 30
BRENTWOOD 30
CAMBRIDGE 10
CHELMSFORD 20
HARLOW 20
LUTON 10
THURROCK 15

COUNTY WIDE
BEDFORDSHIRE 21 21
CAMBRIDGESHIRE 26 15 ESSEX 66 60
HERTFORDSHIRE
INCLUDING WATFORD,
THREE RIVERS,
BROXBOURNE, ST ALBANS 70 57 23

TOTAL EASTERN REGION 230 195 81 38

SOUTH WEST
LOCAL AUTHORITY AREA
BATH AND NE SOMERSET 50 10
BOURNEMOUTH/POOLE 20 10
CHELTENHAM ** 20
EXETER 20
NORTH SOMERSET 10
SALISBURY 40
SOUTH GLOUCESTERSHIRE/
CITY OF BRISTOL 13 9 SWINDON 20 10
TORBAY 10

COUNTY WIDE
DORSET** 18
WILTSHIRE 15
TOTAL SOUTH WEST 180 86 9

WEST MIDLANDS
WARWICKSHIRE 25
TOTAL WEST MIDLANDS 25

To be allocated according to
demand with priority being
given to Kent 70 40 23

GRAND TOTAL 1000 700 220 80 *

* Other key workers being supported comprise fire fighters, social workers, occupational therapists and bus drivers.
** Allocations remain subject to negotiation.

6. Once allocations have been accepted the contact details for the scheme providers in these areas will be posted on the Housing Corporation and DTLR websites. Key workers should apply to the local scheme provider.

7. The assistance provided will be in the form of £10,000 equity loans to buy homes on the open market or in new-build schemes, dependent on bids received. An equity loan is an arrangement whereby a lump sum contribution towards the purchase price of a property is given to the key worker. Instead of making monthly repayments on the loan, when the property is sold the key worker repays the equivalent percentage of the value of the property at the time of the resale. For example, if £10,000 is provided as an equity loan and that represents 12.5 per cent of the value of the property (assuming a £80,000 purchase price), when the property is sold 12.5 per cent of the sale proceeds (ie the value of the property at that time) is handed over to the scheme manager that provided the equity loan. This sum is then recycled by the scheme manager as a further equity loan to help another key worker to purchase a home.

8. Contact details for the Starter Home Initiative scheme providers who received allocations in September 2001 are on the Housing Corporation and DTLR websites.

Press Enquires: 020 7944 3049 Out of Hours: 020 7944 5925 E-mail: press@dtlr.gov.uk
Public Enquiries: 020 7944 3000
DTLR website: http://www.dtlr.gov.uk