Key workers 'unaware' of Government house-buying help
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Key workers in the public sector, including nurses, hospital
workers, teachers, police and firemen and women, could be missing
out on financial assistance from the Government to help them buy a
home.
According to residential property expert Vicky Thomas, an Associate
at Midlands law firm Challinors, many public sector key workers are
simply unaware of the various schemes set up by the Government that
would help them with the initial purchase cost of a home.
She explained: “In conjunction with numerous agencies,
lenders and house builders, the Government has launched various
schemes that can provide public sector key workers with a loan of
anything between 20 and 50 percent of the purchase cost of a house,
available at either zero or very low interest rates for the first
three to five years,” she says.
“Such schemes are available to a much wider range of workers
than might initially be thought, including prison and probation
service staff, social workers, nursery nurses, armed forces
personnel, highways agency traffic officers and environmental
health officers, to name but a few.
“This financial assistance serves two main purposes –
first it enables potential first-time buyers working within the
public sector to gain that invaluable foothold on the property
ladder, and second, it could well help in kick-starting the
residential property market, something that will benefit the
economy.”
With average property prices of £120,000, and many lenders
looking for buyers to stump-up between 10 and 20 percent as a
deposit, the Government’s Key Worker assistance schemes are
an ideal way to help many buy their first home and have been
designed to overcome the disparity between the earnings of public
and private sector workers.
A range of Key Worker assistance schemes are available on
individual sets of criteria, but all require that one household
must have less than a £60,000 annual income to qualify for
the loan.
“Whilst it can be complex to set up the loan, Challinors
residential property legal team has more than twenty years
experience in handling the purchase of properties under Housing
Association or shared-ownership schemes, which are similar to the
Key Worker schemes and therefore makes it relatively easy for us to
work through the documentation,” explained Vicky.
“Public sector key workers should start by speaking to their
own union, federation or professional body, which should have all
the information they would need about the various schemes available
to them and how to access this financial assistance," she
added.
"The Home and Community section of the government website
www.direct.gov.uk also has information on the various
schemes.”
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