Key workers 'unaware' of Government home-buying help

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.”