Up to 10,000 members of the armed forces and their families currently living in service housing, in London, the South East and the East, will receive assistance according to Ruth Kelly, Secretary for Communities and Local Government, and Derek Twigg, Under Secretary of State for Defence.
Under an expansion of the Government's key worker programme, military personnel will now be able to buy a newly built home, paying a minimum 25 per cent of the price and a reduced rent on the remaining cost of the home.
Members of the armed forces on operational deployments in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, and a further 2,500 MoD civilian workers would also qualify for assistance, which allows purchasers to buy any new-build shared ownership property in London, the South East and the East.
Kelly said: “Our armed forces play a vital role in public life and their local communities; this support recognises that contribution. We know that in some areas of the country service personnel like other key workers have been priced out of the housing market. That is why we have put low cost home ownership programmes in place, which have supported thousands of families to buy their own homes. Extending key worker housing help to the military will enable many more people to meet their aspirations and get a foot onto the housing ladder.”
Twigg added: “I’m proud that the armed forces’ significant contribution to their local communities and role as a force for good worldwide has been further recognised through today’s expansion of the Key Worker Living Programme. This demonstrates the MoD’s commitment to continually improving the terms and condition of service that we offer our people.
“Whilst we provide service personnel with high-quality subsidised accommodation wherever they are based, we know that for some it is not the same as owning their own home. Now those living in the high cost areas of London, the East and South East have greater choice in where they live, improving stability for their families and offering them the opportunity to meet their home-ownership aspirations.”
An independent evaluation published today showed up to now, more than 22,000 key workers have been helped into low cost home ownership.
- Six out of ten key workers who benefited from support to buy their own home revealed they were more likely to stay in their occupations.
- 95 per cent of the 2,000 key workers who took part in the evaluation by the University of Birmingham, said they were very or fairly satisfied with the key worker programme.
Employers also agreed that opportunities for low cost home ownership have encouraged staff to remain in their job, according to the report, with headteachers in London saying that key worker housing has been a strong incentive for their staff to stay in the Capital.
The programme is helping people on average incomes to buy their own homes, with 64 per cent of those benefiting having household incomes under £35,000. Once on the housing ladder, very few key workers reported difficulty meeting their new housing costs.
Kelly added: “We have made major progress in helping key workers into low cost homeownership. As this report shows, key worker support is making a real difference in retaining the essential skills needed in our public services to improve our schools and hospitals. But we need to go further. Next month, we will be increasing support to help even more key workers and other first-time buyers into home ownership. We have also set up the Shared Equity Task Force to look at expanding shared ownership even further. Ultimately though, if we are to ease pressures on first-time buyers, we need to build more homes across the board.”
