Speaking at the Better Building Summit, the Deputy Prime Minister outlined a new key worker programme to succeed the Starter Home Initiative from 1 April next year:
"Key workers, including health workers and teachers, are critical to thriving, sustainable communities. High house prices often drive them away from the neighbourhoods where they work, undermining our frontline public services.
"We have listened carefully to what key workers and their employers have told us about their housing needs and aspirations, and this new programme is built firmly upon the foundations laid by these views."
The new key worker initiative will ensure support is better targeted and tailored to meet the needs of public services. Most assistance will continue to be directed towards priority categories, such as health workers and teachers. However, it is also proposed the programme should be widened to include other public sector workers to tackle recruitment and retention problems.
The programme will offer four simple options to help key workers into home ownership, upgrade to family homes or rent at affordable levels. There will also be more emphasis on larger homes, reflecting the problems faced by many key workers when they seek to upgrade to a family home.
This will support the Government's drive to create a world class education system in London. Funding for affordable homes will help retain more high quality teachers in the capital and transform standards of achievement by their students. To support this aim the key worker housing initiative includes a higher value Homebuy scheme especially for teachers in local schools who have the potential to become leaders of London's education system in the future.
Mr Prescott also announced additional funding for transitional arrangements following the abolition of Local Authority Social Housing Grant in April. Schemes totalling £680m will provide over 14,000 homes over the next three years.
The Deputy Prime Minister praised the work of the Regional Housing Boards which were created as part of the Sustainable Communities Plan to tackle the individual housing needs of each region.
He said:
"The task the Boards faced - balancing the competing demands within the region - was a difficult one. I have been impressed by what they, councils and other stakeholders have achieved in a short space of time. I am especially pleased that in most regions the recommendations have been accepted in full."
Mr Prescott added that ODPM had had further discussions with the Boards for London, East and South East Regions.
"Allowing for additional resources in the transitional Local Authority Social Housing Grant and the additional homes we expect to be provided through an innovative English Partnerships scheme, we have been able to increase the funding towards key worker housing. The total for key worker housing is £1 billion over the three years to March 2006."
