The government has put £50m into its original key-worker homes scheme just days after announcing its £690m successor.
The extra funds take the total spend on the Starter Home Initiative to £300m since it began in December 2001. Exactly where the £50m will go is to be decided in the first weeks of the new financial year.

The money will ensure that the government hits its target of housing 10,000 people through the scheme. It is presently set to house 9000 by the end of March and 1200 more will exchange contracts on new homes in the first few weeks of April.

Jane Richardson, deputy head of the ODPM's affordable housing division and responsible for writing the new key-worker policy, said: "The extra £50m will come from recycling underspend on the Housing Corporation's approved development programme and other ODPM funds left over from the financial year."

Key Worker Living, the successor to the Starter Home Initiative, will begin in April. It was launched on Tuesday by deputy prime minister John Prescott and education secretary Charles Clarke at an event in London.

It aims to house at least 16,000 people classified as key workers.

Following consultation with public sector employers on who has the most significant recruitment and retention issues, the definition of key workers has been expanded to include social workers, prison staff and teachers in higher education.

When asked why the £690m was not going to help more than 16,000 people, Prescott said: "We can't guarantee every key worker a home, but we can focus on key recruitment and retention problems and we are targeting high-demand areas in the South-east. I've no doubt there are many key workers who are not on this list, but even though we have trebled resources you can't house everyone."

Richardson added that the cost of providing homes was now higher: "Things have moved on from when we did the first Starter Home Initiative.

"Lower quartile house prices – in other words, those in the areas we are targeting – have gone up by 59% since 2000.

"This is much more than house prices in general and a big hike."

Eight registered social landlords have been named "zone agents" to manage the new scheme. They include Thames Valley Housing Association, which will provide 711 homes over two years with £32m of funding.

Thames Valley chief executive Keith Holloway said: "We are now targeting groups that require the most assistance."

Source

Housing Today