First-Time Buyers Scheme Now Open For Bids

 Home builders across England can now bid for their share of a £150 million package by offering plots for sale as First Homes, the flagship government scheme aimed at first-time buyers and key workers. House builders are being invited to work with the government to deliver First Homes across the country in the coming months, with the aim of delivering 1,500 homes by March 2023. First Homes helps local first-time buyers and key workers onto the property ladder by offering homes at a discount of at least 30% compared to the market price. The same percentage will then be passed on with the sale of the property to future first-time buyers. Read more on the GovUK website.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/flagship-first-time-buyers-scheme-now-open-for-bids-from-house-builders

First-Time Buyers In England Offered New Homes At Up To 50% Off

First-time buyers in England will be able to apply for a discount of up to 50% on a new-build home under a government scheme. The First Homes initiative could save buyers £100,000 or more. But some experts say that with demand for these cut-price homes likely to exceed supply, it could spark a scramble for properties and add more fuel to the house price boom. The government says the scheme is aimed at first-time buyers in the area where the homes are built, many of whom will be keyworkers such as NHS staff. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/jun/04/first-time-buyers-in-england-offered-new-homes-at-up-to-50-off

G15 Calls For Additional Funding To Convert Unsold Units To Key Worker ‘Homes For Heroes’

The G15 group of London’s largest housing associations has urged government to provide financial backing to convert unsold properties into affordable homes for key workers, as part of a new five-year programme to deliver 100,000 ‘homes for heroes’. In a report, the group set out a number of requirements for scaling delivery over time, including an opportunity to “invest in precision-manufactured homes on a scale not seen since the original Homes Fit for Heroes programme” launched in 1918. But it said that to help essential workers in the shorter term there should be an “immediate response to make available completed or nearly completed homes”, with government funding matched to housing associations’ resources. Read more on the Social Housing website.

https://www.socialhousing.co.uk/news/g15-calls-for-immediate-additional-funding-to-convert-unsold-units-to-key-worker-homes-for-heroes-66397?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60

Industry Launches 100,000 ‘Homes For Heroes’ Drive

A campaign to build 100,000 factory-built homes for key workers in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic has been launched by a group of major housing associations, developers, residential architects and modular housing manufacturers. The Homes for Heroes campaign is deliberately designed to echo the post-war drive to build homes for returning soldiers after the First and Second World Wars, but is instead focused on helping those who have risked their lives to keep UK safe and functioning during the covid-19 crisis. The aim of the campaign is to persuade government to support investment in modular construction and set aside public land for new homes. Read more on Housing Today.

https://www.housingtoday.co.uk/news/industry-launches-100000-homes-for-heroes-drive/5105954.article

Estate Agents: Coronavirus – Parliamentary Written Answer

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether estate agents are classified as key workers for the purposes of the Government's response to the covid-19 pandemic.

Christopher Pincher: Estate agents are not currently classified as key workers. All estate agency workers should work from home wherever possible to support their existing clients, and follow Government guidelines on hygiene and social distancing.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2020-03-24/34358

Key Workers To Be Given 30% Discount In New Housing Scheme

Key workers, such as nurses, police and military personnel, will get priority under a new scheme offering homes for first-time buyers at a 30% discount. Robert Jenrick, the housing secretary, said the new “First Homes” scheme, first announced during the election campaign, would save eligible buyers an average of approximately £100,000 on a first property. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is launching a consultation on how the scheme will work, without saying how many will be on offer. It said the 30% discount would apply to “a proportion of new homes” and would be funded out of contributions from developers. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/feb/07/key-workers-to-be-given-30-discount-in-new-housing-scheme

Boost Key Worker Access To Affordable Housing, Says Think Tank

Policy Exchange calls for police and other key public sector staff to get access to cheaper homes Rules governing key worker housing should be overhauled to give those working in the police, emergency services and state schools a better chance to live in affordable housing near their place of work. Centre-right think tank the Policy Exchange has called for a series of reforms including the introduction of a new key worker housing initiative which would support frontline public sector workers including police officers, nurses, teachers and firefighters find an affordable home. Read more on Housing Today.

https://www.housingtoday.co.uk/news/boost-key-worker-access-to-affordable-housing-says-think-tank/5102650.article

Teachers And Other Key Workers Priced Out Of York

Teachers, young families and key workers are being prevented from coming to work and live in York because senior councillors are “failing” to deliver affordable homes, according to the Labour group. A spokesman for the Labour group said just 130 affordable homes have been built each year in recent years, when the city needs 573 built every year. They added that the council agreed plans for a development company in December but no progress had been made since. Labour Cllr Michael Pavlovic called in the decision on the development company at a scrutiny committee meeting. Read more on the York Press website.

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/16589844.teachers-and-other-key-workers-priced-out-of-york-homes-claims/

‘Keyworkers’ Could Pay Discount Rent

Discount rent for public sector workers, carers and victims of domestic abuse is being mooted by Southwark Council in an effort to tackle the on-going housing crisis. As part of its commitment towards 35 per cent affordable housing, the council is suggesting a possible ‘intermediate’ and ‘keyworker’ housing scheme. Intermediate rent is discounted at around half  private market rent for people on incomes below £60,000, while people earning between £60,000 and £90,000 are eligible for a discount of at least 20 per cent. It says developers who build for private rent are allowed to meet this figure using discount market rent. Read more on the Southwark News website.

https://www.southwarknews.co.uk/news/keyworkers-could-pay-discount-rent-in-southwark-housing-shake-up/

£5m Help Onto Housing Ladder

A £5 million affordable homes scheme will be marketed to NHS staff, carers and teachers who struggle to get on the housing ladder in York. Councillors have approved money to launch a new shared ownership homes programme, which will see people getting council help to buy 65 homes in York. The homes - probably made up of 40 new-build homes, and 25 “second hand” homes bought on the open market - will be targeted at valuable key workers in areas like the NHS, children’s workers and social care, and schools - who currently struggle with York’s high housing costs. The first people could be buying their new homes by the end of the year. Read more on the York Press.

Nurses And Teachers Living In ‘Affordable’ Housing Scheme Face 20% Rent Rise

Residents of an affordable housing scheme have hit out at an “immoral” 20 per cent rent increase which they say could leave them homeless. Tenants of Samuel Jones Court in Peckham, which was built six years ago to help key workers such as nurses and teachers on low salaries, have been told to agree to the new rates or leave within two months. The rise is equivalent to £150 a month for a one-bedroom flat, and many residents said it would prove unaffordable. The site contains 90 flats comprising mainly one or two bedrooms. Many fear they will not be able to find suitable homes and could be forced to leave London, putting jobs at risk and disrupting their children’s schooling. Read more on the Evening Standard website.

Social Landlord Regrets Stating 'No DSS' On Adverts

A large London housing association has admitted using “clumsy” language after stating “no DSS” in an advertisement for a flat. The Hyde Group attracted criticism on social media after an advert for a two-bedroom, second-floor apartment said “no DSS”. The east London property, which was advertised by Hyde New Homes, was built as key worker housing in 2009 and is let at 80% market rent. The advert was described as “vile and discriminatory” on Twitter. David Gannicott, director of business development at Hyde, said: “To be perfectly honest, it should have been better thought through. The wording is a bit clumsy. What we should have said was [applicants] have to be working households.” Read more on Inside Housing.