The government are focusing on helping people who are key workers, or are currently council or housing association housing. However, these are not the only people having problems!

I too have looked at shared ownership and by paying half rent and half mortgage. If anything, in my area (Cambridgeshire), this cost works out to be more than just paying off a mortgage alone.

In my town, the price of a tiny studio flat is well over four times my salary. I would not be categorised as low income, and am not on benefits, so like an increasing number of others I know, as a first time buyer am well and truly stuck.

i dont believe in key worker crap.

this is an excuse to get their homes serviced by a second rate populace. we shouldnt have to go this far. how can a labour minister can say 'key worker' and not realise there is a massive housing crisis for the public and then ignore it.?

new labour are useless and pointless and the tories were even worse.
do like i do.

downshift your life. abandon the race to the fools.

I wonder if a locksmith qualifies as a key worker?

Strange, I live near Huntingdon (Cambridgeshire) where there are a number of studio/one bed flats on the market for around £70k. I'd have thought someone with a salary of £15k or thereabouts would be categorised as low income.

BL why would you classify £15k as low income????

Only if you're naive enough to believe that the UK average salary of £22k in any way represents the typical wage would you say that.

In most parts of the UK £15k is a typical income, not a low income. As recently as 2001 the UK average wage was about £15k.

If it doesn't seem like much money that's only because house prices are insane.

You're right - there is a drug ridden council estate in Huntingdon where 70K would get you a small studio flat; that will teach me to be a snob ... chortle!

which you could get for free if your a chav - no work required.

They're not all on the Oxmoor - check out Rightmove if you don't believe me. And £15k is a low wage in this area.

If teachers and policemen on £28k are key workers in need of help to buy...what help will there be for bakers and shopworkers on salaries of less than half that ?.........or will they be living in favelas (shanty towns) and cardboard boxes?

I have a friend who is a recently qualified doctor, she earns £40k plus but as a 'key worker' in the NHS is elligable for upto a £50k interest free loan towards buying a house.

I know another couple who are both teachers in London, they have a combined income of £75k, also key workers elligable for assistance.

Alot of key workers earn substantially more than non-government workers, yet the government use the taxes they levy on private sector workers to pay for ever more generous settlements for there own government employees, who are apparently more important and are referred to as 'key' workers.

Some of these "key workers" may well end up bag holders for NuLab's economic hubris. Lob somebody £50K for free and they'll struggle not to spend it whilst it is there. It is market distorting and creates many of the imbalances that the scheme is purported to redress, as the key worker fight amongst themsleves and the remaining BTL'ers for stock - albeit what looks like an increasing amount of stock.
Some may get a shock in years/decades time when it comes to sell/move up.

There are more 'urban myths' surrounding key workers than any other group.

I know 2 Firemen - apparantely low paid (think strikes etc). They have 3 or 4 days off every week. On the side they run businesses. 1 ownes an aquatic warehouse the other a very large cleaing round (employs many).

Both are very well - off.
I know they do an important key job but they also get a lot of time off to amass wealth which the rest of us dont have.

Nurses. Through my business I come into contact with medical staff. A significant number earn far far higher salaries than those reported in the press. I regularly see Nurses on £38000 approx p/a inc overtime. Many of these also work for 2 or 3 agencies and then you are talking £40 - £60000 pa. Anyone saying different is not in touch with the real world, Im telling u I regularly come accross these people.
Also they often have a partner also earning.

Dont be conned by those feeling sorry for the easy key worker sob story.

If a nurse is working for an agency, they're not classed as a key worker, those benefits go only to NHS health professionals.

http://www.scambs.gov.uk/scambs/news.nsf/0...19?OpenDocument

"half the population have incomes significantly below the average (the median income ie the half way or mid point in the distribution of incomes, is £15,000 in Cambridge and £17,400 in South Cambridgeshire)"

- 50% of households could not afford to buy an average home in the area
- 80% of employers have recruitment problems and 50% problems with staff retention, related to high house prices and rents
- Key workers are looking to buy and not to rent.

Given that the average wage in that area is very similar to the UK average, it's possible to hypothsise that the median UK wage is around £15k.....

....worse given that there has been a recognised rise in the gap between the top 10% of earners and the rest it is possible that the average UK wage has been rising whilst the median wage has been static or falling.

I still have to say it one more time...... £15k is not a low income. It ain't high, but it's not low either.

People on low income have never been able to buy a house hence the need for council houses.

However if the Average worker on the Average income cannot see anyway of buying even a below average 1bed flat there is a problem for society sooner or later.


Still if the working homeless wont demonstrate in the streets to draw attention to the issue we can as a country continue to ignore the problem.

Has anyone attempted to define what a "key worker" is? I doubt it. One person's key worker is another person's bog standard human being.

Anyone seeing my past posts knows that I am not a great fan of speculators or investors who don't appear to "produce" things, whether goods or services. However, even I recognise that it is impossible to make judgements on who "deserves" a cheap house and who does not without being unacceptably prejudiced.

For instance, policemen and women are said to be "key workers". If they are THAT key, how come I have never seen one ever walk down my street on patrol discouraging petty crime, vandalism and burglary? I see many flying past in squad cars, and see even more chasing "easy" crime like speeding or missing tax discs on cars, and so they should, but is this a "key" activity?

It seems to me that houses made affordable to buy for a few people subjectively picked out and "stuff the rest" is a myopic and rather stupid concept. It is doomed to failure, just as council houses were when they were sold off at a massive discount only to be re-sold at market values by those whose respect for a system naively designed to help them proved to be completely absent.

This whole "scheme" is from the start riddled with loopholes and inconsistencies. What we need, if housing distribution is to be tinkered with at all, is a coherent monetary and fiscal political philosophy which discourages insane housing inflation in the first place.

VP

Well you can be sure a 'key worker' will be a government employee !

VP is right.

I can see middle-class couples where the hubby is some meabucks exec snapping up special affordable 'teacher' homes because the wife's working part time at the local Grammer school, then letting them out via some fiddle.

True, and what is a 'key' worker. Surely even the most extreme right-libertarian has to admit society is interlinked? Is everyone else unimportant, un-key?

Who is the teaching teaching but future office workers, and engineers, and shop managers, and junior systems analysts, and customer service admins, and arts centre receptionists, and accountants, and so on and so forth? Why bother if these roles are not key? Why police a society where most people are less than key, perhaps even pointless? Why nurse it back to health?

Why just not let the key workers police, teach and medicate each other and not bother with anything else?

Heck, teachers and cops can hardly claim to be poorly paid either.

We need to make affordable housing universal, not concentrate on daft drop in the ocean policies that will doubtless cost millions to little effect.

You have to hand it to the BMA for managing to convince everyone that Doctors are poorly paid and deserving of sympathy (and financial help).

They're not and never have been.

spiv.

This key worker thing is getting out of hand. Experts are now saying we are overdue a flu pandemic. Whats the governments reaction, yes! Buy enough anti-viral medication for all the key workers. Forget about those normal people whos taxes actully pay their wages, let those lot die !

..and farmers

Drink plenty of strong tea with little milk and no sugar.
Stop drinking fizzy s**t drinks, and coffee.
Take one cod liver oil capsule once a day.
Eat lots of cabbage, raw onion, and boiled rice.
Drink one glass of red wine every night.
And the undertaker will lose a potential customer. Seriously.

Who said it was for the key workers?

So why the shortage of doctors?
Would you do it?

Highest rate of divorce for a profession.

Highest rate of alcoholism for a profession.

Highest rate of suicide for a profession.

Well, yes there are over stressed doctors. But there are over-stressed dustmen too. And the city boys appear to be stressed, often because they "thrive" on it.

A person doing extremely repetitive factory jobs can be very stressed indeed....through sheer boredom and lack of hope about a future. We can all be stressed, alcoholic and suicidal, in any job.

However you look at what people do, and earn, there is no formula to apply that doesn't go wrong when you get into the detail. That's why "key" housing for "key" people just cannot work.

VP

gulp! married one last year...

the money for doctors is good, sadly even doctors starting out are screwed by HPI, especially as they've spent an extra 2 years at uni.

you definitely have to have good ways of coping with the job. many doctors start off drinking loads at uni, then carry on. also they have access to lots of nasty drugs, in particular anaesthetists - highest suicide rate of them all, apparently.

i agree about key workers. many key workers get paid quite well as it is; the problem is with HPI, not that public servants are poorer than anyone else. in fact, HMG has been bending over backwards to pay them more (which even I broadly agree with; better to attract talent etc, than employ legions of muppets - but Labour likes doing both!).

I have just noticed a great New Labour error; on their posters they rant on about how great low IRs are, then Gordon Brown is arguing that rising IRs is a sign of economic strength - which is it G?

"gulp! married one last year..."

Did you discuss any pre-nuptial agreement per chance?

nope. if i die she gets my widescreen tv, if she dies i get her laptop, i guess.

Did you discuss what happens if you divorce?

the only way out is in a coffin

IMHO the government should not be giving extra to "key" workers to let them live in the expensive area's.

Let the market run it's course.

Prices go up and Key workers priced out -> Prices go down because the area has no Cops, Fire, Hospital staff, Ambo's because they can't afford to live there. Problem sorted.

When I hear the phase "Key worker".. my immediated reation / definition is a public sector worker (and probably more likely to be a labour supporter).. being bought off by the goverment by promises with "help".

No more, no less.. IMHO it's a bribe for votes.

I endeavour to do my best to meet this target at every opportunity. Unfortunately, I frequently exceed it.

Key workers' subsidised house purchases are are effectively a tax on those who do not qualify as "key". If the supply of houses for sale in any particular area is being sold to those who cannot normally afford them, it reduces the supply of housing for those who do not qualify.

With more people now chasing a reduced supply of housing, the prices should increase. In other words, the non-key workers pay more so that key workers pay less. This looks and operates like a redistributive stealth tax.

Last week I read an article about a curator at the Museum of London, who qualified as a "key worker" to get his first house. Huh? What definition of "key" are the (public sector) officials who decide these things using when they dole out tax-payers money?

I wonder how long I would survive without the museum curator. I reckon it would be a lot longer than if all the shelf stackers disappeared from the supermarkets. Shelf stackers are actually key to my existance and I would starve without them. Life would grind to a halt without petrol pump attendents, but these people on menial wages do not get considered for subsidised houses. The public sector may do a lot of good, but is often smug, corrupt and unaccountable.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4291017.stm

Bird flu protection for workers

The first recorded death from bird flu occurred in 1997
Drugs supplies to protect London's key workers from Avian bird flu have been bought to keep vital services running in the event of an outbreak.
Police officers, transport workers and firefighters will be among those offered the anti-viral injections.

Mayor Ken Livingstone said the stocks of Tamiflu had cost £1m and were expected to arrive in eight weeks.

The World Health Organisation has warned governments they must stockpile vaccines in preparation for a pandemic.

Wild waterfowl

At Mayor's questions on Wednesday Mr Livingstone said he has been in close contact with the Government over the purchase and could be part of a national roll out.

"They are very close to announcing what they are doing. It is virtually a done deal," he said.

Transport for London has bought the drugs on behalf of all key workers in the Greater London Authority.

The US, French and Italian governments have all placed orders for avian flu vaccine, but the British Government has been criticised for being slow on the uptake.

Avian flu is thought to have originated in Asia in wild waterfowl such as ducks, which carry the virus without suffering harm.

It then moved into poultry, where it evolved and became a threat to humans.

The first case of a person dying from bird 'flu was reported in Hong Kong in May 1997.

Indeed. It's for key workers not because key workers are more deserving of life than other people, but because key workers have to keep going to work during a pandemic, and so are much more likely to be exposed to possible infection. Non-key workers can and should stay at home and have their groceries delivered to their doorstep.

They don't train enough.

Yep. Definitely. My Missus is a Locum GP. Works 3 mornings a week and takes home more than the average wage. Not to mention preferential treatment on the NHS.

Nice work if you can get it.

spiv.

good job spiv!

I read an article somewhere which stated that the reason why doctors charge so much in the US is because there are to many!!!! Because the DR's don't have the number of patients they'd like they charge the one's they do have more. Not sure about that though. It might be like the so called nursing shortage. No such thing. Plenty of trained nurses... pity they don't put up with being treated poorly like the good old days.

Just finished my first week studying to be a paramedic. Got to play with the lights and sirens and some nice young lady was kind enough to wear a low cut top to Prac (I didn't perv... honest ).

I have yet to come across an informed view on this topic -plenty of wind no substance. Here is the conditions for the 50k 'handout':
1. The loan has to be repaid when the person leaves the profession i.e retire, sacked or resign.
2. The amount to be repaid is not the 50k only but the proportion of the property that this amount purchased. It means that if you paid 100k for a property the 50k= 50% of the property value -you will pay back 50% of the price you sell the property at in the future.
3. You are not allowed to have an interest in any other property.
4. No lodgers allowed.
5. Your financial affairs is scrutinised by a housing association.

Very few keyworkers have taken advantage of this 'generous' offer - its a very bad one, and to be avoided at all cost. However, it does work well for FTB who want to live close to their places of work.

You obviously haven't read my contibutions on this subject . I agree with everything that you say, except your last sentence. BTW, I am classified as a keyworker, but have no intention of taking up this 'great offer'!

For 1. - would that mean that you would need to sell the property? How else do you know what the value is?

For 2. - you pay back the proportion, but can this be less than the borrowed amount?

1. Have it valued. You don't have to sell. In some cases, you can transfer the loan to another property, if you are still eligible but need to move. For example, growing family, etc

2. Correct.

It makes me laugh reading this site sometimes.... It appears that a lot (not all) people on here are very well off and comfortable; str'ers with 6 figures in the bank living off the interest, btlers with 10's of properties all bought in the 90's, FTBers with 40,50,60,70K deposits or OO'ers who despair of the current situation from their "crashproof" abode.... and yet...they constantly denigrate "government" employees as overpaid...underworked...with "jobs for life!"And yes i am a teacher...who got a degree in 1992....how much are graduates from the same time on nowadays? a lot more than me let me tell you!!
I have not taken up the key worker offer as I cant see the benefit in it either and I agree that EVERYBODY should be able to afford a house.... let the market decide...but only if it knows what it is doing is my "weird" philosophy. At the moment it doesnt seem to have a clue so the govt has to do something. I don't know how you could possibly begrudge a teacher, a nurse, a fireman and yeah, even a copper, a little bit of slack now and again....

I totally agree with the content of your post, but a teacher who doesn't understand how to use an apostrophe?

"Those who can - do. Those who can't - teach. Those who can't teach - teach gym and those who can't do anything - taught at my school." ... chortle!

As a lecturer at a teacher training college I find that quite profound. Not sure where that leaves me though as a teacher of teachers.

Lets hope it does not turn out like Leicester where the only people to benefit from housing grants are immigrants. Yes you can say it’s racist to point this out but that does not stop it from being true.

Key sector workers is yet another money for votes scam and since I get taxed on work perks then these people should, lets have a level playing field and put an end to this corruption I thinks.

just overheard at the cashpoint... afternoon. Girl (about 17) with pushchair, chatting to older loud woman.

older bird:- so what are you entitled to then, a house?

girl:- well, cos its just me and 'im (gestures to baby), they'll probably stick us in a flat, I dunno...

older bird:- be nice if its one of those houses, get in before summer and you'll have the garden for him to play in..

girl:- yeah, well. dunno really, dunno what I'm entitled to....


Good to know where your taxes are going.. see, finding somewhere to live is easy, dunno why you lot bother