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£250 million starter home initiative launched

A £250 million initiative has been launched by the government, to help up to 10,000 key workers onto the homeownership ladder over the next three years. The program, aimed mainly at teachers, nurses and police, will help people to buy a home in those areas where the cost of housing may otherwise be too expensive.

The natural assumption is that workers in London and the rest of the South East will benefit most. This view was supported by education secretary, David Blunkett, who was full of praise for the initiative: "The Starter Home Initiative will help in high house price areas such as London and the South of England where teachers find it harder to get suitable accommodation. Better, affordable accommodation for teachers will be a real help to schools in these areas in attracting, recruiting and retaining teachers."

As with most handouts, there are a number of conditions attached to the deal, including the following:

• Obviously, to qualify for the scheme at least one member of any household applying to buy through the scheme must be employed within the target key worker group.
  
  
• As with other social benefits, total household income and savings will be taken into account before any decision is made on a grant. It is unlikely that teachers will start rushing out and buying skyline penthouses.
  
  
• The scheme will focus on homes at the lower end of prices in a local housing market.
  
  
• Help for individuals buying property through the Starter Home Initiative cannot be combined with other publicly funded home ownership schemes such as the Right to Buy or the Housing Corporation's Homebuy scheme.