AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR KEY WORKERS

Early day motion 507, tabled 3 December 2001 by Martin Salter (Labour). Signed by 41 members.

That this House is concerned at the every increasing number of areas of the country where even the price of a modest terraced property is now beyond the reach of newly qualified key public service workers such as police officers, nurses, teachers, and firefighters; notes the recent independent reports by the IPPR and Labour Research which demonstrate real problems in the recruitment and retention of key workers in counties as far apart as Kent, Devon, Sussex, Oxfordshire, Hampshire, Wiltshire, Herefordshire, Berkshire, Hertfordshire, Dorset, Surrey, Monmouthshire, Buckinghamshire and Somerset; welcomes the Government's recent Starter Homes Initiative which offers interest free loans to key workers looking to become first time buyers but recognises that a more radical approach will be needed to maintain appropriate staffing levels in essential public services; and calls upon Ministers to give urgent consideration to either increasing the availability of affordable housing in these high cost areas or to introduce a realistic cost of living allowance for key workers.

Signatures by party: Labour 22, Liberal Democrat 17, Labour/Co-operative 2.