Key Worker Housing

Gaia2014

Hi, I wonder if someone can give me a glimmer of hope about owning my own house/flat one day in a climate of ever increasing cost of renting on the open market (in and around London!)...

I'm a public sector worker. Currently renting a modest studio flat for around £750/month. It's in a fairly good location, which is a necessity because I don't own a car. However, whilst I'm paying this amount of rent to a landlord how on earth am I able to save for a deposit without a windfall or inheritance?

I'm worried that I'll still be renting in my retirement and I certainly don't want to be contributing to somebody else's pension pot at the cost of my own.

So my question is. Has anybody got experience of key worker housing? I've tried my local authority and the waiting list is as long as your arm. So for the time being it's either sharing (which I couldn't do in my 40's with a pet) or staying put until I'm more solvent and then either upsize (at more expense) or stay put, which isn't a long term solution. The other option is private key worker housing - shared ownership, shared ownership etc.. but these all seem to be flats in and around London and pets no allowed.

All of the above depends on circumstances. Just feeling glum about paying huge rent and seeing my hard earning salary going into somebody else's pocket .

Windofchange

I think that the housing mess that has been created is going to see many of us renting well into our pensions/old age. For me, I actually see it going along the lines of a reverse mortgage. My pension pot might be quite large by the time I hit 70 or whenever it is I decide enough is enough, and with the crash that (I believe) is coming, I may finally own a house for a few years before I die. Conversely, I might just buy a ferrari and go hotel hopping on the costa del sol for a few years. You can sleep in a ferrari once the money runs out right?

I don't really have any helpful suggestions for you other than there are tens of thousands of us just like you who have been royally shafted and for whom home ownership is an impossibility. Lovely isn't it.

sofarbehind

I feel for you, it's very frustrating. A few years ago in my early 30s I was in the same position. I'm also a public sector worker. I decided I just had to take drastic action and don't want to be renting in my 60s if I can help it. A very poor landlord who regularly let himself in to use my loo and mould everywhere made me re-evaluate.


I moved almost 200 miles away, went back to sharing and had to rehome my pets. I cried and cried over that even though my lovely brother adopted one. It was a real low point and I still feel guilty. I'm not sure I did the right thing but I'm in a better position now and in the near future I hope I can rehome a new pet and be able to offer them a really secure home for life.


We do have choices but they are really difficult carp ones. Do you have family/friends who could rehome your pets for a few years? I thought it was unthinkable for a long time but I knew there was no other way of getting a deposit. I ended up living with other people our age in the same position, you're not alone. Now I think in a 12-18 months I could afford to head back to the South and buy a small flat if I want to. It has given me more options. Good luck.

sofarbehind

Sorry just realised I haven't actually answered your question..


When I relocated to the South originally many years ago I was eligible for key worker accommodation with my employer because of the distance I had moved and the problems recruiting staff. I don't know who you work for or if you would be willing to relocate but this could be worth exploring?

Running_Horse

Define key worker. Why should the public sector would be considered any more important than the countless key workers who have to deal with private sector bosses? Our society could not function without bus drivers, bricklayers, engineers etc.

Davesnave

Key worker or not, the the work you do in London is probably applicable elsewhere, so the question is why you feel you must stay there? What's in it for you?

As a single 40-something, you're in a better position than many to make the break to a part of the country where housing is more reasonably priced. If you don't, it will be same-old, same old until you are too old!

Dress it up how you like, that's the harsh reality. As sofarbehind says, we have choices, some of them tough, and choosing to do nothing is one of them.

Or you can believe:

"there are tens of thousands ..... who have been royally shafted and for whom home ownership is an impossibility."

I'm not clear here who did the shafting. Certainly, young people today are in a world of debt before they even leave uni, and house prices/rents are high, but the middle aged and older had an altogether easier time of it financially.

Running_Horse

And in London you are squeezed from both ends. Rich foreigners buying up property as an investment, and lower paid immigrants competing for any budget accommodation.

Gaia2014

Thanks for the replies. Think I'm going to focus on paying off my debts and then considering my options.. I can't contemplate the idea of giving up my pet for love nor money especially as he also has a medical condition which is life limiting

Running Horse: I don't think I have ever implied that I public sector workers (e.g teachers) are more important than anybody else. I was simply trying to find out a bit more about intermediate rent, share to buy schemes that exist for people who struggle to find a huge deposit for properties on the open market.

Davesnave: Correct. My work is applicable somewhere else, but I can't afford to relocate at the moment because I'm prioritising becoming debt free by 2016. I came down here with my then partner and we have since separated. The plan was to work hard and save hard together. I probably would never have come back otherwise. I definitely do not plan on staying here. I do enjoy my job though - and working with a good team of people counts for a lot.

and Running Horse: You are right, we are squeezed from both ends. There are also people working in property and finance (especially in London) that buy properties as an investment/pension pot. My landlord being one of them!

Just going to focus on clearing my debts and then reevaluate my options. One thing is for sure. Things WILL change and there are still people a lot worse off!

lincroft1710

House buying is relatively recent. Prior to about the 1960s most people lived in long term rented either council or private.

Not everyone can afford to buy property, it is doubtful if there will ever be a time when property ownership becomes a probability for all those earning a living.

moneyistooshorttomention

lincroft1710 wrote: »

House buying is relatively recent. Prior to about the 1960s most people lived in long term rented either council or private.

.

Which is all well and good - if you can find suitable rented accommodation to get. My fathers side of the family lived in Council housing and he told me that it was basically expected that others would readily be able to get Council accommodation in the locality. With that, at that point in history, having a Council tenancy would have been for life.

I had to start out living in typical private sector grotty bedsits for a few years:(:eek::( but I basically knew I had whatever place I was renting for however long I decided to rent it and none of the putting a deposit down/paying fees malarkey of recent years.

Its a bit of a different kettle of fish these days for renters.

My own move over to public sector rented housing was basically made possible by my employer of the time sending the Council a letter stating I was a "key worker" and needed to stay living in my area. I wasn't a public sector worker at that point..so its not just public sector workers that can get certified as being a "key worker". What I don't know is how much help it is these days if someone can get that...in the much worse housing climate of today.

AdrianC

Gaia2014 wrote: »

Running Horse: I don't think I have ever implied that I public sector workers (e.g teachers) are more important than anybody else.

You might not have implied it, but the very existence of such "key worker" property certainly does imply it. I'm not saying it's good, I'm not saying it's bad - but for these schemes to exist DOES say that such public sector "key workers" are, somehow, seen as more important than those earning similar amounts in non-"key" positions.

If you're thinking of relocating longer-term, have you considered buying a property outside London, then renting it out until you do relocate?