City to spend £3m on flats to help house low-paid workers

Published on Thursday 7 December 2006 12:12

THE council is to spend £3 million snapping up flats to help house low-paid nurses, teachers and other key workers.

Dozens of homes will be bought and made available to public sector workers who earn less than 22,000 a year.

The Homestake scheme is designed to stop key workers being priced out of Edinburgh by the spiralling cost of property. The properties will be made available to designated key workers, including university researchers, nurses and social workers already based in Edinburgh.

They will be given the chance to buy a share in the flats so they jointly-own them with a housing association. That can cut the cost of buying by up to 40 per cent.

It is hoped the flats will be bought and made available over the next five months.

The offer will also be open to families with a combined income of less than 32,500.

Money to buy the homes - which was provided by the Scottish Executive - had been earmarked for a project to build affordable homes in the Pleasance. The joint council and Edinburgh University scheme has now been delayed by up to three years, while wider planning blueprints are drawn up for the area.

Council officials are keen to get something in place soon, given only around half of the 1000 affordable homes needed in Edinburgh each year are being built.

Dr Tony Axon, policy officer with lecturers' union UCU Scotland, welcomed the move, saying: "There are university workers who can't afford get a foot on the property ladder and are being forced to look further afield."

Using Homestake means buyers only need to provide a 60 or 80 per cent share in a property. The rest is paid by a housing association. When the owner comes to sell the property, the housing association gets a 20 or 40 per cent share of the sale price.

Homestake was trialed in Edinburgh and the scheme last month received a 14m funding boost from the Scottish Executive.

Hillcrest Housing Association would operate the new Homestake scheme for key workers.

Scott Brown, partner of Edinburgh solicitors and estate agents Warners, said the typical Homestake property went for around 120,000 with the buyer putting in around 80,000 of this.

He said: "On those rough sums you are looking at around 75 people getting their own homes. What you are looking at here is turning the existing Homestake scheme on its head slightly, where you have homes set aside for people instead of them finding them on their own. In this case, it is important that the homes are built in a mix of locations."

A decision by the Scottish Executive on the city's plans to spend 3m is expected in a few days.

'Prices are out of my reach'

THE frustration of house hunting in Edinburgh on a tight budget is all too well known to social worker Carrie Wright.

The 25-year-old, who is currently renting, says the last property she bid for went for 40,000 over its original asking price.

She said: "There are more and more 'offers over' places out of reach. It's really disheartening.

"It's good they're trying to set aside affordable housing but it can only be a drop in the ocean compared to the number of people who want to buy but can't afford it."