Mortgages for key workers provide unique rates and incentives to those who provide a valuable service to their local and larger communities.
NHS employees, military defence personnel, teachers, justice workers, and firefighters: if you work in one of these vital community pillars, you may be eligible for preferential rates. Not only that, but you may be able to take advantage of a special key worker mortgage scheme to maximise your house-buying opportunities.
What is a Key Worker?
A key worker plays an important role as the lynchpin of their local and larger community. This includes NHS employees, teachers, law enforcement, social workers, firefighters, and defence personnel. Some job roles within these categories are eligible for key worker mortgages. Others may be ineligible, or may only meet eligibility criteria in certain circumstances.
What Is a Key Worker Mortgage?
Some mortgage lenders provide special rates or schemes for key workers. This is to help them get on the property ladder and secure their future as homeowners.
The goal is to provide stability for those who work hard to develop, protect, and improve their communities. To take advantage of the available deals, only one applicant on the mortgage application needs to be a key worker.
How Does a Key Worker Mortgage Work?
A Key Worker Mortgage will most likely function in the same way as any other mortgage. The main difference is that you may be able to secure a lower interest rate or borrow more than you would with a non-Key Worker mortgage.
Current Key Worker Mortgage Scheme
Key worker mortgage deals are available on the property scheme, which means you can take advantage of special rates to help you afford a home. What you can get depends on your location, job role, and the property scheme you’re using to buy a home.
Lending requirements, eligibility, and schemes differ between providers and local governments. There are three types of key worker mortgage schemes available to you: rent-to-buy, help-to-buy, and share ownership plans.
Local Authorities and Councils’ Schemes
Local governments frequently give preferential treatment to key workers who want to buy a home in their district. This can be presented in several ways:
- Selling a portion of homes to key workers only
- Schemes for Rent-to-Own
- Options for key employees to share ownership
Let’s look at each option in greater depth.
#1. Selling only to key workers
Local governments may keep a portion of their housing stock off the open market and only sell it to key workers.
The number of residences and property types available in this type of scheme varies by district. It may also be influenced by the number of key workers who require housing in an otherwise expensive neighbourhood. Cities with a concentrated population of hospitals, universities, and schools, such as London, may offer more options than rural locations.
#2. Rent-to-own for key workers
Rent to Buy is a key worker mortgage scheme provided by local governments and councils to give consumers time to save for a down payment on a home. The scheme is not limited to key personnel, however, those who are eligible may be given preferential treatment or arrangements.
Rent-to-buy for key workers entails agreeing on a sale price and date of purchase, then arranging for a lower rental rate for the time leading up to the property’s purchase date. For example, if you agree to buy your property in 5 years, you’ll pay roughly 80% of the market rate in rent per month for the next 5 years until you buy.
The agreed-upon sale price does not rise with time: if you agree on a price and the property’s worth rises between the agreement and your purchase, you will still pay the originally agreed-upon sum. The same is true if the property’s value decreases.
These programmes try to cut your rent in order for you to save enough for the deposit required to purchase a home. It may also provide chances for obtaining a mortgage to finance the purchase of your home.
#4. Rent to Own in Wales
If you are a key worker in Wales, the mortgage scheme works slightly differently. Instead of renting at a lower rate until you’re ready to buy, you’ll rent at full market value.
When the time comes to buy, you’ll receive 25% of the rent you’ve paid back as a deposit increase. You’ll also receive 50% of any gain in the value of the house since you joined the Rent to Own scheme, which you can put towards your deposit to buy the property.
#5. Key Worker Mortgage Shared Ownership
Rent-to-buy is not the same as shared ownership. However, many Rent to Buy plans provide a shared ownership option for key workers as part of the package.
Shared ownership entails purchasing a portion of a home and paying rent on the remainder. This reduces your monthly rent, allowing you to save money to pay off the balance of the property. You can buy increasing percentage shares of the property over time until you own 100 percent of the residence and no longer have to pay rent.
When the time comes to sell your house, you’ll benefit from any price increase on the percentage you own. The local authority or council will likewise benefit from price gains on their part of the property.
Government Assistance for Key Worker Mortgage
Help to Buy is a popular shared equity Government scheme offered to first-time purchasers and home movers purchasing qualified new construction properties. Homebuyers in Scotland can receive a government equity loan of up to 15% of the total house price, 20% in England and Wales, and 40% in London boroughs. Just 5% of the purchase price is required as a down payment, and a Help to Buy mortgage will cover the remaining balance.
The scheme can be used with the Help to Buy ISA. First-time purchasers can save up to £200 each month, plus a £1200 initial transfer, for a total savings of up to £12,000. When it comes time to buy a home, the government will match your funds with a 25% incentive up to £3,000. You will not receive the bonus if you withdraw your money without purchasing a property.
You can have two Help to Buy ISAs, for a total incentive of £6,000. If only one of you is a first-time buyer, that person can still spend their bonus on a combined property purchase with a former homeowner.
Assistance in Purchasing for Defense Personnel
Employees of the Ministry of Defence can take advantage of additional bargains that can be combined with the Help to Buy shared equity, shared ownership, and ISA schemes.
If you or your partner work for the Ministry of Defence, you may be eligible for special rates as part of the government’s Forces Help to Buy scheme. Originally scheduled to conclude in 2018, the scheme has been extended until at least December 31st, 2019.
Defence personnel may be eligible for a loan of up to £25,000, or 50% of their yearly pay, for a deposit and property buying expenses.
Are You Eligible for a Key Worker Mortgage?
The requirements for what qualifies someone for special key worker mortgage rates and housing schemes are numerous and extensive.
To begin, the main criteria that each sort of key worker must achieve in order to qualify for these mortgage options are as follows:
- Proof that you are unable to afford a property within a reasonable commuting distance to work.
- Be a British, EU, or EEA citizen, or have indefinite leave to remain in the UK
- Proof of savings to meet connected property purchase costs
- Maintain a long-term employment contract
- Purchase your primary residence (either as a first-time buyer or to move your residential home)
- Have a good credit history (this varies from lender to lender)
- Have at least five years of service left before retirement age
Each industry sector also has distinct job duties and eligibility requirements.
NHS
To qualify for an NHS mortgage, you must be a permanent employee of an NHS trust or organisation who is not a doctor, dentist, administrator, domestic staff, or porter.
Education
All teachers in state education positions may be eligible for mortgages tailored for key workers. Teachers in private institutions, such as nurseries and schools, will not be eligible.
Lecturers and teachers in Further Education colleges may be eligible, however, those working in a university setting are not.
Before you can qualify for a teacher mortgage rate, you must first have Qualified Teacher Status.
Law Enforcement
Police officers and other law enforcement personnel may be classified as key workers. The following roles are represented:
- Police Officers
- Community support Officers
- Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CBC) Officer
- Corrections officers and nursing staff
- Members of the British Transport Police (area dependent)
- Some civilian police officers (area dependent)
- Social Workers
Adult and child social workers who work for local governments or council districts may be considered key personnel for mortgage reasons.
Firefighters
To qualify for a mortgage for key personnel, firefighters must meet very precise criteria, which are as follows:
- Serve as a uniformed cop.
- Have completed initial training
- I finished a 10-week training course to become a Control Officer (in some cases)
Other personnel employed by or associated with the fire department would be ineligible.
Military Personnel
Employees of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) may be eligible for a key worker mortgage or housing agreement provided they meet the following criteria:
- A police officer from the Ministry of Defense
- A member of the Defence Fire Service who wears a uniform.
- Service members from all military branches
- Clinical personnel (not doctors or dentists)
Other Key Worker Roles
The standards for key worker mortgage qualification differ by location and mortgage provider. As a result, the following roles may be considered for preferential mortgage rates or housing schemes:
- Qualified environmental health officers
- Employees of the Highways Agency
- Road Officers
Most mortgages for key workers, such as NHS employees and police officers, require a certain amount of time previously spent in the profession before a mortgage application can be accepted.
Some lenders, however, have recognised that newly certified key professionals, such as teachers and even dentists, require mortgage rates that allow them to afford to reside close to their first job after qualifying.
These unique mortgages include benefits such as allowing applicants to borrow 5.5 times their salary up to a loan-to-value ratio of 95 percent with no arrangement fee. You’ll also receive a free appraisal and may be qualified to qualify for a loan of up to £600,000, and this applies to both first-time buyers and home movers.
Key Workers with Unconventional Income
Some mortgage lenders are prepared to give mortgage bargains to key workers with unusual incomes.
Banks, nurses, and supply instructors, for example, provide a crucial service to the community but may not have a consistent monthly income that a lender can evaluate. They may also have income from both employed and self-employment sources, which conventional lenders may be unwilling to consider.
The good news is that key worker mortgage lenders can provide loans to persons with unusual or irregular income. This includes military members who, due to residence changes and lender constraints, may be unable to complete regular mortgage applications.
What are the Most Effective Alternatives to a Key Worker Mortgage?
In addition to key worker mortgage schemes, the government has implemented the following:
#1. Help To Buy
This is the government scheme meant to encourage first-time buyers and home movers to purchase homes and revitalise the housing market. This scheme is only available for newly constructed properties. It allows buyers to purchase with a 5% down payment and a 20% equity loan, requiring only a 75% mortgage.
As a result of the decreased risk to the lender, the mortgage rate is lower, and the equity loan is charged at 0% for 5 years. In the sixth year, interest begins at 1.75 percent and rises annually by RPI+1 percent. The net outcome is significantly more affordable financing in the short term, as well as the possibility of acquiring a home with a small deposit.
#2. New Buy
This scheme is only available for the purchase of newly built properties, with the purchaser only required to put down a 5% deposit and borrow on an exclusive NewBuy 95 percent mortgage. The benefit to the borrower is obviously only requiring a tiny deposit, but they also borrow on the mortgage at a lower rate because the loan is government-backed up to 20%, thus the lender is essentially lending 95% but with the security of a 75% mortgage. Should the borrower default, the lender would collect any loss from the government’s sale of the repossessed property.
Where can I Find Key Worker Mortgage?
It can be difficult to identify homes with specific schemes attached, so we recommend looking for your local authority housing association and any nearby developers. Most new developments set aside a particular percentage of their dwellings for various sorts of affordable housing schemes (shared ownership, help to buy). The number of residences and property types available in this type of scheme varies by district.
It may also be influenced by the number of key workers who require housing in an otherwise expensive neighbourhood. Cities with a concentrated population of hospitals, universities, and schools, such as London, may offer more options than rural locations.
They will be able to tell you whether these are only for key workers or for the general public. Once you have found a potential development, it is time to seek mortgage advice. The mortgage broker will then search the market for key worker mortgages.
Why should you choose a Key Worker Mortgage Broker?
Whatever type of mortgage you are looking for, you may find that using an independent mortgage adviser can help. In addition to being able to provide their clients with impartial mortgage advice, an adviser who offers a whole-of-market service can use their knowledge of the industry to search for products from a variety of different mortgage providers in order to find their clients the best deal available.
