Who qualifies as a Key worker

Key workers are people who work in certain public sector jobs based in England. If you are a keyworker, you may be eligible for help to buy a home through one of the Homebuy schemes.

What are Key worker roles?

To buy a home as a key worker, one member of your household needs to be working in one of the following roles:

• clinical NHS staff (except for doctors and dentists)
• teachers and nursery nurses in schools and further education or sixth form colleges
• police officers, community support officers and some civilian staff
• prison officers and some other prison staff
• Probation Service staff
• planners working in a local authority
• firefighters and some other uniformed staff in Fire and Rescue Services
• Connexions personal advisors employed by a local authority or a Connexions partnership
• Armed Forces personnel and Ministry of Defence clinical staff, Ministry of Defence police officers and uniformed staff in the Fire and Defence Service
• qualified environmental health officers/practitioners who work in a local authority, government agency, the NHS or other public sector agencies
• Highways Agency staff in certain safety roles in the traffic officer service
• social workers, nursery nurses, educational psychologists and therapists (eg occupational therapists) employed by local authorities, the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service or the NHS.

Who is eligible to buy a home as a key worker?

If you, or someone in your household, is working in one of the roles listed above, you may be eligible for help to buy a home through one of the HomeBuy schemes.

In addition, you must:

• have a household income of £60,000 or less per year
• be a first-time buyer
• be unable to afford to buy a property that meets your household's needs without help
• be a homeowner who needs to buy a larger property to meet your household's needs.

If you think you qualify as a key worker and are interested in finding out more about the HomeBuy schemes available to you, contact the HomeBuy agent for the area where you work.