The government is to broaden its key worker housing programme to fund participants who rent their homes or buy them through shared-ownership schemes.
The change is one of a number taken from the Homeownership Taskforce's report, due to be published next month. The system replaces the Starter Home Initiative which gave grants to keyworkers buying homes on the open market.

The new scheme will get £1bn funding until 2005/6. It will cover 4000-6000 people compared with the SHI's 9000. Participants will be able to get larger grants and it will cover intermediate renting, which could help workers from overseas are not eligible to buy homes through the SHI.