TEACHERS, nurses and other key workers in Kent struggling to get a foot on the property ladder could now get government help to do so.

Ministers have announced details of a £690million scheme designed to make it easier for them to buy their own homes. It is part of a continuing drive to solve a chronic recruitment crisis affecting Kent and other parts of the south east.

The Key Worker Living programme will replace an early government initiative and has been extended to give more help to those in front-line public sector jobs who may be deterred from taking up jobs in the county. In Kent, the scheme will be run by the Moat Housing Association.

One important change is that those who were helped by the original scheme will now be able to transfer special loans to help buy larger homes. The programme will offer various options - including loans of up to £50,000.

Peter Vokes, spokesman for the Kent branch of the National Union of Teachers, said: "Schools have real difficulties in recruiting staff because of the high costs of housing in all parts of the county but particularly in the west and those parts near to London, where they just miss out on the London weighting allowance.

"It does mean that teachers often do not settle in Kent long-term, something which does not help the stability of schools. Teachers who start families often move out of the area to places where they can afford larger homes. And schools often have a more limited choice because they get fewer applicants for jobs."