Key Worker Housing: Who Qualifies, What Is Available And How To Apply

What Key Worker Housing Is

Key worker housing covers several kinds of home. Some are rooms and flats that employers, such as NHS trusts, provide for their staff on or near the workplace. Some are blocks that housing associations let to key workers, often with priority for staff of a named employer. Others are intermediate homes, let below market rent or sold through shared ownership, for which key workers may have priority.

National planning policy can count housing for key workers as affordable housing. The National Planning Policy Framework, revised in August 2026, defines affordable housing as housing for sale or rent “for those whose needs are not met by the market”, including housing for essential local workers or national military housing needs. The housing must also take one of the forms of affordable housing that the Framework lists.¹

For rented homes, those forms are Social Rent, homes let under the government’s Affordable Rent policy or at least 20 per cent below local market rents, and military affordable housing let at a sub-market military rent.¹ In London, the Mayor also sets rent benchmarks for Key Worker Living Rent homes based on key workers’ incomes, as described below.

Who Counts As A Key Worker

There is no single legal definition of a key worker for housing. Eligibility is set scheme by scheme, and the rules differ between employers, councils and housing associations.

The nearest national definition is in planning policy. The National Planning Policy Framework defines essential local workers as public sector employees who provide frontline services in areas including health, education and community safety. Its examples are NHS staff, teachers, police, firefighters and military personnel, social care and childcare workers.¹

London uses a wider list. The Mayor of London adopted an occupation-based list, adapted from the Office for National Statistics list of key workers, to allocate intermediate homes.² The Mayor’s list includes private sector as well as public sector occupations.³

Individual schemes then apply further tests. Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing, for example, gives first priority at their 295 homes beside Hammersmith Hospital to staff of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, followed by contractors and healthcare students on placement.⁴

Before applying, check the eligibility page for each scheme. Your employer’s accommodation or HR team is the first place to ask which schemes give their staff priority.

The Main Types Of Key Worker Housing

Employer Staff Accommodation

NHS trusts provide rooms and flats for their staff. The Keyworker.com register has found staff housing at 89 of the 202 NHS trusts and foundation trusts in England, 76 of them with a scheme in the public record. The Greater London Authority gives the example of an NHS trust offering “cluster homes” to international recruits in their first six months of employment.⁵ The 10 Year Capital Plan for Health and Social Care, published on 8 July 2026, describes providing keyworker accommodation for NHS staff as “a major challenge, particularly in areas where housing costs are high”.⁶

The Keyworker.com register lists 189 staff housing schemes for NHS trusts, the Ministry of Defence and other employers, with the status of each and what public sources say about it.

Housing Association Key Worker Homes

Several housing associations operate purpose-built key worker blocks beside hospitals. At Hammersmith, Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing lets 295 homes to hospital staff and other key workers. Their page lists single studios at £971.99 a month, including utilities but not council tax. The first tenancy lasts six months and then continues month to month.⁴

Intermediate Rent And Discount Market Rent

Intermediate rent is priced between social rent and market rent. National planning policy counts it as affordable housing where the rent is at least 20 per cent below local market rents. The landlord must be a registered provider, except where the homes form part of a build to rent scheme.¹

In build to rent schemes, the discounted homes are called Affordable Private Rent. The rent must be at least 20 per cent below the market rent for an equivalent home, including service charges. Eligibility is agreed between the council and the operator. Tenants cannot be evicted because their income rises above the eligibility threshold; the operator can instead move the home to market rent and designate another home as affordable.⁷

Shared Ownership

Shared ownership lets a household buy a share of between 10 and 75 per cent of a home and pay rent on the rest.⁸ Household income must be £80,000 a year or less, or £90,000 in London.⁹ In London, shared ownership homes are advertised on Homes for Londoners.¹⁰

First Homes

First Homes let first-time buyers buy a home for 30 to 50 per cent below market value, with an income cap of £80,000, or £90,000 in London. The GOV.UK guide says councils can give priority to key workers, as the council defines them.¹¹ In December 2024, the government removed the national requirement for a quarter of the affordable homes secured through planning agreements to be First Homes, while keeping the option for councils to deliver them.¹² The August 2026 Framework does not mention First Homes, and lists the 2021 statement that introduced them as incorporated or no longer up to date.¹³

Ministry Of Defence Accommodation

Service personnel can apply for Service Family Accommodation if they are 18 or over, serving, married, in a civil partnership or with permanent custody of children, and have at least six months left to serve. Single personnel and those in an established long-term relationship may live in surplus homes, subject to availability. Applications use the e-1132 form, and residents sign a licence to occupy.¹⁴ The August 2026 Framework also counts military affordable housing, let at a sub-market military rent set by the Ministry of Defence, as affordable housing.¹

Key Worker Housing In London

In London, the Mayor sets the income limits for intermediate homes and funds two rented products with rents linked to incomes.

The Mayor launched Key Worker Living Rent on 20 January 2026. Rents are based on 40 per cent of key workers’ average net household incomes.³ For 2026/27, the London-wide monthly benchmarks, including service charges, are £1,156 for one bedroom, £1,301 for two bedrooms, £1,445 for three bedrooms and £1,590 for four bedrooms. Borough benchmarks differ, up to a cap of £1,750, and annual increases are limited to inflation (CPI) plus 1 per cent.⁵

To apply for Key Worker Living Rent, a household must live or work in London, rent privately or live with family or friends because of housing costs, have a household income of £75,000 or less, not own another home, and be unable to buy locally, including through shared ownership.¹⁵ Where the Mayor funds homes for sharers, he expects them to go to individuals earning no more than £50,000 a year; after three months of marketing, the household limit can apply instead.⁵ The Mayor’s announcement describes a plan to start “at least 6,000” Key Worker Living Rent homes by 2030.³

London Living Rent is the Mayor’s earlier intermediate rented product. Where the Greater London Authority funds it, it is a rent to buy product, with sub-market rents on time-limited tenancies designed to help households save for a deposit.¹⁶ From January 2026, London Living Rent benchmarks are capped at £1,750 a month.¹⁷

The household income cap for intermediate rent in London rose from £67,000 to £75,000 in early 2026. The cap for intermediate homes for sale, including shared ownership, remains £90,000.¹⁸

The Mayor expects providers to advertise the intermediate homes he funds on Homes for Londoners, which the Mayor operates in partnership with Share to Buy.^{5, 10} Councils and other landlords are encouraged to prioritise key workers for Key Worker Living Rent homes during the first three months of marketing.¹⁵ Some boroughs also keep separate registers. Tower Hamlets, for example, asks applicants for intermediate rent homes to join their Intermediate Housing Register.¹⁹

The London page of the register lists staff housing schemes for NHS trusts and other employers in London, with the status of each.

How To Find And Apply For Key Worker Housing

1. Ask your employer. Many NHS trusts and other large employers provide accommodation, or have agreements that give their staff priority with a housing association. Their accommodation or HR team is the first place to ask.
2. Search the register. The Keyworker.com register lists staff housing schemes by region and by employer. Each record shows what public sources say about the scheme, with links to them.
3. Contact housing associations near your work. Ask which key worker homes they let, and which employers’ staff they give priority to.
4. In London, register with Homes for Londoners. Check your borough’s intermediate housing register as well.
5. Outside London, ask your council. Ask about intermediate rent and shared ownership homes in their area.
6. Read the tenancy before you sign. Ask whether the home is let because of your job. That affects what happens if you change employer, as the next section explains.

Your Rights When You Rent

Most private tenancies in England changed on 1 May 2026, when the new tenancy system under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 began for private landlords. Most existing assured shorthold tenancies became assured periodic tenancies, with no fixed end date, and landlords can no longer use the section 21 “no fault” eviction process.^{20, 21}

You can end an assured periodic tenancy by giving two months’ notice, or less if your landlord agrees in writing.²²

Homes let because of your job have a specific possession ground. Under Ground 5C, a landlord can seek possession if you have left the employment for which the home was let. They can also seek possession if the home was provided for the early period of your employment, that purpose has been fulfilled, and they intend to let it to another current or future employee.²³ The landlord must give two months’ notice before applying to court for a possession order.^{24, 25}

Housing associations’ social housing tenancies, including intermediate rent homes, are due to move to the new system in October 2027. Until then, the earlier rules continue to apply to those tenancies.²⁶ Ground 5B allows a housing association to recover a home held for people who meet employment requirements, to let it to someone who does, where the tenant does not meet them. Ground 5D allows recovery where the tenancy includes an employment requirement that the tenant no longer meets. Both need two months’ notice.^{27, 24}

These rules apply to assured tenancies. Licences are outside the Act,²⁶ and Service Family Accommodation is occupied under a licence to occupy.¹⁴

A summary for England, not legal advice. The rules differ in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

What Key Workers Earn Compared With Rents

Average rents are high compared with frontline pay, particularly in London. The Office for National Statistics reports an average private rent of £1,459 a month in England and £2,332 in London in August 2026.²⁸

The entry point of NHS pay Band 5 is £32,073 a year for 2026/27, or £38,488 with the inner London high cost area supplement.²⁹ The School Teachers’ Review Body recommended a starting salary on the main pay range of £34,069 from 1 September 2026 outside the London area, or £41,729 in inner London.³⁰ The Department for Education reports that the recommendations have been accepted in full.³¹

Pay is gross annual pay before tax. Average rents cover all sizes of home, and the England rent average includes London. In the England column, teacher pay is for the area outside London. The London column uses the inner London supplement for NHS staff and the inner London pay range for teachers. Calculations by Keyworker.com.

On these figures, the average London rent equals about 73 per cent of the gross entry pay for a Band 5 role in inner London. Key Worker Living Rent is designed to address that gap by basing rents on 40 per cent of key workers’ average net household incomes.³

What Is Changing

• Homes on NHS land. The 10 Year Capital Plan for Health and Social Care, published on 8 July 2026, states an intention to “work with a selection of pilot trusts to explore a concessionary financial route to delivering investor-led keyworker housing on NHS land, with a view to scaling it nationally”.⁶ The pilot trusts had not been named in the published documents at 17 October 2026.
• Private finance. The 10 Year Health Plan for England, published on 3 July 2025, stated that private financing of revenue-raising assets, such as key worker accommodation, would be considered, including low-risk pension fund capital.³²
• Westminster. On 15 September 2026, Westminster City Council launched a key worker housing delivery plan, including reform of their intermediate allocations policy. The council said there would also be chances to review the definition of key workers.³³
• Southwark. On 13 July 2026, the developer Bouygues UK announced planning permission for a pilot scheme of 152 Key Worker Living Rent homes at Abbey Street in Bermondsey. Completion is targeted for 2030.³⁴
• The London Plan. The draft London Plan, published on 16 July 2026, proposes that plan-making authorities give key workers priority access to intermediate homes.³⁵ It remains a draft until adoption, which the Greater London Authority expects in early 2028.³⁶

Keyworker.com follows these announcements on the news page.

Questions

Is key worker housing only for NHS staff?

No. The examples of essential local workers in national planning policy include teachers, police, firefighters, military personnel, social care and childcare workers as well as NHS staff.¹ In London, the Mayor’s list also includes some private sector occupations.³ The rules differ from scheme to scheme.

Can I get key worker housing if I work in the private sector?

Sometimes. In London, the Mayor’s list of key workers includes private sector occupations.³ Outside London, it depends on the scheme, so check the provider’s eligibility rules before you apply.

How much does key worker housing cost?

It depends on the scheme. Affordable homes for rent are let at Social Rent, under the government’s Affordable Rent policy, at least 20 per cent below local market rents or, for military affordable housing, at a sub-market military rent.¹ In London, the London-wide Key Worker Living Rent benchmarks for 2026/27 range from £1,156 a month for one bedroom to £1,590 for four bedrooms, and borough benchmarks differ, up to a cap of £1,750.⁵ Employers and operators set the price of staff accommodation.

What happens to my home if I change jobs?

If you have an assured tenancy and your home was let because of your job, your landlord may be able to seek possession after you leave that employment. They must give two months’ notice before applying to court for a possession order.^{23, 24} Check your tenancy agreement, and ask your landlord whether the home is let in connection with your employment.

Does Keyworker.com let homes?

Not yet. Keyworker.com publishes a register of staff housing schemes and is building a marketplace where owners of professionally managed blocks will list homes for people in work. Registration is open on the Find a home page, and listed homes will appear there as owners confirm them.

Sources

All sources were checked on 17 October 2026. Figures that change every year, such as pay, rents and income caps, are marked with the period they apply to.

1. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, National Planning Policy Framework, Annex B: Glossary, 17 August 2026, page published 29 September 2026.
2. Greater London Authority, Housing Policy Practice Note: Allocating Intermediate Homes to London’s Key Workers, December 2021.
3. Mayor of London, Mayor launches new plan to deliver thousands of rent-controlled affordable homes for London’s key workers, 20 January 2026.
4. Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing, Keyworker housing: Hammersmith, page modified 1 July 2026.
5. Greater London Authority, Planning and Housing Practice Note: Key Worker Living Rent Homes, January 2026.
6. Department of Health and Social Care, 10 Year Capital Plan for Health and Social Care, Section 5, 8 July 2026.
7. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Planning practice guidance: Build to rent, updated 8 May 2026.
8. GOV.UK, Shared ownership homes: buying, improving and selling, accessed 17 October 2026.
9. GOV.UK, Shared ownership homes: who can apply, accessed 17 October 2026.
10. Mayor of London, Homes for Londoners, accessed 17 October 2026.
11. GOV.UK, First Homes scheme: first-time buyer’s guide, updated 17 October 2024.
12. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Government response to the proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework, Chapter 6, December 2024.
13. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, National Planning Policy Framework, Annex A: Implementation, paragraph 10, 17 August 2026, page published 29 September 2026.
14. Ministry of Defence, Defence Homes: Entitlement and how to apply, accessed 17 October 2026.
15. Greater London Authority, Key Worker Living Rent homes, accessed 17 October 2026.
16. Greater London Authority, The London Plan 2021, paragraph 4.6.5, March 2021.
17. Greater London Authority, London Living Rent: Updated Rent Benchmarks for 2026-27, January 2026.
18. Greater London Authority, London Plan Annual Monitoring Report 21, paragraphs 5.4.14 and 5.4.15, January 2026.
19. London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Intermediate rent, accessed 17 October 2026.
20. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Renters’ Rights Act overview for tenants, accessed 17 October 2026.
21. legislation.gov.uk, The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 2 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2026, regulation 2, 16 April 2026.
22. legislation.gov.uk, Renters’ Rights Act 2025, section 20, 2025.
23. legislation.gov.uk, Renters’ Rights Act 2025, Schedule 1, paragraph 14 (Ground 5C), 2025.
24. legislation.gov.uk, Housing Act 1988, section 8(4AA), as amended.
25. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Grounds for possession: guidance for tenants, accessed 17 October 2026.
26. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Implementing the Renters’ Rights Act: Social Housing, 10 April 2026.
27. legislation.gov.uk, Housing Act 1988, Schedule 2, Grounds 5B and 5D, as amended.
28. Office for National Statistics, Private rent and house prices, UK: September 2026, 16 September 2026.
29. NHS Employers, Pay scales for 2026/27, 12 February 2026.
30. School Teachers’ Review Body, 36th Report, Appendix F: recommended pay levels from 1 September 2026, 1 July 2026.
31. Department for Education, Teacher pay: everything you need to know about the latest multi-year pay award, 16 September 2026.
32. Department of Health and Social Care, Fit for the Future: 10 Year Health Plan for England, Chapter 9, 3 July 2025.
33. Westminster City Council, Westminster City Council launches key worker housing delivery plan, 15 September 2026.
34. Bouygues UK, Planning permission achieved for pilot key worker housing scheme, 13 July 2026.
35. Greater London Authority, Draft London Plan, Policy HN3, 16 July 2026.
36. Mayor of London, Mayor publishes streamlined draft London Plan to boost affordable housing and support growth, jobs and the economy of the future, 16 July 2026.