Key worker homes are being considered by Dorset County Council as a way of keeping, and attracting, a skilled workforce.

The news comes as the multiplier between lower incomes and lowest house prices had increased again – pricing many people out of the market.

Cllr Jill Haynes told Wednesday’s county council cabinet that a lot of work was going on behind the scenes investigating schemes to provide affordable housing for skilled workers.

She said that even relatively well paid people, such as nursing and social workers, were not moving to Dorset because of the costs of housing.

“We are looking to see if we can develop greater flexibility to help people in key jobs we need,” she said.

But the work, which may include using land which local councils own, is unlikely to see any results until next year when the new Dorset Council takes over responsibility for housing from the existing district and borough councils.

The latest figures, to go before the council next week, show another increase in the difference between lower quartile wages and the lowest available house prices, with news that the trend is worsening.

Dorset’s year on year figures have gone up from 10 to 10.3 – compared to the national English average of 7.2 times salary to house-price ratio.

A report to the July 26th county economic growth and scrutiny committee says that relatively low salaries and productivity levels compound the Dorset problem, as does higher concentrations of lower paid sectors such as tourism, while at the same time the county suffers constraints on land supply because of the large amount of Dorset which is protected from development because of it farmland importance, or natural or environmental protection status.

Said lead officer Maxine Bodell, in her report to the committee: “If young workers cannot afford to live in the area, they are likely to seek employment in other areas where they can. This could lead to a loss of skills and labour. In addition, if employers cannot recruit the skilled people they need, they too may relocate. Also, the lack of affordable housing acutely contributes to a shortage of key social care workers.”

And she says that there could also be future problems in finding suitable accommodation for the anticipated 257 Adult Social Care clients who will need rehousing over the next 4 years, including around 160 in the next year, due to discharge from hospital, moving on from home, or current inappropriate accommodation.

“These are mainly clients with Learning Disabilities or Mental Health problems, many of whom have complex needs, and for whom the limited supply of general needs housing available through the Housing Register is usually inappropriate.”