HARTFORD, Conn. — Connecticut police officers, firefighters and emergency medical workers will be able to get up to $25,000 in forgivable down payment and closing cost help to buy homes in the communities they serve, under a state program Gov. Ned Lamont announced Tuesday.

The First Responders' Time to Own program will be run by the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority with the state Department of Housing and opens Nov. 16, the governor's office said.

It is open to first responders with at least two years of service, including certified police officers, career and volunteer firefighters, and licensed or certified emergency medical workers. Buyers must buy a home in the community where they serve and live there as their main home, according to the governor's office.

The program builds on the state's existing Time to Own program but drops several of its requirements, the governor's office said. It eliminates the standard program's requirement of three years of continuous Connecticut residency and its minimum housing expense ratio, and it judges eligibility by the housing finance authority's mortgage income limits rather than the standard program's cap of 100% of area median income. Eligible buyers will also get a 0.125 percentage point cut in the interest rate on their first mortgage from the authority.

The program is part of a law passed by the General Assembly and signed by Lamont that expands job benefits for first responders, with the aim of drawing more people into those jobs and keeping those already serving. The law also includes benefits tied to college tuition reimbursement and health coverage, the governor's office said.

"By helping reduce one of the biggest barriers to buying a home, we're investing in the people who serve our state and the communities that depend on them," Lamont said.

Details on eligibility and how to apply are available from the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority.

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