Are you a first-time buyer trying to get your foot on the property ladder? Don’t give up on the dream, says Mark Weller, area partner at Connells Estate Agents.

Even though mortgage lending restrictions are easing, raising the sort of deposit required to buy a home in a decent area still remains a challenge for many people.

However, that essential British aspiration of home ownership is not impossible, as more and more people are discovering.

Over the past few years, as mortgage funding has become more difficult to secure, there has been a growth in shared ownership, which offers an affordable way on to the property ladder.

Provided through housing associations, shared ownership offers a low-cost option to purchase a home on a part-rent, part-buy basis. People can buy an initial share of between 25% and 75% of their home, using a deposit and mortgage, and then pay a reduced rent to the housing association for the remaining share.

As their finances improve, they have the option to increase their equity in the property by buying further shares in it and therefore decreasing the amount of rent they pay.

Although the scheme is primarily aimed at those taking their first step on to the property ladder, what many people don’t realise is that you don’t have to be a first-time buyer to take advantage of it.

The scheme can also help those that perhaps need to buy a bigger home to house their growing family or have to find a new place to live following a relationship breakdown.

Through shared ownership, they can buy their property in stages, paying an affordable rent on the share they don’t buy, and they don’t have to raise the sort of large deposit that is often the main obstacle to home ownership. In most cases their monthly housing costs will be considerably lower than those of an average first-time buyer or someone in private rental accommodation.

Shared ownership is just one of several schemes which are available to purchasers of new homes. Others include the government’s NewBuy and FirstBuy initiatives and shared equity options offered by an increasing number of new homes builders.

Full details of all these options are available on www.gov.uk/affordable-home-ownership-schemes

For more details on Connells go to www.connells.co.uk