For many would be first time buyers the dream of homeownership has never been quite within reach. For many years the price of property in the UK was so high that most first time buyers did not have the income to get the mortgage that they needed, despite the fact that many lenders were increasing income multiples to as high as six or seven times the income.

Although first time buyers had access to a range of perks such as 100 percent and even 125 percent mortgages the high cost of properties coupled with high rates of interest made it impossible to get onto the property ladder for some.

When the property bubble burst a couple of years ago and house prices started to come down, many first time buyers may have thought that at last they had a chance to get their hands on a property and become a homeowners.

However, this was not to be. Just as property prices started to fall and the base interest rate hit an all time low of 0.5 percent lenders started to be far more stringent about giving out mortgages and started demanding far higher deposits from borrowers. With the 100 percent and 125 percent mortgages no longer available and lenders demanding extortionate deposits of 25 percent and even 40 percent in some cases many first time buyers had to once again put their dreams of homeownership on the back burner again.

However, for those that feel that they will never be able to get onto the property ladder because of high deposit levels or lack of mortgage availability there is one option that could prove to provide a helping hands. Shared ownership mortgages are a great help for many first time buyers as it allows them to get onto the property ladder one step at a time, and means that the process of buying a home becomes more manageable and more affordable.

With a shared ownership property you only have to take out a mortgage for the percentage of the property that you are buying. Some shared ownership properties offer 50 percent of the share, some offer 75 percent, some offer 25 percent, and so on.

If you are successful in getting the mortgage for the share that you are buying you then pay rent towards the remaining share to the appropriate housing association. However, the great thins is that you can slowly buy more shares – known as staircasing – as your situation improves. On the other hand, if you prefer you can continue to just own the share that you have taken the mortgage on and carry on renting the other share indefinitely.

With a shared ownership property you will only need a small mortgage depending on how much your share costs, and you could still end up with a really nice home. What’s more you will only need a small deposit because you will only be borrowing a small amount by way of a mortgage, and this can prove a real help.

You will find that many shared ownership properties are new build properties, so you could find yourself in a smart new home with all the mod cons. If you want to keep costs down further you could opt for a resale, which is where someone that had already bought a share of a property wants to sell their share on to another buyer.

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