Buying your first home is hard but buying a home in London is even tougher. The London property market is notoriously hard to get onto but with a few tips and tricks you can make your move and own your own piece of London property at a price you can afford. With plenty of first time buyer schemes out there available and a plethora of ways to get on the property ladder these days you may be surprised what options you have available as a first time buyer looking for a home in the capital.

Shared Ownership

A great way to get on the property ladder is through shared ownership. While you may think this scheme involves sharing your home with someone else you will be pleasantly surprised to know that’s not the case at all. In fact you can buy a shared ownership home in London all on your own if you’re a single person with a job in the capital that wants to cut out the commute to the office.

Shared ownership allows you to buy a share in a property and get a mortgage for just this share. This means you only have to put down a deposit on this share ensuring you save when it comes to those initial down payments. You can also buy more shares over time and increase the amount of property that you own, meaning you can essentially climb the property ladder without moving anywhere at all. You can start off by buying a share between 10% and 75% of the property and rent the remaining portion from a housing association making the rental payments a lot cheaper than renting from a private landlord. In fact your monthly payments with shared ownership are likely to be cheaper than renting alone in the same location with the same size property.

What Kinds of Properties are Available?

One of the best parts about this scheme is just how flexible it is. You can get a shared ownership home in Maidstone with plenty of space and an abundance of countryside on your doorstep or you can go for a shared ownership Apartment in Greenwich at the heart of the capital. Shared ownership homes are almost all new builds with bespoke interiors and high spec fittings perfect for any young professional looking for a spot on the London property ladder that doesn’t mean buying a shoe box in disrepair. As the scheme is designed to help first time buyers get on the property ladder, you can save a lot while getting just what you’ve been looking for.

Where are These Homes?

Shared ownership homes are available across the capital as well as across the UK. With many shared ownership homes being built in garden cities like the shared ownership apartments in Dartford, the scheme goes beyond just helping you buy a property. Many of these areas are London boroughs that have had a complete regeneration and now have the new generation of Londoners at their heart.

Shared ownership is a great way to get on the property ladder whether you’re looking to get a home in London or elsewhere in the UK.