Nurse Hannah Joseph didn’t think she would ever be able to join the property ladder - until she found out about the help offered by Keyhomes East.

The 26-year-old had heard about shared ownership from colleagues, and after looking around one of the new apartments available at Cambourne, Cambridgeshire, knew it was the right thing to do.

Hannah has now moved into a top floor two-bedroom apartment, which benefits from its own balcony with views over a lake Hannah said: “When I saw the apartments at Cambourne I was amazed. There is no way I would have been able to afford a place like this without the help of shared ownership.

“Nurses are on low wages anyway, and when you couple that with the cost of housing in this area, it is virtually impossible to join the property ladder. Even the cost of renting is a stretch, and that is just throwing money away.

“I am really pleased with the flat, and it is great to know that I have made the first step towards owning my home.”

Jennifer Keene, aged 30, was still living with parents and thought she could never afford a home of her own, until she heard about help offered by Keyhomes East.

As a radiographer at Luton and Dunstable hospital, Jennifer qualified for the Open Market Homebuy scheme. The scheme helps first time buyers, key workers (public sector staff such as teachers, nurses and police officers) and housing association tenants buy a share in a home available on the open market.

Despite a salary of £25,000, Jennifer had no savings and couldn’t access a 100 per cent mortgage on her own. But the scheme enabled her to buy a one-bedroom flat in the Bedford area.

Jennifer moved into her new flat in November 2007 and is delighted to finally branch out with her own place. She said: “The best thing about owning a home is having space. It’s a nice area to live in and I’m now in walking distance of my work, which is perfect.

“The scheme gave me the lift I needed to get started on the property ladder and I’d definitely recommend it to others.”

When Reuben Chirairo re-trained to be a teacher, he hoped his new career would mean he could finally buy a house for his family.  But with a starting salary of £19,000, Reuben’s dream seemed out of reach - until he heard about the Keyhomes East shared ownership scheme.

Previously Reuben, his wife, his 17-year old daughter and 19-year old son were living in a crowded two bedroom rented house in Luton. Reuben had just secured his first teaching job so needed to stay in the area – but to buy a three bedroom house Reuben needed a mortgage eight times his salary. Desperate to move into a bigger place, Reuben finally decided to join the housing waiting list, and it was then he was advised that he qualified for shared ownership because of his new career.

After applying for the scheme in November 2006, Reuben was able to buy a three bedroom house that he could never have afforded outright. Reuben and family moved into their new house in Dunstable in August 2007.

Reuben said: “I was surprised at how easy it was to apply for the scheme. Without it we would have had to apply for a council house and would never have been able to afford a place of our own.

“Not only is the house bigger, it’s also in a more secure location and has meant I have really been able to make a difference for my family”.

When teacher Simon Cutting and his girlfriend Elke Rockey wanted to move in together, they struggled to find anywhere that they could afford in the local area.

Steven and his six-year-old son, Aiden, were still living with Steven’s parents in Bedford and Elke was living in a one-bedroom flat In Milton Keynes. The maximum they could afford was around £130,000 – which at best would buy a small two-bedroom house in the Bedford area.

Elke had heard about the shared ownership scheme offered by bpha through a friend and realised that they would qualify because Steven was a teacher. Keen to make the most of the opportunity, the couple decided to apply in April 2007.

By September 2007, Steven, Elke and Aiden had moved into their three-bedroom home in Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire. Worth £170,000 the property was much bigger than anything they could have previously afforded.

Elke said: “The people at bpha were so helpful in explaining the scheme and applying was really straightforward. I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone who is in a similar situation.”

The couple used the Open Market Homebuy scheme, which helps people to buy a home of their choice on the open market thanks to an equity loan, and a further interest free loan to meet the shortfall.

Teacher Tim Clark and girlfriend Louissa Galenski wanted to move into Cambridge to be closer to work, but couldn’t afford the city’s high house prices.

Tim had already bought a shared ownership property in Streatham, near Ely, but was fed up with commuting in and out of the city centre – and spending so much on petrol.

Having sold up and benefited from a rise in the value of his Streatham home, Tim and Louissa were able to take advantage of the New Build HomeBuy scheme offered by Keyhomes East, to move into a new three-bedroom townhouse in Scholars Walk, Cambridge.

The part-buy, part-rent scheme means the couple, who have three children between them, have been able to buy a share of a home they could never have afforded outright.

Louissa said: “The house is great and the New Build HomeBuy scheme has been fantastic for us. We are so pleased to have been able to get a house like this in such a prime location. We could never have done it otherwise.

“House prices in Cambridge are so expensive that shared ownership schemes are becoming a good option for more and more people keen to get on the property ladder.”