Real life stories

St Ives

Key worker Rachel Ginger and her boyfriend Kevin Grantham wanted to buy their first property together in St Ives but found the high cost of house prices kept them from being able to afford a place of their own.

Rachel, 20, an occupational therapy assistant at Addenbrooke's Hospital, and Kevin, 25, a manager at Waitrose, wanted to stay in the area to be close to family and were delighted when they found out they had been successful in their bid to move into one of the first new affordable homes to be built in St Ives in 10 years.

Rachel said: "If it wasn't for the shared ownership scheme we would never have been able to buy a house. It would have taken us years to save for a deposit and we couldn't have afforded a mortgage.

"After waiting for a year to get a place of our own, we were delighted to have been able to move into our new home in Burleigh Close and it's fantastic. The house is lovely and you can tell a lot of care and attention has been put into building it."

Rachel and Kevin used the HomeBuy shared ownership scheme provided by Keyhomes East, the county's HomeBuy Agent.

For more information about shared ownership contact the team on 0845 456 6757 or visit www.keyhomes-east.org.uk

Cambridge

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."

For more information about shared ownership contact Keyhomes East on 0845 456 6757 or visit www.keyhomes-east.org.uk

Cambourne

"Come to Cambourne; it's lovely!"

Last year, Samantha, her partner Jason, and her little girl, Tiffany, were living in a small first floor flat in Cambridge. Tiffany is autistic and the family found it very difficult to cope with the stairs and had no access to a garden. 'The area wasn't very nice, either' says Samantha. 'There was broken glass and dog mess on the pavements, and it just wasn't safe for Tiffany'.

As both Samantha and Jason work in the area, and Tiffany goes to a special school nearby, at first they were not looking to move far, but after viewing the properties on the Homelink website, they fell in love with a house owned by Cambridge Housing Society (CHS) in Cambourne, a new development about 8 miles west of Cambridge. 'We are so lucky that we managed to get this house - the garden is fantastic for Tiffany, and as we live on a quiet cul-de-sac, she can go outside and play with the neighbouring children, who've really taken her under their wing. The area is really smashing, very family orientated and there's so much going on. It's a really easy bus ride for both work and school as well'.

'The Homelink system was really easy to use and we got our dream house! CHS have been really fantastic - everyone there is so polite and any repairs that we've needed doing have been dealt with really quickly. I tell everyone now "Come to Cambourne; it's lovely!"