One of the biggest drawbacks of living in flats, especially in urban areas, is not having your own garden. Window boxes, however grandiose, somehow fail to fill the gap. And while parks and commons are a definite bonus, nothing quite beats the satisfaction of having your own patch of land to furrow, plant and harvest - which is why discerning city dwellers are getting their own slice of the outdoors with an allotment. As new co-owner Edwards says: "The plan is all to move out together in three or four years and buy on our own."So if you end up with someone who always nicks your milk from the fridge, at least you know it won't be for ever Unlike your spouse. "It's stuck, and a lot of people are effectively excluded from buying for the first time. The market is also ready for new thinking and new ideas about the way we live."Rather than simply a solution for hungry first-time buyers, co-ownership is also being punted by BuyAssent as "a positive lifestyle choice" for others - such as two single parents buying together and sharing childcare, or newly divorced adults who find themselves without property again.And it isn't necessarily a long-term solution. We owned together for five years, and at the end had made enough money to comfortably go off and buy on our own," she says.Haven't people been buying with friends or relatives for years? Van Der Noot says: "It is still not a hugely well known concept, even though some people have done it." Adrian Jones is similarly convinced the timing is right "The market is ready for it," he says.
"We came up with the idea of clubbing together and buying somewhere. It made sense because renting is throwing money down the drain, and without one another, we wouldn't have been able to buy so easily, if at all."Several new companies have sprung up, convinced that co-ownership is the way ahead. BuyAssent is a sort of property introduction website, where people who want to co-buy but don't know anyone suitable can meet other like-minded individuals. Adrian Jones, director and the brain behind the company, explains: "BuyAssent is a cross between a bulletin board, a dating agency and an estate agent It's fun and simple to use. There are lots of houses on the site and those who register can attach their name to a property."Through this they can meet other people in a confidential, on-line environment and then get in touch with one another and possibly buy together."Sharetobuy is another new company that hopes to capture the property zeitgeist.
James Cartlidge, director, explains: "Sharetobuy is a mortgage designed to help people club together and get on the property ladder. It is possible to do this already, but there is no really easy, off-the-shelf way of doing it, and we have put together a package that addresses all the issues."This package consists of a mortgage, through the Britannia Building Society, which will consider salary multiples of between two and four (lenders usually only consider two). Jackson-Stops & Staff of Chester is offering a four-bedroom stone cottage in the lower foothills of the park for £285,000. The cottage boasts fine views over the River Glaslyn, is surrounded by lush woodland valleys and provides the perfect base camp from which to plan mountaineering trips.Jackson-Stops & Staff (Chester): 01244 328361, (Cockermouth): 01900 827292Blenkin & Co (York): 01904 671672Webbers Property Services (Dulverton): 01398 323271, OF PARK LIVING... We will introduce the main contributor to a short list of contenders who have been properly vetted. They will stay in their current home, meet their friends and get a glimpse into how they live.
