With average house prices in Essex well over £200,000, yet incomes averaging only £27,000 a year, Colne Housing Society has been looking at ways to help first time buyers gain a step on the housing ladder.

Working closely with local authorities and developers, the Society has created its ‘Solutions’ shared equity scheme. Purchasers buy a fixed share in their home. No rent is payable on the remainder and owners benefit from any increase in the value of their share of their home when they sell.

Collyer’s Court was one of Colne Housing Society’s shared equity schemes where all the 17 one- and two-bedroom flats have been offered at prices under £80,000.

Bob Russell, MP for Colchester, welcomed Gemma Whitfield to her new home. He said: “We have a housing crisis in Colchester and this scheme is definitely going to help alleviate it.”

Gemma is a primary school teacher who believes buying a home would have been impossible without the scheme. She said: “I could never have afforded to buy my own home if it were not for this scheme. I looked around at other two-bedroom places for myself and my daughter but they were all out of my reach. Collyer’s Court is perfect because it is close to my school and to my daughter’s nursery and I can afford the mortgage.”

At Westway, all 36 flats were reserved before the properties were finished. Nurse Laura Hobson and fireman Tom Whiteley have both bought their first homes here. Tom said: “The Solutions scheme offered me the perfect opportunity to get onto the housing ladder. I did look at homes on the open market but they were out of my price range. This way I get to own my own home and continue to live and work in Colchester. “

The Society has just completed its first rural shared equity scheme at East Hanningfield near Chelmsford, and is working on several more projects to help people to own a home of their own.