Police officers, teachers and nurses who have just completed their training, earning starter salaries are finding it increasingly difficult to get on to the property ladder. Could co-buying, also known as joint ownership, be the answer?

Co-buying involves two or more people jointly taking out a mortgage on a property and sharing all of the costs associated with purchasing and running a house. Will this appeal to key workers who are a section of society everyone would like to see being able to afford their own homes?

At the moment very few key workers including nurses, teachers, junior doctors, police and fire officers, paramedics and social workers can afford to move if they have been lucky enough to afford a property in their current location. This is particularly true of those key workers in the North who might want to move to the Essex/Oxford/London areas but are unable to do so because of property prices.

Co-buying is not a new concept but the emergence of services to help people find others to share with is certainly a new concept. Appreciating the difficulties people face entering the property market led to the creation of youtoshare.co.uk, says Angela Roberts, founder of online co-buying network service You to Share. Co-buying can be as daunting as buying property alone but with the right advice co-buying can be a real alternative for many people.

Co-buying for key workers might involve a police officer and fire fighter sharing a mortgage. Three newly qualified nurses could purchase a property together and if they worked different shifts they might rarely all be home at the same time. Co-buying is a viable way to afford a larger property or one in a better location. There are disadvantages to co-buying but with good communication and honesty, most of the negatives can be turned around quite easily, says Angela.

Advantages of Co-Buying:

Can afford to get onto the property ladder
Invest in your own property not a landlords
Move out of home freedom from parents
Share cost of deposit
Share mortgage costs and benefit from first time buyer offers
Share household bills including council tax
Can be cheaper than renting
Helps make your money work for you
Access to reduced legal fees from www.youtoshare.co.uk

Compromises of Co-Buying:

You have to share your living space
Need to draw up trust deed and co-habitation agreement (offered free through YoutoShare.co.uk)
Need to make sure you dont fall out
Consider drawing up a will

Think about the layout of the property, recommends Angela. Co-buyers often think purchasing a flat would be ideal due to the low maintenance. Flats, however, can often have small living spaces which can make sharing a little stressful. Looking at larger property with two or three reception rooms could be a better idea.

If co-buying is indeed the answer to the housing problem facing so many of the UKs key workers then estate agents and mortgage issuers will have to become even more comfortable with the idea of co-buying than they are at the moment.

Co-buying is a viable option not only for first time buyers and key workers and those whose circumstances have changed e.g. divorced, widowed or separated says Michael Murphy, senior partner with Roger Green and Co, a firm of solicitors offering specially negotiated discounted legal fees to members of You to Share. As long as each co-buyer understands their legal responsibilities, and they complete credit and security checks on each other, we believe co-buying will play a significant role in the future of home buying..

With key workers making such an essential contribution to both the economic and social growth of the UK, ensuring that they can afford their own homes must surely be of the utmost importance? We need to make sure that teachers can afford to live near the schools in which they teach, nurses can live near the hospitals in which they nurse and emergency service personnel do not need to leave their preferred location due to unaffordable property prices. Co-buying could be advantageous to many different groups but we think key workers are likely to benefit most from co-buying services, states Angela.

Further information regarding the pros and cons of co-buying can be found on www.youtoshare.co.uk