The Leeds Building Society has revealed that wannabe homeowners are turning to shared ownership to get onto the housing ladder.

In July, the Society saw a record number of applications for this type of mortgage. furthermore, between June and August this year applications were more than one and a half times higher than the volumes seen in the same period in both 2019 and 2018.

Matt Bartle, director of products at Leeds Building Society, said: “Many, faced with having to find large deposits, struggle to get a foot on the property ladder, but if more considered shared ownership, there is the potential to help many more buyers to have the home they want, says .

“It will be interesting to see if the trend we’ve observed during the summer months continues into autumn and winter and if choosing shared ownership products continues to gain in popularity among first time buyers.

“The government has recently signalled its desire to widen the scope of the shared ownership scheme further so more homebuyers can benefit.

“We welcome new thinking and different approaches which can help buyers get onto the property ladder and we look forward to hearing more details about the new proposals in due course.”

Those surveyed said one of the main barriers to the further growth of the scheme was a lack of consumer knowledge or understanding of shared ownership and how it works.