Written for The TimesOnline

Not impressed by any of the properties on offer, but still reluctant to spend more than £100,000? There is another way — provided you are a happy with a share of a property rather than the whole thing.

The answer could be fractional ownership. Long popular in America, fractional — or co-ownership — schemes allow buyers to club together to buy a far grander property than they could afford on their own. Participants are each entitled to use the property for a certain proportion of the year and, unlike with a timeshare, the money goes directly into the bricks and mortar — allowing them to benefit from any capital gain when they sell.

One such development recently launched is the Watermark scheme, near Cirencester in Gloucestershire. The rolling green hills, picture- postcard villages and the potential lure of a Royal galloping by make this area of the Cotswolds one of the most desirable places in England to live, with house prices to match. For as little as £40,000, though, you could be the proud part-owner of a New-England style, fully furnished, interior-designed lakeside holiday pad — or an eighth of it to be exact.

Invite your friends over and you don’t even have to tell them it’s only yours for six weeks of the year (even though you might have to bring several suitcases full of photographs and other knick-knacks with you to personalise it each time you visit — although some developments do provide storage space). But even if they do discover your guilty secret, you can make a virtue of it. Since fractional properties, by definition, are used more intensively than single-owned ones, you can escape the opprobrium often attached to second-home owners who stand accused of ripping the heart out of local communities.

Further west, Penhaven Cottages, near Bideford, a couple of miles inland from the north Devon coast, launched in September last year. It is a development of 10 one- and two-bed furnished cottages; each is divided into 10 shares, one share allowing owners five weeks’ use a year (they can buy up to two shares, giving them a maximum of 10 weeks a year). Prices start at just £19,500 per share (with service charges ranging from £875-£1,600 per year for each part-owner) although the two available at present start at £26,000 per share.

Shirley Wooster, 70, who lives in Gloucestershire, bought a share in a two-bed Penhaven cottage in December, for £28,000, after being impressed by the quality of the development. As a dog owner, she has holidayed in Britain for the past few years and says returning to the same place makes life easier.

“I like Bideford very much,” she says. “I’m going to spend all five of my weeks there this year.”

Despite the curent surge of interest in fractional ownership, some buyers discovered its advantages years ago. Richard Guy, 57, and his wife Jean, 55, own one of 10 shares in a two-bed cottage at Hope Barton Barns in south Devon, next to National Trust land and the coastal path. They paid £20,000 for the share 12 years ago and have use of the cottage for five weeks a year (although there is also a £1,200 annual service charge). The complex, which includes 17 cottages and three flats, has trout lakes, an indoor swimming pool and a tennis court in 30 acres of land.

“I didn’t fancy going on holiday and spending my time maintaining the property and cutting the grass,” says Guy of his decision to go fractional.

He has also benefited from a system that allows the fractional owner to “bank” weeks with RCI, an international holiday exchange company, and “draw out” weeks elsewhere. The couple went to Madeira and New England in the past year with this system. Hope Barton has proved such a popular scheme that there is a waiting list of people wanting to buy shares.

Links to articles:

Fractional Ownership News and Articles

Fox Business News - (1/21/2008)
Fractional Property Ownership - Owning a small piece of big luxury

From CNN Money - (6/7/2007)
Deluxe vacations on the cheap. Private residence clubs, or fractional's, let owners share a second home with five-star service

ABC 30 News Article - (5/28/2007)
Think You Can't Afford Your Dream Vacation Home? Think Again

From ABC news Los Angeles - (5/17/2007)
Living the High Life With Shared Ownership

Hotels Magazine review of fractional vacation ownership - (15/03/2007)
Fractional Property Ownership. A Home Away From Home

Golfonline Magazine - (3/1/2004)
The Ultimate Time-share. High-end homes for the traveling golfer

Bankrate.com - (12/11/2003)
Fractional ownership: Get a piece of a vacation home