Purchase with a pal and you could avoid rising rents

There is a way for first-time buyers to get on the property ladder rather than paying rising rents and lining the pockets of landlords. Pooling your resources and buying a property with a friend or family member is a good option in today's economic climate, enabling mortgage repayments and household bills to be shared.

Berkeley Homes (Kent) Ltd's Holborough development near Maidstone in Kent has a number of two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartments ideal for sharers, including ‘The Maine' and ‘The Lexington' apartments. The two-bedroom apartments currently for sale have spacious bedrooms of similar size as well as two bathrooms, so private space is maintained.

Buying with a friend or family member means increased spending power. Combining saved deposits and incomes opens more doors financially, as the bigger the deposit, the better the range of mortgage deals available. Some mortgage companies even offer a "buy to share" scheme that is specifically geared towards those who want to club together and buy a property.

Rents are increasing at their fastest pace since the first part of 2001 and they are gathering momentum[1], so buying to share is an ideal way to get on the property ladder and escape escalating landlord demands. Sharing allows first-time buyers along with their friend or family member to purchase a home that they can call their own, while ensuring that they're making a good investment for the future.

The two-bedroom apartments at Holborough are an excellent size, offering between 715 and 804 sq ft of living space. Each apartment has a contemporary fitted kitchen with integrated Bosch appliances as well as stylish bathrooms with a range of fixtures and fittings by Hansgrohe and Villeroy & Boch. Many of the apartments at Holborough also benefit from well-proportioned balconies, which provide additional outdoor entertaining space.

Piers Clanford, Managing Director of Berkeley Homes (Kent) Ltd, comments: "Apartments at Holborough are ideal for sharers thanks to their clever layouts and generous living space, meaning each sharer has a double room plus their own bathroom. Homes at Holborough are excellent value for money, with high specification fixtures and fittings in an attractive setting and excellent nearby transport links nearby. Buying here is an ideal choice for young professional commuters."

Holborough is a collection of stunning new homes set in a verdant corner of Kent. Accommodation on offer ranges from one and two-bedroom apartments to three, four and five-bedroom houses, each with New England-inspired architecture. Each home in the current phase of Holborough - called Birchleigh - benefits from Super E technology. This technology uses air filtration to clean incoming air of dust and pollen particles, which helps those suffering from hay fever and asthma.

Super E results in an airtight home, preventing warm air from leaking out of small holes or gaps. This results in a naturally warmer home, less need for central heating and reduced monthly fuel bills - a bonus in today's climate of soaring fuel costs.

Living at Holborough combines a rural setting with excellent transport links. Located five miles from the M2 and even closer to the M20, Holborough offers solid transport connections to Maidstone and the M25. It is also perfectly located for commuters, with an average journey time into the City of approximately one hour. In December 2009, the rail journey from nearby Ebbsfleet to London St Pancras will be reduced to 17 minutes thanks to the new high-speed domestic line.

For further information about Holborough, log on to Holborough.co.uk.