Shared Ownership in West Sussex

The small cathedral city of Chichester is an attractive kind of place, lined with Georgian architecture and interesting independent shops to rifle through, from reclaimed homeware stores to farm shops stocking superb slabs of local cheese and bottles of cider. There’s Arundel – a gorgeous speck of a town, lying in the shadow of its formidable castle. A slow wave of creative types has been rippling into Arundel in recent years, bringing a quiet sense of cool, and there’s a real energy in its cultural scene: you can watch live bands by the river, follow art gallery trails, sip a cracking coffee in artisan cafes and muse about its antique shops. And then there’s East Grinstead – a cheery and charming town, surrounded by rural space and Kingscote Valley that’s criss-crossed with bike trails, farms and centred around the Weir Wood Reservoir.

West Sussex is also home to some cracking coastal towns - the sort that conjure all the quintessential British seaside images: of bobbing fishing boats, scuttling crabs, and children scooping shells and poking around rock pools. You’ve got good old Bognor Regis, Shoreham-By-Sea and leafy Worthing with its pretty seaside terraces, thrumming cultural calendar and the neighbouring South Downs National Park. Whenever you want to get around, great transport links are in place too, from swift rail journeys into London and international Gatwick Airport, to a decent road network across the county and beyond. And the glorious thing about West Sussex – wherever you put roots down – is its ‘escape to the country and coast’ vibe. Trust us – a property investment in West Sussex is a no-brainer.

Well, think again. Shared ownership makes purchasing a property a very real possibility for anyone who earns less than £80,000. You don’t even have to worry about gathering a huge deposit. The government-backed scheme is a savvy move for wannabe homeowners and there are lots of shared ownership properties in West Sussex.

There’s the new Hedgerows Development, occupying an attractive stretch in Westergate with first-rate transport links and excellent local facilities, from schools to wellness centres. There’s a whole bunch of properties on the market, but just look at its four-bed houses and you’ll be sold - they’re big on size and big on style with open-plan kitchens, garages and large gardens. Elsewhere, on the outskirts of Chichester, a collection of apartments at Shopwyke Lake is turning heads. This waterside development – a mixture of three-bedroom houses and one- and two-bedroom apartments are stylish and comfortable with an envy-inducing serene setting.