Q Our daughter, who is a nurse, wants to buy a property but hasn’t got enough money saved for a deposit. She has seen a flat nearby that she can own on a shared-ownership basis. How does this work and is it a good idea?

A First, to put your minds at rest, shared ownership doesn’t mean your daughter will be buying a house with a total stranger.

Shared ownership allows her to buy a share in a home and pay rent on the remaining percentage.

Typically, purchasers buy between 25 and 75 per cent of the property but percentages can start as low as 10 per cent.

She can then buy increasing amounts of the property until she owns it outright, called staircasing, or stick with her original amount.

She can sell her share, initially via her landlord, at any time. Properties owned outright can go on the open market from day one.

The scheme was set up to help people with small deposits, as they only have to pay a deposit of five to 10 per cent on the value of the share they are buying, not the overall property value.

So if she is paying £50,000 for a 25 per cent share in a £200,000 flat, her 10 per cent deposit will only be £5,000. She can then take out a mortgage for the remaining £45,000. The landlord is normally a housing association.

The scheme is available to anyone in England with a maximum household income of £80,000 a year (£90,000 in London) who couldn’t otherwise afford their first home, to move up the housing ladder or get back onto it if they have previously owned. People who live or work locally are often given priority when properties become available.

Rent is then payable at typically 2.75 per cent of the value of the remaining amount. For new-builds it is capped at three per cent and if you are buying an existing shared-ownership property then you must be charged the same amount as the previous shared owner.

So if your daughter’s new home costs £200,000 in total and she bought a 40 per cent share (for £80,000), then the rent will start at £275 a month if it is based on 2.75 per cent of the value of the remaining share.

The higher the percentage of the property your daughter owns, the cheaper the rent. There will normally be an additional service charge to pay.

You don’t say how much deposit your daughter has, but if she needs a mortgage then there are a number of lenders, such as Leeds Building Society, offering shared-ownership loans.

But rates and availability are changing fast in the current market, so it is worth talking to a mortgage broker to get the most up-to-date advice.

Your daughter will have to register with one of the three government-appointed agents https://www.gov.uk/shared-ownership-scheme/apply before she does anything else. They will guide her through the process and advise on eligibility and local availability.