Finding room to work from home was proving difficult for Holly Baker. She works as a trainer throughout the South West and often has to work from home.

“I was increasingly finding space an issue living with my mum,” she says.

But she couldn’t afford a place of her own that was big enough either. “I looked into renting because I knew I wouldn’t be able to get a mortgage big enough to buy a property by myself,” she says. “Then I heard about shared ownership and it seemed to fit my circumstances perfectly.”

Now she’s moved into a flat in the former Norah Fry Hospital, which closed in 1993, in Shepton Mallet, Somerset. The grade II listed Victorian building was boarded up until a local developer converted it into a mix of town houses, coach houses and flats.

Two of the flats were bought by Knightstone Housing Association for shared ownership, and Holly’s is one of them. She now owns a 50% stake in the £125,000 property and rents the remaining 50% from Knightstone.

“This apartment’s ideal as I use my spare room as an office,” Holly says.

It’s also allowed her to stay in an area she knows. “I grew up around here and always knew I’d want to settle in Somerset,” she says.

She’s now the envy of her friends, she says. “Many of them ask how I'm managing to buy my own place in the current market so I tell them about shared ownership.”