Wannabe homeowners have a chance to get on the property ladder at a flagship site in Taplow and live the dream they probably thought would always be out of reach in the cruel light of day.

Berkeley Homes’ upmarket development covers 21 acres in a country park setting on the Buckinghamshire bank of the Thames.

It’s opposite Boulters Lock a couple of miles from Maidenhead town centre and the station where one day soon the Crossrail service will improve the journey into London for commuters.

Last November Prime Minister Theresa May opened a footbridge to link the two sides of the river where the new development is being built.

The price of properties for sale on the open market at Taplow Riverside range from £590,000 for a two bed flat up to £1.675 million for a five-bedroom detached house.

However, to comply with planning consent, within the development are 19 apartments for shared ownership. They’re being built where the historic St Regis Paper Mill once stood.

The part-buy part-rent flats at what’s now called Astor Gardens are within a hop, skip and a jump of the new brasserie run by father and son Michelin star chefs Michel and Alain Roux on the site of the former famous Skindles Hotel.

If these apartments were for sale in the normal way, prices would range from £380,000-£515,000.

Instead they are available through the Wooburn Green based Paradigm Housing Association on a part-rent part-buy incentive, a scheme which eventually can lead to 100 per cent ownership for participants.

Here’s how the figures stack up for shared ownership at Taplow.

The first example is for buying the minimum share holding of 40 per cent and paying rent for the remaining 60 per cent.

The second example is for purchasing a 60 per cent stake and paying rent for the outstanding 40 per cent.

In each case the amount needed up front for the five per cent deposit is based on the number of shares being bought for a two bed flat with an open market value of £380,000. The service charge is £100.80 a month regardless of how many shares are owned.

Example 1:

Price to buy 40 per cent share: £152,000 including five per cent deposit of £7,600. Monthly rent for outstanding 60 per cent: £380.

Example 2

Price to buy 60 per cent share: £228.000 including £11.400 for five per cent deposit. Monthly rent for outstanding 40 per cent: £253.34.

Matthew Bailes, Paradigm chief executive says you don’t need to be a first time buyer to qualify for shared ownership but singletons or couples can’t be earning more than £80,000. “Rents on the remaining share are below market rents.

“Our mission is to provide homes for people who would otherwise be priced out of the housing market. We operate across the south east where the average home costs up to 16 times the average salary.”

Rugby player Ellie Rice (pictured) moved into a shared ownership flat last November on a Paradigm scheme in Marlow. It’s one of six at Coleman Court just behind the High Street, a short walk from the river.

The 24 year old who works as an event and sport co-ordinator says: “My partner and I were both living with our parents near Reading and Marlow until we found our flat.

“We both play rugby in Reading so we really wanted to stay in the area but never thought we would be able to live in Marlow where prices are so expensive.”

Ellie didn’t know anything about shared ownership until she met her partner. “At first it did feel a bit odd being able to buy shares in a property but it works really well. We have bought an initial share but the aim is to buy more.”

She added: “It was so easy and quick. We put our deposit down on the flat at the beginning of November and had moved in by the end of the month.”