If you’ve dreamt of owning a house abroad, but have so far been held back for financial reasons, or want a touch of luxury but can’t quite afford it, fractional ownership could be your answer.

It’s one of the main buzzwords in the property world right now and hails from the US, where it’s already successful, but what exactly does fractional ownership mean and what can it do for you? Put simply, fractional ownership basically means buying a share in a property.

You get to enjoy all the benefits of the property, usually have a set number of weeks per year when you can stay at the property, and share it with the other owners. The title deed is divided into fractions – depending on the property, these can be anything from a quarter to a twelfth - and this gives you the right to stay at the property for the equivalent fraction of the year. A company runs the property, ensuring that everyone pays a maintenance fee each year for the upkeep, and all you have to do is enjoy staying at your property.

It may sound like timeshare with a different name, but it’s not. Unlike timeshares, you own your fraction of the property outright, so you can sell it at any time if you wish. One of the benefits of buying in this way is that you’re spared the hard work of dealing with the usual buying process that accompanies foreign property purchases. It can be a good way to get a foot on the foreign property ladder and it also offers you the chance to buy into properties that you’d otherwise be unable to afford on your own.

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