Behind closed doors...

Behind closed doors...

It's the stuff of first-time buyers' dreams. A three-bed apartment in an up-and-coming area just north of London's King's Cross. And it has been reserved as an "affordable" home for a "key worker" who might otherwise find it impossible to buy. But then the heart sinks. This "affordable" home has a price tag of £435,000 - or more than 15 times the average income of a nurse or firefighter.

The apartments pictured on this page are just a selection of homes being offered to key workers, and other first-time buyers, in London through the government's new build home buy scheme. Most are one-bed apartments, and although the majority of buyers will only be purchasing a quarter share, the stipulated minimum income levels put them out of the reach of most nurses and other key workers.

The aim of the government's flagship scheme is to enable those priced out of the property market to buy a share of a property - usually between 25% and 75%. Key workers are given priority. Next up are other first-time buyers on local authority housing lists. The scheme is available across the UK, but is predominantly focused on London in a bid to halt the exodus of key workers out of the capital in search of cheaper housing.

Last week, Guardian Money visited the Affordable New Homes Show in London's Covent Garden to see just how affordable were the homes on offer.

We expected to find only a few homes available, probably in less-than-salubrious areas of the capital,.....continued below

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being fought over by desperate buyers. So we were somewhat surprised at the hard-sell approach being adopted by many housing associations and property developers.

Representatives of housing associations fought to get their properties noticed by the 2,500 people the organisers said attended the event.

Within minutes of entering the swish hall, a man grabbed me and asked whether I had ever considered living in Kew - one of west London's smartest and most affluent areas.

Two minutes later and I was being invited to buy a (minimum) 30% in a one or two-bed flat near the Thames that was estimated to cost either £275,000 or £375,000 for the larger of the two.

If I couldn't wait until the building's completion 2008, they had some very trendy looking properties coming up sale in Plough Lane, Wimbledon where one bed flats start at £202,000. The fact that it required a minimum income of £26,000 to buy just a one-third share of a one-bed flat seemed to be almost a secondary factor.

And this set the tone for the whole show. Countless housing associations vied with each other to offer a range of flats (and they are virtually all flats, not houses) all over the capital. Most of the properties on offer cost between £200,000 and £300,000, with buyers asked to fork out £80,000 for the minimum share. Most require a minimum income of £25,000.

What strikes a visitor most is that it is evident property developers have decided there is money in shared ownership schemes. There's free pens and chocolates on offer, and the free video shows explaining how shared ownership are doing brisk business. But after a lot of searching, we did at least manage to find one property on sale below £100,000. Swan housing association is offering a one-bed flat in Riverside Heights in Tilbury, Essex for £92,500. You can buy a 40% share and need an income of £14,500, plus a £4,000 down payment.