Priced out of the market by the rollercoaster ride taken by land prices? A US scheme coming to Sydney offers a chance to cut the cost of buying a home by up to half.

Sydney home buyers are to be offered the chance to purchase at least part of what they really want - they will be able to buy the roof over their heads but not the ground under their feet.

That, as the American experience has shown (see graph above), can halve the price of a home.

Schemes in the US similar to the newly created, Bondi-based, Waratah Community Land Trust Association have halved the cost of buying a home, but the biggest obstacle to getting so-called community land trusts up and running is acquiring suitable properties in the first place, exponents admit.