The owners of the Horizons and Cottages resort and the Coral Beach and Tennis Club have announced plans to offer fractional ownership of proposed new luxury cottages.

Rumours have been rife that the Wardman family has been planning to sell off the two long-established cottage colonies. But George Wardman (pictured) yesterday dismissed that claim and told that a modernisation plan was in the works.

Only last month planning applications were filed to build ten new cottages at Coral Beach and eight at Horizons. And Mr. Wardman said the new accommodations were earmarked for fractional ownership.

?It?s not true that we?re selling up, but that rumour is very persistent,? Mr. Wardman said. ?I think the confusion must have arisen from our plans to offer fractionals at Horizons and Coral Beach.?

Fractional ownership is a concept rapidly gaining in popularity in high-end tourism. In Bermuda, the Tucker?s Point Club was the first resort to offer fractional ownership villas, while Ariel Sands, the Wyndham Hotel, the Fairmont Southampton and Coco Reefs have also announced plans for shared ownership schemes.

Basically fractional ownership allows people to buy a share in a holiday home. The arrangements usually divide the ownership into fourths, eighths, or 13ths, with each owner having an equal number of days a year to use the unit. In many schemes fractional owners can rent out the accommodation if they choose not to spend all their allotted time in it.

It is similar to timeshare but tends to be considerably more expensive, as more luxurious accommodations and longer time periods are involved.

?It?s the more modern model for resorts and it provides ownership and investment opportunities for our customers,? Mr. Wardman said. ?In most new resort developments we are seeing a residential component financing the hotel construction.

?It works very well, because, as well as shared ownership, you have access to all the facilities and services of a resort, like room service, babysitting, tennis, golf and swimming.

?Our original fractional model will be marketed to our established guest base, whether members of Coral Beach or past long-term guests at Horizons.

?We are talking about brand new cottages, almost all on hitherto undeveloped land, although there is one cottage on the sand dunes at Coral Beach that will undergo a major redevelopment and be turned into two fractional units.

?These will be very high-end ? the cottages will have 2,400 square feet of living space, more than the 2,000 square feet fractional units they have at Tucker?s Points. And ours will be stand-alone cottages as opposed to being in ?pods?.?

Mr. Wardman said the project was currently on hold, awaiting an announcement from Government on rules for fractionals and specifically how large a share in a property the co-owners will be able to buy.

The plans for Horizons, submitted to the Planning Department by Peppercorn Development Ltd., are for eight new luxury cottages. They will have two floors above ground featuring a pair of en suite bedrooms with the master bedroom including a balcony, and the cottages will also have a basement with multiple storage rooms.

It is proposed to build the eight cottages in the northern corner of the site which will entail a slight relocation of one of the Horizon Golf Course tee boxes.

Ten luxury, two-storey cottages are in the plans for Coral Beach. If given approval it will entail the demolition of a number of old sheds and the ?Stowaways? building. The proposed cottages will have a basement with various storage rooms, a ground floor featuring living space and an upper floor with two en suite bedrooms.

Twelve additional car park spaces and an access road will also be created, and a number of small ancillary buildings put in place.

Earlier this year the growing trend of fractional ownership holiday units was discussed at the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Investment Conference, when delegates heard that fractional owners can generate wealth for the local economy, shopping and eating locally and, having an ownership right and taking a sense of pride in the local community as well as being repeat visitors.