It’s true that Shared Ownership provides thousands of aspiring homeowners with a more affordable route to home ownership, offering lower deposits and greater accessibility. But for many, purchasing a home with Shared Ownership is only the start of their journey, with staircasing playing a key role in helping them achieve their dreams to own their home outright.
So, what is staircasing?
Staircasing is the process through which you (our shared owners) increase your share in your home, providing you with a route to outright home ownership that might otherwise have felt out of reach.
There are no fixed timescales with staircasing, meaning you can increase your share as and when your individual financial circumstances allow. Many shared owners choose to staircase at the time that their mortgage comes up for renewal, avoiding re-financing costs, or in the Autumn months, so that they can complete their transaction before the annual rent review in April.
Typically, our shared owners will staircase by a minimum of 10% at a time, although this can vary depending on individual lease conditions, so we’d encourage you to check in with our friendly Staircasing and Resales team when you’re thinking about staircasing your home. They will be happy to talk you through the specifics of your lease and assist you throughout your staircasing journey.
Why not use our online staircasing calculator to work out the cost of buying more shares in your home? Available here.
What are the benefits of staircasing?
Purchasing additional shares in your home through staircasing can provide a range of benefits, including:
Paying less rent
The more of your home you own, the less rent you pay to us, with no rent payable once you reach 100% ownership.
Increasing returns
If your home increases in value, you’ll benefit from a greater share of those increases.
Benefiting from home improvements
You can increase the profit you earn from any major home improvements you carry out if you choose to sell.
And, if you choose to purchase 100% of your home:
Selling on the open market
In most cases, once you own 100% of your home you can sell it on the open market using an estate agent of your choice, and you’ll benefit from any profit made.
How do I staircase?
The process itself is simple. After assessing your affordability, you arrange an independent valuation of your property in liaison with our Staircasing & Resales team. You then share the valuation with us, and we’ll confirm what the additional share will cost and how much of the property you will then own. The remainder of the process, such as instructing solicitors and completing, runs along the same lines as the purchase of the initial share.
To read our staircasing guide, click here.
For a list of brokers who can help assess your affordability, click here.
For a list of RICS registered surveyors, click here.
What are my options?
There’s a couple of ways you can increase your share of your home with us, you can:
Buy a little more at a time
You can buy additional shares in your home in stages, typically in minimum increments of 10%.
Buy all the remaining shares in your home
If you buy all the shares in your home, you’ll own it outright.
If you purchased a share of your home under the new Shared Ownership model you will also have the option to staircase at 1% per year for the first 15 years from the date that the property was purchased.
Keen to find out more?
Email us: staircasing@sovereign.org.uk
Call us: 0300 330 0718
Use our staircasing calculator by clicking here