Staircasing

 As a leaseholder of a shared ownership property bought either new, as a resale or via social homebuy, you can, if you wish buy further shares of your property. This process is known as “Staircasing”, enabling you to own a greater proportion of your home. The greater the share you buy of your home, the less rent you pay to your landlord. If you Staircase to 100% you become an outright owner and pay no rent.

You will need to check your lease for the specific detail on when you can staircase and by how much as these differ based on the date the lease was initially granted but generally this is in 5-10% multiples.

The price you pay for the share will be determined by a Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) valuation which you the leaseholder will have to pay for. This valuation will determine the current full market value of your home to which the share price is determined. This could be more or less than the initial share you bought depending on the property market.

The valuation is valid for 3months, and your purchase of the share must happen within the timeframe. It is therefore worthwhile talking to one of our friendly and professional mortgage advisors before considering staircasing to review your finances and ensure together we can secure you additional mortgage borrowing if you need to.

From April 2021 as a result of the Governments Social Housing White Paper reforms new shared ownership leases will be issued to homes built with Government funding from this date. In these leases, you will be able to buy shares in your property previously, or you can buy 1% each year for the initial 15years. Your landlord will write to you each year with the price to buy this share which will be determined by the House Price Index for the relevant property type classification calculated by the Office of National Statistics and published by the Land Registry by the local authority.

Our regular mortgage health checks will benefit you when considering staircasing or other personal goals you may have.