If you own your home through Shared Ownership, you may have the opportunity to buy additional shares in your property over time. This is known as staircasing and allows you to gradually increase the percentage of your home that you own. As your ownership share increases, the amount of rent you pay to us reduces.
Additional shares can usually be purchased in stages, often called tranches, depending on the terms of your lease. Some homeowners choose to continue staircasing until they own 100% of their home, which is known as final staircasing. Once you own 100% of your property, you will no longer pay rent to us.
The minimum share you can purchase will depend on the terms of your Shared Ownership lease, so it’s important to check this before starting the process.
Benefits of buying more shares
Pay less rent
The more of your home you own, the less rent you will pay on the remaining share. For example, if you own 75% of your home, you will only pay rent on the remaining 25%. If you staircase to 100% ownership, you will no longer pay any rent to us.
Benefit from any increase in your home’s value
If your property increases in value over time, owning a larger share means you may benefit more financially when you decide to sell your home.
Greater flexibility when selling
If you own 100% of your home, you can usually sell it freely on the open market. If you own less than 100%, your lease may include a landlord’s nomination period. During this period, we will market your home through our Sales Agent before it can be advertised more widely. Depending on your lease, this period can last up to 4 or 8 weeks.
Benefit from home improvements
If you own 100% of your property, you will usually receive the full benefit of any increase in value resulting from eligible home improvements when you sell your home.
Before deciding whether to staircase, you should also consider the costs involved. These may include a valuation fee, legal fees and other associated expenses.
To help you understand the process, we’ve created a Guide to Staircasing. The guide explains the benefits of staircasing, outlines the steps involved and answers some frequently asked questions.
Read our Guide to Staircasing here: A guide to Staircasing
If you’re considering buying more shares in your home or would like to discuss your options, our Sales Team will be happy to help. Please get in touch if you have any questions.