Staircasing
Thinking about buying more shares of your home? Here's where to start.
All shared owners will have the opportunity to buy more shares in their home over time. We call this ‘staircasing’. It’s like an optional extra to being a shared owner.
You don’t have to buy more shares, but you absolutely can. You can usually buy as many shares as you like (as long as they’re affordable for you).
Unless you staircase to 100% ownership, you’ll continue to pay rent to us on the percentage you don’t own. But, the more shares you own, the less rent you pay to us. Win-win!
Before you buy your new shares, we’ll let you know how this impacts your monthly payments. But you can also use this handy tool provided by Share to Buy.
Staircasing
Here's how it works
Looking for the quick version? Here’s our Guide to Staircasing.
Much like buying your first shares of your home, you’ll need the help of an Independent Mortgage Advisor (IMA), a mortgage broker and a Solicitor.
We’ll also ask you to get a RICS valuation to confirm how much your home is worth. This is valid for three months, and we’ll aim to have the whole process wrapped up within this time. You can help the transaction to go through faster by using a Solicitor who specialises in Shared Ownership resales.
1% staircasing
If you bought a home as part of the Affordable Homes Programme 2021-26, you’ll be able to staircase 1% each year (for up to 15 years), with no administration fees, Solicitors or RICS Survey. This also means no additional lending or mortgage fees. You’ll still have the option to staircase from 5% if and when you’re ready.
Not sure if you qualify for 1% staircasing? Just get in touch with our Post Sales team and they’ll check if you have the right type of lease. We’ll then be able to send you an Additional Percentage Value Notice. This tells you how much your 1% share will cost you.
The value of your 1% will be based on the current value of your home, plus how much that’s increased by the UK House Price Index. If you’re happy with this, you just need to send us an email to confirm, and we’ll get things started.
If you don’t agree with the value we’ve worked out, you can choose to get a RICS valuation. Once everything’s agreed, we’ll send you a Memorandum of Staircasing to confirm your purchase, and we’ll agree a date for you to pay for your new share.
Buying 100% shares of your home
In nine out of ten cases, our shared owners have leases which mean they are able to staircase to 100% ownership of their home. There may be other restrictions in your lease to be aware of, so it’s best to pop a message to our Post Sales team and an IMA to find out your best route to 100% ownership.
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