Buying more shares in your shared ownership home

There’s no obligation to buy more shares and there are no restrictions on the number of times you can staircase.

In general you must have bought your shared ownership home at least three months ago, unless your lease says you should wait a specific amount of time before staircasing.

After that you can staircase as and when you can afford it, but we recommend you don't buy less than 10% at a time due to the costs involved.

If your home was built and/or initially sold after 1 April 2006 you can staircase as many times as you like, at least 10% shares, until you own the maximum share allowed by your lease.

If your home was built and/or initially sold before 1 April 2006 you have a maximum of three times in which to staircase to outright ownership, in at least 20% shares.

A small number of Home Group homes can’t be bought outright (so you wouldn’t be able to staircase to 100% ownership), but any limitations on the number of shares you can buy will be detailed in your lease.

You’ll also need to pay any arrears, and continue paying rent and/or service charges to Home Group before the sale of shares completes.

Also, staircasing is not permitted if the request to staircase is not signed by all of those who originally bought the property.

The more you own of your home, the less rent you’ll pay. But remember, there are other costs and processes associated with staircasing that you should be aware of.

Costs for staircasing include:

• valuation fees - charged by the RICS surveyor and range upwards of £250+ VAT
• legal expenses - you will require the services of a professional solicitor. The charge covers the professional fees and disbursements. From £350 +VAT
• mortgage fees - you may be required to pay a mortgage arrangement fee and the lenders valuation fee
• stamp duty - you may need to pay Stamp Duty. Please discuss this with your solicitor

You could use savings, remortgage your home with your current provider, or get a new mortgage with another provider.

Before you staircase, remember to speak to your mortgage provider, an independent financial advisor and your solicitor to make sure you can definitely afford it.

Sellling back shares is called downward staircasing and is considered in exceptional circumstances only. Find out more on our downward staircasing pages.

There are lots of organisations that offer independent advice, including The Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE).

All providers who are authorised and regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) can be found at register.fca.org.uk