The G15 Residents’ Group (G15RG) has written to the Housing Minister to support an innovative proposal aimed at making it easier for shared owners to staircase to full home ownership.
The letter highlights the experiences of shared owners across London – many of whom entered the scheme believing it would provide a realistic pathway to owning their home outright. However, rising house prices, higher mortgage costs and wider affordability pressures have made staircasing increasingly difficult for many households.
The G15RG argues that while shared ownership continues to play an important role in helping people onto the housing ladder, the model needs to evolve to reflect today’s housing market.
The Group has backed a proposal for a revised shared ownership mortgage offer, which it believes could improve affordability for existing shared owners while unlocking billions of pounds of housing association equity for reinvestment in new social and affordable homes.
In the letter, the G15RG calls on government to work with residents, housing associations, lenders and Homes England to pilot the proposal, helping to assess its impact on staircasing rates and the delivery of new affordable housing.
Pamela Newman, Co-Vice Chair of the G15 Residents’ Group and a shared owner, said:
“Shared ownership gave me hope. I still have that hope, but every year the finish line moves further away.”
The G15 Residents’ Group believes the proposal represents an opportunity to restore confidence in shared ownership by making the aspiration of full home ownership more achievable for existing residents while supporting the delivery of more affordable homes for future generations.