Shared Ownership

Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 19 Jul 2023 Closed: 28 May 2024 Parliament page
The LUHC’s Committee’s inquiry will examine the challenges associated with shared home ownership schemes, including barriers to achieving full home ownership and whether shared ownership is genuinely an affordable route to owning a home. The Committee is also likely to explore challenges around reselling, affordability issues such as service charges … Read more
17 Recommendations
8 Conclusions
1 Report
2 Oral sessions
4 Letters
2 Events
Activity timeline 10 events
23 May
2024
Report published
28 Mar
2024
Report published
20 Feb
2024
Correspondence
30 Jan
2024
Correspondence
30 Jan
2024
Correspondence
17 Jan
2024
Correspondence
18 Dec
2023
Oral evidence
18 Dec
2023
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
4 Dec
2023
Oral evidence
4 Dec
2023
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 8, Palace of Westminster
Oral evidence sessions 2 sessions
18 Dec 2023
View on parliament.uk
Oral Evidence
Emma Payne · Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities The Baroness Penn · Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
4 Dec 2023
View on parliament.uk
Oral Evidence
Clare Miller · Clarion Dr Alison Wallace · Centre for Housing Policy, University of York Helen Spencer · Great Places Housing Group Oliver Boundy · Anchor Professor Stanimira Milcheva · University College London Steve Collins · Rentplus-UK Sue Phillips · Shared Ownership Resources
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Fifth Report - Shared Ownership HC 61 28 Mar 2024 25 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
5 results
Clear
1 Conclusion Acknowledged
Fifth Report - Shared Ownership
Shared ownership becomes unaffordable due to full repair costs and expensive staircasing.
Shared ownership products can often become unaffordable over time due to having to pay for 100% of repairs and maintenance costs despite only owning a proportion of the property. This is exacerbated by the fact that these service charges can … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledges concerns about the affordability of shared ownership and the disparity in repair periods, pointing to the existing 10-year initial repair period in the new model and ongoing improvements via the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill. It also states it will not consider major changes to the Affordable Homes Programme to address this issue before April 2026 due to potential disruption.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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16 Recommendation Acknowledged
Fifth Report - Shared Ownership
Ensure appropriate advice is readily available for shared owners making significant financial decisions.
It is unacceptable that shared owners are having to make significant financial decisions without appropriate advice being readily available, and we believe the Government must act to remedy this. We also believe that it is unacceptable that shared owners do … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees on the importance of specialist advice and details ongoing work, including mandating key information documents for buyers. However, the response does not explicitly address the committee's call for shared owners to have the same statutory right to leasehold extension as other leaseholders.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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19 Conclusion Acknowledged
Fifth Report - Shared Ownership
New shared ownership leases create unfair two-tier market for older properties.
The changes brought to leases for shared ownership properties delivered under the 2021–2026 Affordable Homes Programme, while well-intended, risk creating an unnecessary and unfair ‘two-tier’ market where shared ownership homes delivered under the previous Affordable Homes Programme are considered less … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledges the concern about a two-tier market, stating it encourages providers to voluntarily offer new model terms but recognises significant practical barriers to broad application. It highlights that the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill will provide a statutory right for shared owners to extend leases, offering a more effective solution.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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22 Recommendation Acknowledged
Fifth Report - Shared Ownership
Update Key Information Documents to clarify Housing Ombudsman role for shared owners.
The Government should ensure that there is more effective signposting to the Housing Ombudsman for shared owners; it should make it clear that the Ombudsman is their port of call for resolving disputes with landlords once internal mechanisms have failed … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees shared owners need effective mechanisms for disputes and highlights existing robust frameworks, recent improvements, and requirements for registered providers to offer accessible information about complaints. It also notes new tenant satisfaction measures and a consultation on information access, but does not explicitly commit to updating Key Information Documents for clearer Ombudsman signposting.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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24 Conclusion Acknowledged
Fifth Report - Shared Ownership
Shared owners face significant difficulty selling shares, often due to building remediation delays.
Shared owners can face considerable difficulty selling shares in their property, which many are prompted to do once rising costs reach unaffordable levels. Many are still waiting on their buildings to be remediated, without which they are legally unable to … Read more
Government Response
The government believes it is right to focus on ensuring people are not unable to sell their homes due to building remediation issues, while encouraging registered providers to consider buying back shares and making clear information on relevant policies available to shared owners.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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Government Response AI assessment · 25 of 17 classified
Accepted 7
Accepted in Part 6
Acknowledged 5
Deferred 2
Rejected 5
Total 17 recs + 8 conclusions
Correspondence 4 letters
20 Feb 2024 To committee Letter from Shared Ownership Resources to the Chair regarding a follow up to oral evidence on shared ownership, dated 13 February 2024
Parliament page
30 Jan 2024 To committee Letter from the Chief Executive of Rentplus to the Chair regarding the Committee’s inquiry into Shared ownership, dated 19 December 2023
Parliament page
30 Jan 2024 To committee Letter from the Minister for Housing and Communities to the Chair regarding the Committee’s inquiry into Shared ownership, dated 24 January 2024
Parliament page
17 Jan 2024 To committee Letter from the Chair to the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Housing and Communities relating to an oral evidence session on shared ownership, dated 17 January 2024
Parliament page