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
2 Recommendation Rejected
Fifth Report - Shared Ownership
Explore implications of changing shared ownership lease terms for proportionate service charges.
The Government should as a matter of urgency explore the implications of changing the terms of shared ownership leases delivered under current and previous iterations of the Affordable Homes Programme so that shared owners only ever have to pay service … Read more
Government Response
The government rejects changing shared ownership lease terms for existing homes to ensure proportionate service charges, citing potential disruption and their focus on current legislative priorities. They will not consider major changes to the Affordable Homes Programme before its conclusion in April 2026.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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3 Recommendation Rejected
Fifth Report - Shared Ownership
Collect and publish evidence to assess Rent to Buy and shared ownership viability and staircasing trends.
Rent to Buy may represent a better value for money product than shared ownership, but there is insufficient evidence to come to a firm judgement on this at present. Both Rent to Buy and Shared Ownership as affordable home ownership … Read more
Government Response
The government dismisses the urgent assessment of Rent to Buy vs. shared ownership, stating their similarity under AHP and inappropriateness for private schemes. While it has adjusted data collection for staircasing and will review publishing it, it rejects using this data to directly inform the proportion of homes in the next Affordable Homes Programme.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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17 Recommendation Rejected
Fifth Report - Shared Ownership
Update Homes England Capital Funding Guide to require specialist advice teams for shared owners.
We urge Homes England to update its Capital Funding Guide for shared ownership to specify that providers should only be selling shared ownership properties on the condition they set up and maintain specialist teams of professionals who can provide accurate, … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees on the importance of specialist advice, noting existing information documents and ongoing work. However, it rejects the recommendation for Homes England to mandate specialist teams via the Capital Funding Guide, stating it's not something they expect to enforce, and notes existing sector-led forums for best practice sharing.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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23 Recommendation Rejected
Fifth Report - Shared Ownership
Update tenant satisfaction measures to include shared owners' satisfaction with repairs and maintenance.
We welcome the Government’s confirmation that the Regulator is preparing to introduce a new, proactive consumer regulation regime. However, for the next round of tenant satisfaction data collection, the Regulator must update the measures to include satisfaction with repairs and … Read more
Government Response
The government rejects the recommendation to include satisfaction with repairs and maintenance for shared owners in the next round of TSMs, stating shared owners are responsible for internal repairs and changes cannot be made for the current collection year. It defers potential future changes to a comprehensive review at an appropriate point.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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25 Recommendation Rejected
Fifth Report - Shared Ownership
Require providers to buy back shares from shared owners unable to sell due to remediation.
The Government should either require providers to buy back shares from shared owners in situations where they are trapped and unable to sell shares due to building remediation issues, or if not, set out the reasons why it has decided … Read more
Government Response
The government rejects mandating providers to buy back shares from shared owners, stating it would lead to unintended consequences and is a commercial decision for providers. Instead, it encourages voluntary buyback and transparency about existing buyback policies.
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