It’s Crunch Time for Shared Ownership

As Shared Ownership Week draws to a close, Amy Nettleton, assistant development direct for sales and marketing at Aster Group, takes stock of progress made in the sector so far and argues it could provide a solution to filling the gap left behind by Help to Buy.

Despite the ongoing Brexit uncertainty, progress continues to be made in other policy areas. The next phase of the government’s Social Housing Green Paper is expected to land later this month and Shared Ownership has made its way to the fore in the national housing debate.

Last month, Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick announced that the government would review a national model for Shared Ownership to make it easier for people to buy a bigger share in their own home.

Mr Jenrick’s announcement followed calls from his predecessor, James Brokenshire, for a private sector Shared Ownership model – not the first time suggestions of a private model have been proposed but further evidence that Shared Ownership is making its way up the political agenda.

For years we and others in the sector have called for better promotion of Shared Ownership. In the past it has been misunderstood, pitched simply as a bridge to full ownership rather than a product offering security of tenure, whether or not someone ‘staircases’ to owning all the equity in their home. Arguably, support from policymakers also wasn’t as enthusiastic as it could be.

Now, with more enthusiasm from ministers, who have hinted at the model as a potential solution for those excluded from the traditional housing market, now is the time for the sector to do its bit in helping maintain this level of momentum.

Meanwhile, alongside this, there continue to be accusations from the sector, politicians and consumer groups alike that Help to Buy hasn’t fulfilled its purpose. Some claim the scheme has boosted demand in the market but not the provision of affordable housing, and has supported only those who could already afford to buy a property outright.

Whether or not Help to Buy has achieved what its architect, former Chancellor George Osborne, envisioned, its era is now coming to a close as 2023 swiftly approaches. In my view, Shared Ownership has the potential to take its place as the key route to helping people into secure, high-quality affordable housing.

As we know, many people are trapped in expensive private rent agreements, limiting their chances of being able to put away enough money each month towards buying a home. Data released by the Office for National Statistics last year showed that, between 2014 and 2016, 59% of those aged 18 to 29 had no savings set aside.

Crucially, Shared Ownership offers that element of choice that the market currently lacks, helping people who don’t have access to large deposits or who are looking to gradually increase their equity share, whether in large or smaller chunks.

At Aster we have a portfolio of almost 2,500 Shared Ownership homes and we’re planning to boost this to over 5,000 by 2024. Our report last year, Another Way: Part 2, revealed that 62% of people who had bought a stake in a property through Shared Ownership would recommend it to friends or family. Demand is out there.

We need to continue our work so that Shared Ownership is better understood and gets the public attention it needs to help fulfil its purpose and meet the demands of those that really need it. Where the model was once deemed a stepping stone to full ownership, we now need to reflect what’s going on in reality. Only by acknowledging people’s financial circumstances can we move beyond this misconception.

Shared Ownership offers people long-term security without the uncertainty that often comes with renting, as well as the opportunity to own a meaningful equity stake in a property, should they choose to do so. By banging a collective drum as a sector, we can continue to persuade government and policy makers to back the model to offer more people the security of their own home.