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Shared ownership: NHF welcomes changes as industry reacts
Housing associations have welcomed the government’s announcement that it will move to allow people to buy homes in 1% chunks through shared ownership.
Housing secretary Robert Jenrick unveiled a consultation on the proposals this morning as part of a package aimed at boosting housebuilding and homeownership.
Current rules impose a 10% minimum on shared ownership staircasing.
Catherine Ryder, director of policy and research at the National Housing Federation (NHF), said: “We very much welcome the news that the government is looking at ways to make staircasing in shared ownership easier.
“Shared ownership is the best route into homeownership for people who can’t afford to buy outright and housing associations, who built 14,000 shared ownership homes last year, are committed to working with the government to continue improving it.”
The NHF is due to launch a new national advertising campaign in October to raise the profile of shared ownership.
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Helen Evans, chair of the G15 group of large London housing associations and chief executive of Network Homes, said: “We welcome the debate on shared ownership and we will be giving a detailed response to the government’s consultation.
“Some of the proposals mirror the recommendations made by the G15 in response to the Social Housing Green Paper, based on a successful model already adopted by Metropolitan Thames Valley which gives shared owners the option to staircase in increments of 1%.
“We fully support low cost home ownership but more genuinely affordable rented homes are also needed.”
Kush Rawal, director of residential investment at Metropolitan Thames Valley, said: "We see great potential for this successful approach to be rolled out nationally by housing associations to make increasing equity quicker, cheaper and more hassle-free to shared owners.
"We stand ready to work with government to share our experience on this, and other measures that need to be taken to address the affordability crisis”.
Amy Nettleton, assistant development director at 30,000-home landlord Aster Group, added: “It’s heartening to see the government recognise shared ownership’s place in the national housing debate. We stand ready to do what we can to support the consultation.”
However, influential housing charity Shelter said that the announcement was “worrying”.
Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “Pinning his hopes on yet another complicated housing scheme is a worrying start for the new housing secretary of state.
“The government must realise that unworkable schemes, laden down with admin costs, are the wrong priority at any time – and are woefully inadequate when this country is facing the current housing emergency.”
“If the new government is serious about getting to grips with our housing crisis then it must follow through on its commitment to get building.”
In an interview with Inside Housing last year, Ms Neate echoed this by saying that more shared ownership was not the answer to solving the housing crisis.
Labour also attached the proposals as “meaningless”. Shadow housing minister Sarah Jones said: “Tinkering with the details of shared ownership is meaningless when lack of investment from government means low-cost homes for ownership simply aren’t getting built.
“The Tories have failed to deliver the low-cost homes we need to get people on the housing ladder. Just 1% of all homeowners have accessed shared ownership, and the number of these and other low-cost homes being built each year has almost halved since its peak under Labour.
“The Conservatives’ ‘affordable’ housing is increasingly out of reach for people on lower incomes. She added: “Labour will introduce a new affordability standard, with revolutionary new ‘FirstBuy Homes’: discounted homes with mortgage payments set at no more than a third of incomes.”
Update: at 12.56pm a comment from Helen Evans was added to the story.
