Two major landlords sign deal with shared ownership platform after pilot shows 50% increase in staircasing

The complex nature of the shared ownership and staircasing process was one of the reasons MPs called for “urgent” reforms to the product back in March, after the wider inquiry found uncapped service charges, rising rents and unfair maintenance costs have made it unaffordable for many.

In a release, Stairpay highlighted how the number of first-time buyers fell to a 10-year low of 293,000 last year, underscoring what the firm described as “the urgent need for innovative housing solutions”.

Floris ten Nijenhuis, founder of Stairpay, said the platform “was born out of the desire to solve the challenges faced by first-time buyers looking to get onto the property ladder”.

He added: “The UK has the largest shared ownership market globally, but has challenges to address. Our partnerships with Places for People, Clarion and Share to Buy signify the collective intent to apply a data-driven approach to significantly improve the shared ownership experience for both residents, housing associations and other stakeholders which will see more people realise their dream of full homeownership.”

Michelle Wood, director of homeownership at Places for People, said: “As an organisation our ultimate goal is to ensure everyone has somewhere to call home. Shared ownership is a great way of supporting people into homeownership in a way that works best for them, and we are committed to doing all we can to help them throughout the process of owning more, and eventually all, of their home as soon as possible. 

“So, we are excited to implement Stairpay’s technology to make the process of buying more equity in their home a more streamlined and automated process, which we hope and believe will lead to more of our customers buying more equity in their property.”

News of this partnership comes as possession proceedings by a large housing association over rent arrears were set aside by a county court earlier this month after the landlord failed to serve a notice to pay rent to a shared ownership leaseholder.