How to staircase in shared ownership

What is Staircasing?

The benefits of buying with Shared Ownership is you can get on the property ladder sooner with a smaller deposit by buying a share in your home. You can then buy additional shares in your home as you save more money over the years until you own 100% of the property. This is known as staircasing.

Example: If you initially bought a 25% share in your home and paid rent on the remaining 75%, in a few years time, you may be in a position to buy another 25% share when you have saved more money. This would mean you would own a total 50% share in your property and pay rent on the remaining 50%. 

Steps to staircasing with Square Roots:

1. If you are interested in staircasing, you  can get an idea of how much your home is worth via Rightmove or Zoopla. The price you pay for extra shares is based on the market value of your home at that time. When you have an estimation you can decide if you are happy to continue.
2. Make sure you have accounted for the additional costs involved when you are looking to staircase, such as a valuation fee and solicitor fees. However, these shouldn't be as much as when you bought your first share.
3. You should notify us at [email protected] of your intention to staircase and you will be put in touch with the Sales Team who will check your lease and talk you through the next steps. You'll need to instruct an independent RICs-qualified valuer, we can help recommend one from our experienced panel of surveyors, and speak to a financial advisor about what you can afford. Square Roots will need to approve the valuation before you can proceed.
4. Once approved you will need to take a full financial assessment, have appointed your solicitor and make your mortgage application.
5. Once you solicitor has completed all legal work – you will have successfully increased your share in your home or now own 100% of your home!