Shared Ownership Valuation

Shared ownership is the UK government approved scheme allowing first-time buyers to step into the housing ladder by purchasing and owning a set percentage of shares in the property. Rather than purchasing the property at the full market value, with a shared ownership scheme you can purchase just a share ranging from 25% to 75%.

Particularly in and around London with high property prices, a lot of first-time buyers are priced out of the housing market and shared ownership can provide you with an affordable entry into the housing market.

When you purchase a share in the property, the remainder of the shares is owned by a housing association. You will be paying the mortgage on the shares you purchase and subsidised rental payments on the remainder of shares which is owned by a registered social provider or housing association.

If you are looking at staircasing your shared ownership home we suggest that you initially speak with your financial advisor or mortgage broker. Once they have outlined how much additional shares you can potentially afford to buy – the second step would then be to instruct RICS qualified valuer to provide a market valuation report.

If you are looking at selling your home then the first step would be to instruct chartered surveyors firm to provide a valuation report.

Upon receiving your instruction, it is always helpful if you can provide us with specific information on your property such as:

• lease length
• annual service charge
• ground rent
• rent payable to a housing association
• the current percentage of shares owned

And additional information which surveyor might require on an ad-hoc basis.

We conduct a signifncant number of property valuations for shared ownership purposes and the process normally is as described below:

• Our team member who is a chartered surveyor and registered valuer will inspect your home
• During the inspection, we will overview the internal condition, location and amenities
• We will take internal and external photographs and measure your home
• After inspection, we will carry out appropriate research, collect comparable evidence
• We will write a valuation report which contains a detailed description and comparable evidence
• Then the completed valuation report will be sent to you via email

Yes, we are fully compliant with the standards set by housing associations and RICS, however, some housing associations might have different requirements in terms of which RICS regulated surveyors you can use. Some might require that you only use chartered surveyors from their panel list.

If you are ever in doubt you should seek confirmation from your housing association whether you can instruct RICS regulated surveyor outside their panel list.

The valuation reports produced for shared ownership staircasing or sale purposes is initially valid for 3 months. It can be further extended for an additional of 3 months to allow you to complete the sale or staircase your home. In total, you will have 6 months period before you are needed to take further action.

If after 6 months you have neither sold nor progressed with staircasing your home you will need to obtain a desktop valuation report. With the desktop valuation, we do not need to reinspect your property and we will remotely assess the current market value of your home.

• Clarion Housing
• Catalyst
• The Guinness Partnership
• L&Q
• Network Homes
• Notting Hill Genesis
• Optivo
• Peabody
• Riverside
• Southern Housing
• Hyde Homes
• Wandell

If you are with HA which is not on our list, please do get in touch and we will check if we can help.