WRITTEN BY SUE PHILLIPS (FCCA) – Founder of Shared Ownership Resources launched in 2021
A group of MPS – the Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (LUHC) Committee – has launched an inquiry into shared ownership. They’re interested to know whether shared ownership lives up to the promises made for it. Is it a realistic pathway to full home ownership? Is it affordable? Do shared owners face challenges selling on?
Clive Betts, the Chair of the Committee, says: “We want to explore whether shared ownership is providing the right answer for those people locked out of traditional home ownership and who are hit by rocketing private rents.”
The LUHC Committee has published ‘Terms of Reference’ – a detailed list of questions they’re interested in. Including, for example, whether shared ownership is good value for money? Whether rising inflation is making shared ownership less affordable? Whether the limited number of lenders providing shared ownership mortgages causes problems for shared owners? Obviously, it’s really important that as many shared owners as possible respond, so that the Committee has a detailed picture of what can go wrong (as well as what can go right!). Hopefully, this will help drive meaningful reform.
The deadline is Thursday 14th September, and you can submit evidence here.
Remember you don’t have to respond to all the questions, just the ones that are relevant to you.
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For more information about shared ownership, check out the Shared Ownership Resources website, including the recent report Shared Ownership: The Consumer Perspective.