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One of the greatest omissions from October’s Budget was support for first time buyers – in fact we saw the reverse: 5% more stamp duty on properties priced between £300,001 and £500,000 and a freezing of Lifetime ISAs.
And while the government has pledged to invest considerably in affordable housing, every indication to date is that this will be used for social housing for rent, rather than for sale.
In fact in all its housing and planning policy announcements this year – the Labour Party manifesto, the outline of the future Planning and Infrastructure Bill and the revisions to the NPPF in addition to the Budget – Shared Ownership has not been mentioned once.
Shared Ownership is one of the most effective means of first time buyers getting onto the housing ladder and in the context of rising rents, house price and cost of living, demand has never been greater.
Today approximately 202,000 households in England live in Shared Ownership homes but many more would like to. SOWN manages the sale and resale of Shared Ownership properties across the country, and without exception, supply outstrips demand.
In 2025, we believe it is imperative that the government supports first time buyers and others to get onto the property ladder.
Shared Ownership is a great product and there is great demand for it – but more needs to be done at a government level to fully realise this potential.
From my point of view, Shared Ownership already suffers from poor communications – compared, for example to the success of the former Help to Buy scheme. The significant advantage of Help to Buy was government-supported marketing: a dedicated, widely recognised brand with an effective information campaign and website which pointed would-be purchasers in the direction of suitable products. Help to Buy was instantly recognisable by consumers and had the authority and veracity that comes with being government-led.
Shared Ownership, on the other hand, has an uphill struggle with communications. There are many myths around Shared Ownership which need to be addressed. For example that Shared Ownership is only available to people with low incomes or those on social housing lists; that you can never fully own a property through Shared Ownership; that Shared Ownership properties are of inferior quality to properties sold on the open market; that it’s difficult to sell a Shared Ownership property, or that Shared Ownership is only available for flats… and the list goes on.
While I don’t necessarily advocate a return of Help to Buy as a means of addressing the housing crisis, I believe that the government should allocate to Shared Ownership providers some of the resources that had previously been invested in Help to Buy. By increasing awareness, trust and desirability, the Shared Ownership sector can continue to grow, and more than compensate for the absence of Help to Buy.
Peter Hawley is a director at SOWN, (part of Leaders Romans Group)
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