If you live in one of our shared ownership homes, you can choose to buy more shares in the property at any time - it’s called staircasing. You only pay rent on the share that you don’t own, so the more shares you buy, the less rent you pay.

We caught up with William and Rachel who’ve recently staircased their home in Farnham to find out how it went.

“We staircased up to 100% so we now own the whole house and don’t pay any rent - it’s a great feeling! We couldn’t afford to buy the house outright at first, so our plan was always to buy more shares. It’s the same house, but it definitely feels different now that we own it all!

“We loved the house and the shared ownership scheme gave us the chance to move in and buy more shares when it suited us, so it worked out perfectly for us.

“The big benefit for us is the financial side of things. We’re now paying more of our mortgage off each month rather than a percentage going on rent. And I like that we can now work on the house without having to get permission.

“The process with VIVID was simple - it was a case of contacting them to get the ball rolling. From there we worked with mortgage lenders, solicitors and financial advisors. My advice to anyone thinking about staircasing is to use a solicitor that has experience of staircasing. Shared ownership mortgages have extra requirements from standard mortgages, so it’s best to use a company with the right knowledge.” 

Want to find out more?

Contact us and we’ll send you our staircasing guide.

Click here to visit our sales website and view some of our new shared ownership homes.