LUHC Shared Ownership Inquiry

The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee (LUHC) is currently conducting an inquiry into Shared Ownership, which will examine the challenges associated with shared home ownership schemes, including barriers to achieving full home ownership and whether shared ownership is a genuinely affordable route to home ownership. The Committee has said that it is also likely to explore the challenges around reselling, affordability issues such as service charges and maintenance responsibility, and questions around mortgage availability and the limited range of providers in the context of shared ownership.

The committee has issued a call for evidence on various points, with the aim of making the inquiry informed "by a diverse range of voices." Within its call for evidence, the committee has listed numerous questions for consideration, such as whether there is a lack of mortgage providers for Shared Ownership properties and whether the Shared Ownership and Right to Shared Ownership schemes provide good value for money for the potential users.

There are also questions that extend beyond shared ownership, such as what more should be done to support first time buyers and those from lower household incomes in terms of getting them onto the property ladder. This is not only a good opportunity for housing providers to put forward their opinions and concerns surrounding shared ownership schemes, but it is also an opportunity for the wider population trying to get onto the property ladder, many of whom are stuck in perpetual tenancies, to make proposals. It will certainly be interesting to see the published submissions and whether this inquiry will bear any changes in government policy.

The call for evidence can be accessed here: Call for Evidence - Committees - UK Parliament. Evidence can be submitted until 14 September 2023.