Shared owner information

Shared Ownership is a government-backed scheme designed to help people who cannot afford to buy a suitable home outright.

It’s often described as part-buy, part-rent:

• You buy a share of your home (usually between 10% and 75%)

• You pay rent to Citizen on the share you don’t own

• You’re an owner-occupier and hold a lease on the property
  
  

Many people choose Shared Ownership as a way to get onto the housing ladder, with the option to buy more shares in the future.

Benefits of Shared Ownership

• A lower deposit and mortgage compared to buying outright

• The opportunity to increase your share over time (known as staircasing)

• More security than private renting

• The chance to benefit if your home increases in value

Things to consider

• You’ll still pay rent on the share you don’t own

• You’re responsible for 100% of service charges and ground rent, where they apply

• There are rules around improvements, subletting and selling

• Staircasing and selling can involve extra costs

• Mortgage options may be more limited

• Property values can go down as well as up

We believe it’s important to be open about both the advantages and the responsibilities, so you can make informed decisions.

If you’re exploring Shared Ownership, whether it’s a brand new home or a resale, we have detailed guidance to help you.

Eligibility at a glance

Shared Ownership is usually available if:

• Your household income is £80,000 or less (or £90,000 or less in London)

• You cannot afford to buy a suitable home on the open market

• You have a good credit history and enough savings for a deposit (usually 5–10% of the share you’re buying)

• You can afford the ongoing costs of owning a home

Existing homeowners may still be eligible, but you’ll normally need to be selling your current home and show that it doesn’t meet your needs.

How to buy

We explain the full buying process on these pages:

• How to buy a home with us
  
  

• Buy a home through Shared Ownership
  
  

These pages cover everything from finding a home and affordability checks, through to reserving, legal work, mortgages and getting your keys.

Once you’ve bought your home, Shared Ownership works a little differently from renting or owning outright. Understanding your responsibilities can help you avoid surprises later on.

As a Shared Owner, you are responsible for repairs and maintenance inside your home (known as your demise). This applies even if you own a smaller share, such as 25%.

For flats:

• Citizen (or the Freeholder/Managing Agent) is responsible for the building structure and communal areas

• The cost of this work is shared between homes and charged through your service charge, as set out in your lease

This is often seen as one of the biggest disadvantages of Shared Ownership, so it’s important to budget for repairs and ongoing costs.

Following a successful insurance tender, Protector Insurance became your new buildings insurer from 1 April 2025.

You should already have received a letter confirming your premium for 2025/26, along with a summary of what your cover includes.

Lower premiums and reduced excess

We’re pleased to share some positive news.

On average, premiums have reduced by around 40%, and the excess for escape of water claims has also dropped from £500 to £350. This means you’ll be less out of pocket if you ever need to make a claim.

When you receive your actual accounts as a leaseholder for the year ending 31 March 2026, you’ll also see a credit applied to the buildings insurance element of your service charge.

These savings are based on an average, so individual property premiums may vary slightly.

If you need to make a claim, you can contact Protector Insurance:

• Phone: 0161 274 9077 (Monday to Friday, 9am–5pm)
• Email: claims@protectorinsurance.co.uk
• Website: Protector Insurance

While buildings insurance covers the structure of your home, it doesn’t protect your personal belongings. That’s where contents insurance comes in.

Thistle Tenant Risks offers the My Home Contents Insurance Scheme, which can help cover your belongings against events like theft, fire, water damage, and other common household risks.

Find out more about contents insurance.

If you’d like some guidance, our Advice Team is always happy to help. You can reach them by calling 0300 790 6555.

Staircasing is the process of buying additional shares in your Shared Ownership home.

Why people staircase

• Reduce the rent you pay each month

• Increase your equity in the property

• Work towards owning 100% of your home

How staircasing works

• You’ll usually need a valuation from an independent RICS surveyor (at your cost)

• You’ll need to arrange funding, often through a mortgage or savings

• Some homes have restrictions on how much you can staircase, especially in rural or protected areas

New Shared Ownership model

For many new-build homes sold from around 2022 onwards:

• You may be able to staircase in 1% increments each year for the first 15 years

• Smaller purchases may not need a full valuation and have reduced fees

Your lease will confirm which rules apply to your home.

Shared Ownership is designed to help people live in their own home. As a result, subletting is only allowed in exceptional circumstances and requires Citizen’s written permission.

We can’t provide a fixed list of what counts as exceptional, but we will consider applications individually. Examples may include short-term work placements or secondments away from home.

If you sublet:

• You become a landlord and must meet all legal responsibilities

• You’ll need your mortgage lender’s consent

• You may need a licence from your local authority (for example, for HMOs)
  
  

Subletting without permission is a serious breach of your lease and could put your home at risk.

Some Shared Ownership homes are in buildings where we (Citizen) are not the Freeholder.

In these cases:

• The building is owned by a Freeholder

• A Managing Agent is often appointed to manage the building and communal areas

• Costs are charged to Citizen and passed on to shared owners through service charges
  
  

Your responsibilities for your home remain the same, regardless of who owns the building.

Who is responsible for my flat entrance door?

Your lease should always be checked first, but where it is silent:

• If the door is on an external wall, it’s usually treated as part of the structure – Citizen arranges repairs, but you’ll be recharged

• If the door opens onto an internal communal corridor, it’s usually the shared owner’s responsibility

Who is responsible for my fence?

This is normally shown on the lease plan at the back of your lease.

• A “T” mark often shows which side is responsible

• If you’re responsible, repairs or replacement are at your cost

You may live in a house with your own driveway and want to put in an electric vehicle charging point. We support this installation where it’s safe to do so.

Before installing a charger:

• Check your lease – permission is usually required for alterations

• In most cases, we can give consent where it’s safe

• Some leases may need a variation of lease, which will involve legal costs you’ll need to cover

If your home has communal or street parking, installing a charger may not currently be possible, but we’re working to find solutions.

Email us with your permission request. 

You’re welcome to decorate and paint your home. However, if you are in a new build home, we strongly recommend you wait at least 9 to 12 months before doing any major decorating. This is to allow your new home to finish drying out, (a process that happens after building work is completed).

If you decorate too early, you risk sealing in moisture and worsening any shrinkage issues happening as a result of the drying out process.

Whether your home is new or older, please get our permission before making any major changes. You can contact the Leasehold Team through My Account. 

If you’re planning to use nails or a drill to hang things on your walls, it’s a good idea to check the wall for pipes and wiring with a stud detector so you don’t hit them.

Make sure you also use appropriate fixings for your wall type and the weight of whatever you’re hanging up. For lighter items, steel picture hooks are usually fine, but heavier things will need screws and wall plugs to keep them secure.

It’s normal to have some condensation in your home, particularly on your windows, ceilings or walls, and especially in colder weather or winter time.

However, excessive condensation can be a problem. If it’s not managed, it can lead to mould and other problems in your home.

• Find out more about preventing condensation, damp and mould

Your home might have an internal fire door, which is designed to keep smoke and flames contained in one room if there’s a fire. These are heavier than normal doors and might close automatically. You should never remove, disable or prop open a fire door.

All new homes come with smoke alarms already installed. Remember to test your alarm regularly by pushing the test button and make sure it’s working properly.

If you think something’s wrong with your smoke alarm or you notice a fault, get in touch with us immediately so we can get it fixed. You can contact us through My Account or phone us on 0300 790 6555.

If you haven’t staircased to 100%, there are rules you’ll need to follow when selling.

• Citizen usually has a nomination period to try to find a buyer for your share

• You’ll need a valuation from a RICS surveyor to set the sale price

• If no buyer is found during the nomination period, you can usually sell on the open market

Selling involves costs and timescales that can vary, so it’s a good idea to contact us early if you’re thinking about moving.

Lease extensions allows you to add:

• 90 years to a flat lease, or

• 50 years to a house lease,

at a "peppercorn rent" (meaning no ground rent).

In most cases, we will agree to a lease extension. You’ll be responsible for all costs, including:

• Your valuation and legal fees

• Citizen’s legal costs

The cost is calculated by an independent RICS surveyor.

We’re often asked whether extending a lease is the right choice and how much it will cost. This depends on individual circumstances.

Key things to consider include:

• Whether your lease has less than 80 years remaining (costs can increase sharply)

• Whether you plan to sell in the near future

Government proposals to reduce lease extension costs are under review, but there are no guarantees about when or if changes will happen.

For independent guidance, you may find these resources helpful:

• MoneySavingExpert – Extend your lease: a step-by-step guide

• Leasehold Advisory Service – Lease extension: getting started

If you’re not sure how long is left on your lease, it’s worth checking – especially if you’re thinking about selling your home.

The Leasehold Advisory Service offers a quick and easy online tool to check your lease length. You’ll need to enter your email address, but it only takes a few minutes. Use the Leasehold Advisory Service lease length checker to see how many years remain on your lease.

Most leases start at 99 or 125 years. Shared ownership homes built under the Affordable Homes Programme from April 2021 are different and usually have leases of 990 years.

As a lease gets shorter, its value can reduce and the cost to extend it can increase. While we can’t give financial advice, there’s lots of free, independent support available. You might find this Money Saving Expert guide to extending your lease helpful.

The lease length checker also includes clear information about extending your lease if you need it. We’re here to help if you’d like to know more.

Most Citizen customers have to pay a service charge, which covers the costs of maintaining their building, grounds and estate. It can include gardening, cleaning, refurbishments to lifts and car parks and cleaning communal areas. It also includes building insurance.

The amount you pay will change each year and depends on the type of home you live in and where you live. You can check this in your lease.

●    Find out more on our Service charge page

This section only applies if your home was brand new when you bought it.

If you live in a new-build home, there are a few extra things to be aware of in the early years.

If your home is brand new, you’ll need to register your appliances with the manufacturers. This transfers warranties into your name and helps ensure you receive servicing and support later on.

If your garden has freshly laid grass, don’t walk on it until it’s been down for three to four weeks. Water it regularly, especially in warmer weather, and try to do so in the early morning or late evening so the water doesn’t evaporate. Once the grass is growing well, you should begin mowing it regularly.

Because your home is brand new, over the first year, the water that was absorbed by the plaster and timber during construction will naturally begin to evaporate, which is a process called drying out.

This can also make these materials shrink slightly, so you might spot some small cracks in the plaster or little gaps in the skirting boards. This is normal and won’t affect the structure of your home.

Once the drying process is complete, usually 9 to 12 months later, these little cracks can be filled with decorator’s filler and painted over. However, if you spot any cracks that are wider than 5mm – about the width of a pound coin – we’ll address those during your end of defects inspection.

If you spot a defect or something that needs repairing within the first 12 months of living in your new home, you should let us know directly (not the builder or the sales advisors). We’ll investigate your report and work with the builder to make sure your issue gets fixed quickly.

For any emergency defects, call us immediately and quote your name and full postal address. For non-urgent defects, these can be discussed and reviewed during your end-of defects inspection.