Staircasing

Firstly, we recommend you speak to one of our independent financial consultants (PDF) to find out if you can afford to buy more shares in your home.

They'll be able to tell you if staircasing is financially possible and how far you can staircase.

You'll need to instruct a surveyor to value your home. As stated in your lease, the valuer must be independent and qualified through the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

We have a panel of independent surveyors (PDF), qualified by RICS, to choose from.

They have a wealth of experience valuing homes and offer preferred rates to L&Q residents.

You also have the option to instruct a RICS registered surveyor of your choice.

However, they must meet certain criteria, details of which are in our leaflet about instructing your own surveyor (PDF).

If you want to use your own surveyor, they must be:

• independent and not associated with any estate agents 
• unrelated to you 
• not employed by any bank/building society 
• registered with the recognised qualification of FRICS or RICS

We always require a copy of the full valuation report. It should be valid for three months and until completion.

The report should assume that the property has been maintained to a good standard. This is within the requirements of your lease.

It must include at least three comparable properties used to determine the value.

It must also state that we can use the contents of the valuation report.

Any home improvements must be declared by signing in to your account and using our online Home Improvements application form.

You can also complete our paper Home Improvements application form (PDF) and email it to our Homeownership team.

Shared owners must also submit written evidence of our written consent for the proposed works, along with the corresponding receipts or invoices.

As per the terms of your lease, your staircasing transaction must be completed within three months of the valuation date. If an extension is required, you’ll be responsible for any related costs (updates are usually only valid for a further three-month period).

You should also be aware that if the value of your home changes when a new valuation is required, we’ll need to recalculate your staircase premium, regardless of whether the value has increased or decreased.

Once you’ve received your valuation, it’s a good idea to contact your financial consultant to make sure you can still afford to buy more shares in your home.

If you’ve not spoken to them yet, we strongly suggest you seek financial advice as soon as possible.

When you’re ready, email your request to our Homeownership team.

You’ll need to include your valuation report and home improvement form – if applicable.

We’ll also need you to confirm that you wish to buy more shares as well as your contact details and full address.

After we receive your valuation report, we’ll calculate the premium of the share you don’t own. We’ll then contact you to pay the administration fee for this service.

View our full list of administration fees (PDF).

Once we’ve received your payment, we’ll email you a confirmation letter detailing the calculations and a response form.

Please complete the response form to confirm how you would like to proceed, how many shares you want to buy and your solicitor's details.

You can instruct your own solicitor, or we have a panel of independent conveyancing solicitors (PDF) who can help. They are all experienced in assisting shared owners to buy more shares.

We will not process your application until this form has been signed by all leaseholders and returned to us. 

If you’re buying 100% of your home and currently pay a service charge passed on to a third-party managing agent, your solicitor will let you know if you need to continue paying us or the third-party agent directly after completion. When no third party is involved, you will continue to pay service charges directly to us.

If you’re buying 100% of your home and do not currently pay a service charge, you will no longer have to pay us rent or have further communication with us.

If you staircase to shares higher than 75% and want to sell, it’s unlikely that we'll be able to find a buyer for your home. That’s because first-time shared ownership buyers can only buy between 25% and 75% of a home.

However, before you put your home up for sale on the open market, you must let us know so we can issue you a 'waive' letter confirming you can sell via a high street agent.  

Learn more about selling your shared ownership home.

If you’re buying less than 100% of your home, we'll update our records with your new share and confirm what the new rent figure is you have to pay.