Shared Owners Target Full Ownership in Fewer, but Larger Steps, Finds CBRE

CBRE’s analysis finds that the penetration of Shared Ownership has been largely dictated by affordability. In London and the South East, the two regions with the highest house price to earnings ratio, Shared Ownership homes account for 10% of social housing stock and 2% of total stock. While, in the North East, where house price to earnings ratios are the lowest, Shared Ownership equates to just 2% of social homes and close to 0.4% of total stock. Across all regions, the average monthly payments for Shared Ownership is lower than monthly mortgage payments for traditional home owners and monthly rent for private rental homes.

The average rate of staircasing to full ownership has fallen in the last five years to an average of 2.2% of total Shared Ownership stock. While people are now staircasing less frequently to full ownership, when they are staircasing, it’s in larger increments. CBRE’s analysis shows the average equity share purchased in staircasing events increasing from 34% in 2022, to 43% in 2025. Similarly, the value of the additional share purchased has increased by £15,000 in that period. This has been driven by a higher savings ratio during a time of high inflation and interest rates which has allowed shared owners to put more money away for staircasing.