Buying more of your home

If you are a shared owner and want to buy more of your home you will need to complete the request for a staircasing valuation.

If you would like to sell your existing shared ownership home please call us on 020 7209 9292 and we will let you know if we are likely to be in a position to find a buyer for you home.

Read on for more information on this:

A guide to buying more of your home

Introduction

This information provides information on what to do if you are looking to buy more of your shared ownership home. This process is often referred to as staircasing. The leaflet contains general guidance based on the standard shared ownership lease. There may be occasions when leases vary from the standard document. In all cases it is the individual lease that should be followed rather than this general guidance. All staircasing applications within the Origin Group are processed by Griffin Homes even if your landlord is SPH Housing.

What your lease says

Under the standard shared ownership lease you are able to staircase if the shared ownership lease is more than one year old (This restriction does not apply under New Build HomeBuy leases) .

If you want to buy more of your home you will need to complete and return the attached form let us know what share you want to buy and the valuer you wish to use.

The valuer will be required to assess the open market value for the property assuming that:

• Vacant possession was available
• Neither the leaseholder or members of his/her family wished to purchase
• Improvements made by the leaseholder had not been carried out
• The leaseholder has performed obligations contained in the lease

The value will be assessed as at the date of your notice requesting a valuation. You will normally be expected to complete your staircasing within three months of your request. If you do not complete within this time we may need to get an updated valuation before you can complete.

Improvements

You should always ask our permission before carrying out improvements to your home. Where you have carried out improvements you should let the valuer know as these will be disregarded for the purposes of the staircasing valuation. Please note that the cost of improvements does not always increase the value of a property by an equivalent amount.

Valuations

As part of the process it will be necessary to obtain an independent valuation. Details of our panel valuers, the areas that they cover and the fees that they are likely to charge are given below. A qualified valuer belonging to the RICS or ISVA must carry out the valuation. If none of our panel valuers are able to carry out a valuation, we will ensure that an alternative valuer is found and will advise you of the fee required.

The above fees are for initial valuations and may be subject to change. If a property has to be re-valued because the deadline for completion has run out the valuer is often able to reassess the value without revisiting the property. If this is the case they will usually charge a smaller fee. If you have not completed before the deadline we will write to you to let you know what the re-valuation fee will be.

Further questions

If you have any questions about staircasing please phone 020 7209 9292 or email Rachel.Wallace@griffinhomes.org.uk

Request for a staircasing valuation

Click here to download the form to request a staircasing valuation

Once completed, please send to: Andrew Fusi, Griffin Homes, 110 Eversholt St, London NW1 1BS.

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