Staircasing

Staircase and Staircasing are the terms that we use to refer to the process of buying some or all of the remaining shares in your Shared Ownership home.

Getting Your Property Valued

To get you property valued, choose a surveyor. Then complete the valuation request form (available upon request) and send it to us.  We will then instruct your surveyor. The surveyor will arrange payment for the valuation with you when they make the appointment. The valuation will be based on two figures: 

• Staircasing figure - which will exclude any improvements made.

• Open market figure - which will include any improvements made.
• Please be advised, you can choose your own valuer provided they are qualified with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. Please contact us with their details before going ahead.

We will use the figure, which excludes all improvements. This in turn means you will not pay for the improvements in the percentage that you buy from us.

Valuation Report

The surveyor’s will send us a copy of the valuation, which we will then forward to you. The valuation is valid for a period of three months (unless varied by your lease) from the date of the report and if the transaction is not completed within this time a further valuation will be required. Valuations on your home fall and rise in line with local housing market conditions - so the value of your home when you staircase is likely to be different to the value of your home when you bought it. If you are not happy with the valuation you can arrange for another one to be carried out with a different surveyor through Metropolitan. Please note that you will be charged.

Request to Proceed

If you are happy with the valuation figure you should send us a request to proceed, which must include; your solicitor’s details, the percentage you wish to staircase and the figure your property was valued at.

Instruct a Solicitor

When we have received your request to proceed we will instruct our solicitors Prince Evans, who will be responsible for all the legal proceedings for your staircasing. You are able to contact our solicitors via your solicitors should you have any further queries.

For further information see the booklet explaining how you can own a larger share of your home.