One foot on the ladder: how shared ownership can bring owning a home into reach

A major expansion of newly built shared ownership could help low and modest income working families across the country onto the property ladder, while keeping their housing costs affordable.

One foot on the ladder shows that shared ownership – where buyers purchase at least 25 per cent of the equity in a home and pay a low rent on the remaining share owned by a Housing Association – is affordable for a couple with one child on £22,000 in 87 percent of local authorities in Britain, assuming they spend no more than 35 per cent of their net income on housing costs.