National statistics

Social housing sales and demolitions 2022-23: Shared Ownership

Published 8 February 2024

Applies to England

1. Headline figures

From 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023: 17,507  initial sale (or first tranche) Shared Ownership sales were completed by large private registered providers and local authorities, an increase of 2% compared to 2021-22. 17,126 were by large private registered providers and 381 were by local authorities.

^{[footnote 1]}

Of those reported, an estimated 77% of Private Registered Provider Shared Ownership sales were to first time buyers

This statistical release reports on the initial sales (or first tranche) of shared ownership dwellings, and characteristics of these purchases. Data on the number of fully staircased sales, i.e. those where the tenants have reached 100% equity, can be found in the main Social Housing Sales and Demolitions report.

Unless otherwise stated, values quoted in this release will report on Shared ownership (old and new model leases), Older People’s Shared Ownership (OPSO), Social HomeBuy Shared Ownership, Home Ownership for People with long-term disabilities (HOLD), Rent to Buy Shared Ownership and Right to Shared Ownership) as a combined figure.

The completion of some fields in CORE Sales ^{[footnote 2]} is not mandatory, and some missing information on mortgage and deposit is imputed during data processing. For the purpose of this release, analysis of financial figures only includes sales that have no missing data following imputation in market value, initial equity stake, mortgage value and deposit. In 2022-23 this totalled 12,387 entries. The averages given in this section refer to the arithmetic mean unless otherwise stated.

2. Characteristics of Shared Ownership purchases

Shared Ownership is a scheme targeted at first-time buyers who cannot afford the full market cost of a property. In 2022-23, of those reported, an estimated 77% of Shared Ownership purchases were made by first time buyers. 33% of Shared Ownership purchases were made by buyers under the age of 30 and a further 35% aged between 30 and 39.

In 2022-23, an estimated 50% of purchases were made by one adult households, a slight decrease compared with 56% of purchases in 2021-22 (which was the highest proportion since 2009-10 ). 27% of purchases were made by households of 2 adults, while 15% were made by households with children. Further historical data is available in Live Table 696. 

Figure 3.1 Household composition of Shared Ownership purchases from 2008-09 to 2022-23

The average market price was £309,700, up by 4% compared to 2021-22 with a mean initial equity stake of £127,400. Overall, the average initial equity stake was 43%. The average deposit was £23,200, an increase of £2,500 compared to 2021-22, and is the highest value since this was first reported in 2008-09.

The graph below shows that over the last 14 years, the average (mean) price of Shared Ownership properties has increased from £164,600 to £309,700, an increase of 88%. Between April 2009 and March 2023, the UK house price index increased by 80%, showing that the price change of Shared Ownership properties generally tracked above the wider housing market. In this same time period, the average equity percentage obtained by buyers remained relatively steady between 37-43%. Further data can be found in Live Table 697

Figure 3.2 Average market value and average equity of Shared Ownership purchases 2008-09 to 2022-23

3. Delivery of Low Cost Home Ownership schemes

In the section below, the term “Low Cost Home Ownership schemes” is used as an umbrella term for Shared Ownership and Affordable Home Ownership because before 2014-15 it is not possible to separate Shared Ownership from other Low Cost Home Ownership delivery.

In 2022-23 there were 20,363 new Shared Ownership properties delivered, an increase of 5% compared to 2021-22, and the highest recorded number since Shared Ownership delivery was recorded in 2014-15. Of these 20,363 Shared Ownership properties 20,039 were new build ^{[footnote 3]}.

The graph below shows how the delivery of Low Cost Home Ownership properties has changed over the course of the last 32 years ^{[footnote 4]}. As can be seen from the chart, since 2015-16 there was a continuous increase in the number of Shared Ownership properties delivered, with the first decrease in 5 years seen in 2020-21. This decrease may be due in part to the restrictions imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2022-23, the number of Low Cost Home Ownership properties delivered was the highest since the peak in 2008-09. These values exclude First Homes tenure, which was introduced in 2021-22.

Figure 3.3 Delivery of Low Cost Home Ownership properties 1991-92 to 2022-23, England

1. Figures sourced from Statistical Data Return and Local Authority Housing Statistics. These two providers do not provide full coverage of the Shared Ownership market. ↩

2. The COntinuous REcording of social housing sales is a data collection run by DLUHC to collect information on sales of properties by registered providers of social housing. It does not capture all Shared Ownership sales. ↩

3. All figures in this section are sourced from the Affordable Housing Supply statistics. ↩

4. Low Cost Home Ownership does not include First Homes. ↩