The process of shared ownership usually gives those who are buying for the first time and those who do not own a home at the given time an opportunity to buy a share in a newly built property or resales property. Going on to then buying a larger amount of shares in your property is known as staircasing, allowing a larger proportion of ownership of the property. Shared ownership staircasing can help one to become a complete owner of the property which also means rent does not need to be paid.
There are many benefits to staircasing, however, the main benefit is the obvious full ownership of the property which means paying less in rent. This in turn can help the owner benefit greatly if the property increases in value. There are also reasons why a person may not be able to staircase to 100%. There are some properties that have restricted staircasing, which means staircasing is limited to only 80%. Still this restriction is more common in rural areas to ensure priority on property to locals.
The costs of shared ownership are generally lower than other types of housing for a few reasons: the rent is actually lower than the rate shown on the open market, your deposit will be 5-10% of the price of the share, not of the full market value of the property, and there is no obligation of stamp duty until the shares have reached to 80%.