Shared Ownership Valuation: RICS Valuers from SAM Conveyancing
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Shared Ownership Valuation

06/12/2019
(Last Updated: 06/12/2019)
8,801
6 min read
You have to get a shared ownership valuation when you are either selling your property or staircasing, which is buying a larger share in it. The staircasing valuation is essentially the same as the shared ownership valuation but simply for the different purpose.

Your housing association stipulates that you must do this to determine how much the next share will cost you (staircasing) or what price your property – and therefore your stake in the property – will be sold for. You have to pay for the valuation and can choose any RICS surveyor you wish to for the purpose.

You instruct an experienced RICS valuer to carry out the work. The valuation is not a home buyers survey and does not consider property defects. The report not only states the market valuation of your house but also includes 3 comparables of similar properties in the local which have sold within the last 3 months.


Is a shared ownership valuation different to other valuations?

Yes because the housing association require the valuation report to be:

  • Provided by a Qualified RICS valuer
  • Reported on RICS headed paper
  • Independent to you
  • Provided with comparables (where available)

Does the valuation report on property defects?

The Shared Ownership Valuation is not a condition or defect report. It is an essential part of what happens when you sell a shared ownership house or flat. The scope of work is to provide a current market valuation which includes a site visit to assess the condition of the property for valuing purposes only, will provide comparables of recently sold properties similar in nature and type (if available) and delivered on RICS headed paper. This is not a structural assessment such as a Building Survey or HomeBuyer Report.

How long does the co-ownership valuation last for?

The co-ownership valuation lasts for three months, after which, if you still want to staircase or sell, you must either:

  • Renew the valuation; or
  • Get a Letter of Comfort, otherwise known as a retype, which verifies that the original value as stated is still correct and the market has not changed significantly in the period.

I am staircasing, does my valuation affect stamp duty?

With shared ownership, you either opt to pay the entire stamp duty for the whole value of the property at the beginning – known as a market value election – or you pay stamp duty, if applicable, on the first share which you bought and don’t have to pay any more until you have bought more than an 80% share of the property. 

NB As of October 29 2018, Chancellor Hammond extended first time buyer relief to all shared ownership purchases - please read the following information box for more details:

First time buyer stamp duty relief for shared ownership purchases

Chancellor Hammond granted stamp duty relief to all first time buyers using shared ownership in his October 29 2018 budget. This means that these buyers do not have to pay any stamp duty if the full market value of the property they're buying is £300,000 or less and can deduct a maximum £5,000 from the stamp duty for any property they buy with full market value of between £300,001 and £500,000.

In his previous budget (November 2017), Hammond granted this relief only to those shared ownership first time buyers who opted to pay a full market value election regarding stamp duty (i.e. stamp duty on the value of the whole property). This new relief now extends to those opting to pay their stamp duty in stages, i.e. those who would have paid any stamp duty owing for their first premium and, in the case of a newly granted lease, the portion calculated on net present value of rent.

Hammond also granted the relief retrospectively, so any first time buyer who completed on a shared association purchase on or after 22 November 2018 and opted to pay stamp duty in stages and thus did not receive the relief can now claim this stamp duty back.

NB If you do/have opt/ed to pay stamp duty in stages, you only get first time buyer relief in relation to the first premium you pay for (and any stamp duty which resulted from a new lease being drafted, based on rent). There is no relief available for any stage of the staircasing process.

Our solicitors can help you claim this stamp duty refund; call 0333 344 3234 for further information from our experts.

It is therefore only of relevance if you are staircasing to more than 80%, when the value returned from the shared ownership staircasing valuation determines how much you will pay. To find out more, please read Stamp Duty Land Tax for Staircasing.

Shared ownership valuation problems - dispute over figures?

You or your housing provider can challenge shared ownership valuation surveyors on your behalf but you need to provide 3 comparables of similar properties that have sold within the last 3 months in the locale as evidence.

Selling shared ownership on the open market?

When selling a shared ownership property you have to offer the property back to the housing association to sell on your share at the property valuation price to their current affordable housing list of buyers. 

Be aware that you'll most likely have to pay a percentage of the selling price to the housing association if it sells your property for you; commonly this is between 1% and 1.5%

If no one can afford your property, or it doesn't sell during a set time stated within your lease agreement, then you can sell your property on the open market. 

Individual housing associations differ, some quite markedly, in policy concerning matters such as whether you can accept offers above or below the valuation figure and what happens if you do. 

We've been made aware that some housing associations allow you to accept offers higher than the valuation figure but then expect to be paid a percentage of that excess according to the share you don't own. 

Say for example you agree to an offer which is £10,000 above the valuation figure and you own a 50% share, then you get £5,000 of the £10,000 excess and the housing association gets the other £5,000. for any price above the valuation amount. 

However at least one housing association expects to be paid 100% of the difference between the higher sum agreed and the valuation figure (you get nothing). 

In all cases we're aware of, if you are allowed to accept a lower offer than the valuation figure - and not all housing associations allow this - you'll still have to pay the housing association the full percentage that you don't own of the valuation figure: i.e. you'll have to take any loss.

You should carefully check your lease for information about your housing association's individual selling/reselling policy and consult it if you're unsure and still have questions.


Do improvements I’ve made count towards the valuation?
Any improvements you have made do count towards the valuation figure, but they are not considered separately. The valuation figure essentially concerns the whole property along with any improvements. If you do not own the whole property 100%, effectively the uplift to the value is added according to the percentage you actually own.

The RICS valuer should take any improvements you have made into consideration when providing their shared ownership valuation report.

* Compliant for All Housing Association – Local RICS Survyeors– Same Week Availability
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Andrew Boast of Sam Conveyancing
Written by:
Andrew started his career in 2000 working within conveyancing solicitor firms and grew hands on knowledge of a wide variety of conveyancing challenges and solutions. After helping in excess of 50,000 clients in his career, he uses all this experience within his article writing for SAM, mainstream media and his self published book How to Buy a House Without Killing Anyone.
Caragh Bailey, Digital Marketing Manager
Reviewed by:
Caragh is an excellent writer in her own right as well as an accomplished copy editor for both fiction and non-fiction books, news articles and editorials. She has written extensively for SAM for a variety of conveyancing, survey and mortgage related articles.

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