Shared ownership valuations: Q&A with Homes England

Buying and selling shared ownership property is more complex than buying and selling on the open market. Shared ownership first-time buyer? Encountering shared ownership valuation problems? “Down valuations”? We’ve got it covered.

In this 4-part Q&A, Homes England explain shared ownership valuations, from purchasing your first share to resale.

• Part One: Buying shared ownership
• Part Two: Staircasing
• Part Three: Lease extension
• Part Four: Resale

Don’t have time to read this right now?

Here are the key takeaways:

• New-build sales prices: The price of a share in a new-build shared ownership home is determined by a RICS valuation
• Resale sales prices: The price you pay for a share via a resale depends on whether a nomination period applies. The nomination period is a specified amount of time when the landlord has the right to choose a buyer. During a nomination period, the price of the share is determined by a RICS valuation.
• Resales outside a nomination period: If you are purchasing a resale share on the open market (once the nomination period has ended), the shared owner seller can choose their own sales price.
• Revaluations: RICS valuations are typically valid for three months, but landlords have the flexibility to use them beyond this.
• “Down valuations”: Homes England has updated its guidance to explain your landlord’s options if your mortgage lender’s valuation is lower than the sales price.

Read on….

Q1. New-build homes: Who decides sales prices?

The sales price for a new-build shared ownership home is established by a valuation undertaken by a Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) registered valuer. Following the requirements and guidance established by RICS should ensure consistency between different RICS valuers. However, it does not mean that every RICS valuer will arrive at the same valuation.

How does the RICS valuation determine the cost of an initial share?

The price paid for a share in a new-build shared ownership home is a simple relationship between the RICS valuation and the percentage share purchased. So, if the RICS valuation is £300,000 then a 10% share would be £30,000; a 25% share £75,000; a 40% share £120,000 and so on. 

You will pay rent on the landlord’s share. Consequently, the higher the share you purchase, the lower your rent will be.

Independence and panel valuers

A RICS valuation for any shared ownership sale (and staircasing transaction) should be undertaken by an organisation / individual that is separate to the shared ownership landlord. This is a requirement of Homes England’s shared ownership guidance.

In simple terms this means that the valuer should not be an employee of the landlord. This would also include any of its subsidiaries, or any other individual or organisation that has a direct link to the landlord.

This requirement does not prevent a shared ownership landlord from operating a panel of valuers to undertake valuations. Panel valuers should be knowledgeable and experienced as regards shared ownership and in undertaking valuations for new sales, resales and staircasing. The landlord should ensure they have a robust process in place for reviewing valuers on any panel they operate.

How long is a RICS valuation valid?

RICS guidance states that valuations are normally valid for a 3-month period from the date of the valuation, unless stated otherwise by the valuer.

However, because conveyancing timescales often exceed three months, Homes England’s guidance provides more flexibility.  For example, if your offer is accepted within this 3-month period then you will have three months from this point to reach exchange of contracts.

Flexibility available using a RICS valuation

Can the landlord use a RICS valuation beyond its validity period?

It might not be possible to exchange contracts within three months from acceptance of the offer. In the above example, this is 15 October 2026. In that case, the shared ownership landlord has the discretion to use the valuation for a further three months without any need to refer back to the valuer.

Otherwise, the landlord can seek a re-valuation from the valuer. This could be a desktop assessment rather than a full valuation, which will be up to the valuer to decide.

Q2. Can I make a lower offer in the same way I could for a property on the open market?

The situation is different for new build homes and resales, as the next two sections explain.

(a) Buying a new-build shared ownership home

As we discussed above, the price of a share of a new-build shared ownership home should be determined by a RICS valuation.

There are some potential nuances to this, for example, in a “down valuation” scenario.

“Down valuations”

This is where your mortgage lender values the property lower than the RICS valuation obtained by the shared ownership landlord.

If this happens, the landlord has the discretion to accept your lender’s valuation so long as two main requirements are met. First, your lender is willing to share their valuation. Second, your lender’s valuation was carried out by a RICS valuer. Additionally, Homes England’s latest guidance allows landlords the ability to use your mortgage offer to verify the value. However, this is at the discretion of the landlord and is not a right.

(b) Resale – within the nomination period

Where a shared owner is selling their share:

• on a shared ownership basis
• within a nomination period
• to you as a buyer nominated by the landlord

then the price you will pay will be established by a RICS valuation.

The nomination period is a period of time set out in the lease during which the landlord has the right to nominate a buyer. This is often 4 weeks or 8 weeks.

(c) Resale – outside of the nomination period

If the nomination period expires without a buyer having been identified by the landlord, or the nomination period is waived, then the shared owner can sell their share at a price of their choosing. The sales price can be at, below or above any RICS valuation obtained, even if that valuation is still within the 3-month validity period.

If it is agreed that the nomination period is waived , there is no need for a RICS valuation to be obtained. In this case, the seller can set their own sales price.

Waiving the nomination period means the landlord gives up its right to nominate a buyer and the property can be marketed on the open market.

The sales price doesn’t have any impact on the rent on the landlord’s share. You will still pay the same rent as the shared owner was paying at the point of sale.

For a resale outside of the nomination period, there are a couple of important things to note.

• You will still have to meet the shared ownership eligibility and affordability criteria.
• You can buy a higher share than the seller owns if you are able to afford it and wish to do so. Note that there is no obligation on you to do this where you can afford it. If this is done, then a RICS valuation is required to determine the cost of the additional share being purchased from the landlord. This RICS valuation has no impact on the price of the share being sold by the shared owner. It only applies to the additional share being purchased from the landlord. 

Q3. What happens if my purchase takes longer than expected and a RICS revaluation is higher than my mortgage offer?

Under Homes England’s revised valuations guidance, shared ownership landlords have discretion to use a RICS valuation beyond its validity period.

An example of how this works in practice is as follows. 

If the 15 October 2026 deadline is not met, then Homes England’s guidance allows for further discretion to be exercised to use the RICS valuation for a further three months. In this example the exchange of contracts deadline becomes 15 January 2027.  If exchange does not take place by this date, then Homes England’s consent for any further extension of use will need to be sought by the landlord.

“Down valuations”

Homes England’s revised guidance also includes some options to deal with “down valuation” scenarios. As we discussed above, this is where a mortgage lender values a property below the RICS valuation obtained by the shared ownership landlord.  Options under Homes England’s revised guidance include potential acceptance of the mortgage lender’s valuation, or acceptance of the mortgage offer.

These options in Homes England’s updated guidance on “down valuations” won’t necessarily result in your purchase progressing to a completed sale. However, Homes England’s experience is that shared ownership landlords are often willing to balance taking a pragmatic view with property sales being further delayed if a buyer is forced to withdraw.

Q4. Will I lose my reservation fee if I can no longer afford the share following a price increase?

Homes England’s guidance does not cover this point. If a buyer has proceeded this far in the sales process, incurring significant costs including a reservation fee, then it is hoped that the sale would proceed. The previous sections on using valuations and “down valuations” might be relevant in terms of potential options.

Q5. Does whether a property is freehold or leasehold make any difference to a RICS valuation? Or lease length?

Homes England’s shared ownership model leases define market value as follows.

‘Market Value shall at the date of this lease mean the Initial Market Value and shall at any subsequent date mean the price which the interest of the Leaseholder would then fetch if sold on the open market by a willing seller upon the terms and conditions contained in this Lease and on the assumption that the Unacquired Percentage is nil.”

Where the freehold interest will transfer on 100% staircasing then it makes sense for the home to be valued on this basis, in effect disregarding the lease length. (This applies to the vast majority of houses, but not flats.)

In some cases it is not possible to obtain the freehold at 100% staircasing:

• flats
• houses where staircasing is restricted to less than 100%
• community-led housing
• houses above or below other structures, for example, a car park
• limited other circumstances

In this case, the market value is based on the leasehold interest. This means the lease length either at the beginning (for initial sales) or the term remaining (for resales).

For new shared ownership homes, where the lease length has to be a minimum of 990 years, the length of lease remaining becomes, in effect, irrelevant.

For older shared ownership homes with shorter lease lengths, the lease can be considered a depreciating asset. Depending on the lease term remaining the difficulties can arise in terms of re-selling, re-mortgaging, etc. There may therefore be a choice for either you or the seller to opt for a lease extension.

We are extremely grateful for the support of Homes England in creating this content.

DISCLAIMER

This Q&A is accurate, to the best of our knowledge, as at October 2026. However guidance is updated on a regular basis, so please check Homes England’s current Capital Funding Guide, and/or seek expert legal advice if required.

The information provided on this website is for general purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for legal, financial, tax or other professional advice. Everyone’s situation is different so always seek expert advice on any questions you may have.

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