Selling shared ownership: the process, fees and timings

How does selling shared ownership work?

Selling shared ownership is a two-stage process: if you own less than 100%, you first tell the landlord, which has a nomination period of 4, 8 or 12 weeks depending on your lease to find a buyer at a price set by a surveyor, and only if that fails can you sell your share yourself on the open market (GOV.UK). If you own 100%, GOV.UK says you can usually sell on the open market, for example through an estate agent, like any other owner.

The landlord’s right to find the buyer exists because the home was built or bought with public money to stay affordable. For you, selling a shared ownership property means less control over timing and price than a normal sale, and some extra costs. This page walks through the steps, the fees, what you get back and how to avoid the common surprises. If you are still deciding whether to buy, read it now: the exit is part of the deal.

Step by step: selling your share

1. Tell the landlord in writing that you want to sell. Check your lease and the key information document for the exact notice rules.
2. Get the home valued by a surveyor registered with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). The landlord may arrange it, but GOV.UK says you still pay for the valuation (GOV.UK).
3. The nomination period starts. The landlord markets your home to people on its lists at the valuation price, for 4, 8 or 12 weeks depending on your lease.
4. If a buyer is found, they go through the landlord’s eligibility and affordability checks, the same ones you went through (GOV.UK), then both sides instruct solicitors, exchange and complete.
5. On completion your mortgage is repaid from your share of the price, the landlord’s fee and your solicitor’s bill are settled, and the rest comes to you.
6. If no buyer is found in time, you can sell your share yourself on the open market, usually through an estate agent, to a buyer who takes on your lease and share.

What is the nomination period?

The nomination period is the landlord’s window to find a buyer before you are allowed to sell on the open market. GOV.UK says it lasts 4, 8 or 12 weeks, depending on the lease (GOV.UK). Under the 2021 new model lease the period was cut from 8 weeks to 4 weeks (Homes England guidance), and the MPs who examined the scheme in 2024 described it as 8 weeks on an old lease and 4 weeks on a new one (House of Commons committee report).

The period does not always apply. GOV.UK says some circumstances, such as the death of the owner or a court order, exempt the home from it. And some homes have a mandatory buyback clause, where the landlord will either buy the home or arrange for someone else to buy it, which you can find out from the key information document (GOV.UK).

How is the price set?

The price is the RICS surveyor’s valuation of the whole home multiplied by your share. You do not set an asking price and you cannot hold out for more during the nomination period. If the market moves against the valuation, or the landlord’s buyers cannot get mortgages at that figure, the home can sit unsold, which is why the MPs’ inquiry listed difficulties with reselling among the scheme’s problems.

Two practical points follow. Improvements you made with the landlord’s written permission should be reflected fairly, so keep the paperwork. And a valuation is a snapshot; if the sale drags on you may need another one, at your cost.

What fees will you pay?

• The RICS valuation, paid by you (GOV.UK).
• A fee to the landlord for handling the sale. GOV.UK says the landlord may charge one and that you can find out the cost from your landlord, so get the figure, and how it is worked out, in writing before you start.
• Your own solicitor’s fees; the solicitors page covers typical costs.
• An estate agent’s fee, only if you end up selling on the open market.
• An early repayment charge if you are still inside a fixed mortgage deal, plus any exit fee your lender charges.
• Any rent or service charge arrears, which must be cleared before completion.

Worked example: what you get back

Say you bought a 40% share of a £300,000 home five years ago for £120,000, with a £6,000 deposit and a £114,000 mortgage at 5.55% over 25 years, our September 2026 working rate for a 95% mortgage on a share from the HomeOwners Alliance rate table. After five years of payments the mortgage balance is about £102,000.

From the figure in the last column, take off the valuation, the landlord’s fee, your legal costs and any early repayment charge. Compare it with what you paid in: a £6,000 deposit plus about £42,200 of mortgage payments, of which about £12,200 repaid capital, plus about £24,800 in rent and £9,000 in service charges at 2.75% a year on the landlord’s share and £150 a month, which never come back (GOV.UK). If prices rose, shared ownership did its job and you leave with more than you put in. If they fell, you lose 40% of the fall and still pay every fee.

What if the landlord cannot find a buyer?

Then you can sell your share yourself on the open market (GOV.UK). The buyer steps into your lease and your share, so they need a shared ownership mortgage and must meet the landlord’s eligibility rules on income and need. An estate agent who has sold shared ownership homes before will know how to market a part share; one who has not may struggle to explain it.

You cannot simply let the home out while you wait. GOV.UK says you cannot sublet the whole home unless you own 100% or have the landlord’s permission, which is normally only given in special cases such as building safety problems or armed forces service (GOV.UK).

Can you sell 100% instead?

If your lease allows staircasing to 100%, you can buy the rest of the home and then sell the whole thing on the open market without the nomination period. Some landlords allow you to do both in one transaction, buying the final share on the day you complete your sale so the buyer gets a normal freehold or leasehold home; ask whether your lease and landlord permit it, because the answer varies. Two costs come with this route: the final share is priced at the current valuation, and if you paid stamp duty in stages, the purchase that takes you over 80% triggers a standard-rate bill, explained on the stamp duty page.

What are shared ownership resales for buyers?

Shared ownership resales are existing homes sold by their current shared owners, and GOV.UK lists buying an existing home through a shared ownership resale scheme as one of the three ways into the scheme (GOV.UK). For a buyer they can be cheaper than new builds and come with a track record of service charges. But you inherit the seller’s lease: if it predates the 2021 rules it may have a shorter term, no 1% staircasing option, an 8-week nomination period and no repair period. The new build page sets out what the new model lease adds so you can compare.

How does this compare with Your First Home?

Selling a Your First Home property involves no landlord and no nomination period: you own 100% and sell on the open market, but you are expected to repay the government 20% of the sale price, whatever the home is worth by then, as under Help to Buy (GOV.UK). A shared owner keeps all of the growth on their share but pays rent on the rest and sells through the landlord first. Which leaves you better off at sale depends on how prices move, which the Your First Home vs Shared Ownership page models; the full Your First Home rules are due at the Budget on 28 October 2026.

What to do next

• Read the selling clauses in your lease and the key information document now, and note the nomination period and any buyback clause.
• Ask the landlord for its resale fee and process in writing before you commission a valuation.
• Check your mortgage for early repayment charges and time the sale around them if you can.
• Run your own numbers, including rent paid to date, in the shared ownership calculator to see what a sale at today’s value would leave you.