You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Coronavirus has changed what people want from their homes. Shared ownership could be the answer they need
Too many people do not know that shared ownership could offer them an answer to their changed requirements for housing. But still too many do not know it exists, writes Amy Nettleton
Over the past few months, we’ve all had our lives disrupted by coronavirus – as the people reading this article at a makeshift desk in an improvised home office will confirm.
Our lives have been put under real strain, with housemates sharing a kitchen table and wifi router, parents juggling childcare with Zoom calls, and people struggling to unwind when the ‘office’ is just a few steps away.
Our homes have been at the centre of our experience of this pandemic, so it’s no surprise that more and more people now want to radically rethink their living situation.
Thousands of us are desperate to find a new home, whether because we need more space to work from home, a bigger garden or just a change of scene after months staring at the same four walls. But it’s also harder than ever to get on the housing ladder – so how can we do it?
Enter shared ownership.
By helping people to find a new home without the same financial pressures as buying on the open market, shared ownership could help thousands of buyers to make that much-needed change.
It’s no wonder that, as Inside Housing reported last week, housing associations have seen really significant spikes in interest in shared ownership since lockdown.
READ MORE
At Aster Group, we saw a major rise in shared ownership enquiries in April. Since then, they have consistently remained three times higher than they were in March.
But there are still far too many people who don’t know about shared ownership or don’t fully understand what it is. Thanks to market research by the National Housing Federation, we know that this is the biggest problem facing the tenure.
This is why on Friday 18 September we are relaunching a three-year advertising campaign to raise awareness of shared ownership and explain to the public what it is.
Led by the National Housing Federation and backed by almost 50 other housing associations, the campaign was originally launched earlier this year but had to be postponed when the housing market was effectively shut down at the start of the coronavirus lockdown.
Since then the need for shared ownership has only grown, which is why we’re restarting the campaign this week. This includes our new website, as well as digital and social media advertising with fresh messages focused on people’s new wants and needs.
“Shared ownership could offer a vital way out of this dilemma, so it’s never been more important for us to shout about it from the rooftops”
Of course, shared ownership has also been in the headlines in recent weeks because of government proposals to make major changes to how it works.
As well as making it even harder to clear up some of the misconceptions about what shared ownership is, these reforms could also pose real challenges for the sector. They might even make it harder for some housing associations to keep building shared ownership homes in the long run.
But in the meantime, the need for shared ownership is not going away – in fact it’s only getting greater.
This is why our campaign aims to show the public that they don’t have to accept many of the problems they’ve had to put up with over the past few months.
Instead they can find somewhere with more space to work from home, a bigger garden or an extra bedroom, and thanks to shared ownership they can afford it, too.
The coronavirus crisis means more and more people now want to move home, but at the same time it has made that dream even harder for thousands of potential buyers.
Shared ownership could offer a vital way out of this dilemma, so it’s never been more important for us to shout about it from the rooftops.
Amy Nettleton, assistant development director – sales and marketing, Aster Group; and chair – shared ownership campaign steering group, National Housing Federation
