Shared ownership helped you buy a home. Now you want to move, but selling your share is proving more complicated than you expected.
Perhaps the housing association must first nominate a buyer. Perhaps there is disagreement about the valuation, the lease is becoming difficult to mortgage, or letting the property while you move elsewhere is not permitted.
The immediate question is how to resolve the problem. Another question may also deserve attention: were these restrictions explained when you bought?
New research highlights difficulties when shared owners need to move
A recent Today’s Conveyancer article reports on research commissioned by the Leasehold Advisory Service, known as LEASE.
The LEASE report summary, published in October 2026, identifies concerns involving resales, staircasing, lease extensions and subletting, alongside service charges and building safety.
The research primarily examines 791 enquiries received from shared owners in 2025/26, supported by wider historical enquiry data. It describes the problems raised by people seeking assistance, rather than establishing how common those problems are among all shared owners.
For someone already struggling to move, however, the distinction between buying into a scheme and being able to leave it is particularly important.
Buying a share does not mean every future decision is yours alone
Shared ownership arrangements vary. The lease, scheme rules and any relevant planning restrictions need to be checked before drawing conclusions about an owner’s options.
Government guidance on selling a shared ownership home explains that the landlord may have a nomination period in which to find a buyer. Particular arrangements can also affect access to the open market.
Before marketing, establish:
- Who must be notified that you want to sell.
- Whether a nomination period applies and when it starts.
- How the sale valuation must be obtained and how long it remains valid.
- What happens if the landlord does not find a buyer.
- Whether the proposed buyer must satisfy eligibility requirements.
- What fees, consents and documents will be required.
A buyer’s understanding of these provisions should come from the arrangements applying to their home. A general description of shared ownership may leave important questions unanswered.
Two owners’ accounts illustrate the practical difficulties
The following public discussions are individual, unverified accounts. They do not establish what the leases required, whether the landlords acted correctly or what advice the owners received before purchase.
Uncertainty about how a share could be sold
In a May 2026 discussion about selling a shared ownership flat, an owner described an unsuccessful nomination period followed by disagreement about whether they could sell their share through their chosen estate agent.
The account illustrates why sellers need a clear explanation of the permitted sale process, the relevant lease provisions and the charges involved.
Moving away without permission to let
In another discussion, titled “Stuck with a shared ownership flat”, an owner who had moved abroad described being unable to obtain the housing association’s permission to rent out the property.
That is a different difficulty from finding a buyer, but it can become closely connected when an owner needs to relocate before a sale completes.
Do not assume you can let the property if it will not sell
For an owner moving for work, a relationship or family reasons, letting may appear to provide a temporary solution.
Shared ownership can restrict that option. Government guidance on subletting explains that permission is generally limited to particular circumstances. Check the lease and obtain any necessary landlord and mortgage lender consent before making arrangements.
A purchase report should help the buyer understand material occupation restrictions. This is especially relevant where the buyer has told the conveyancer that they may need to relocate or let the home in future.
A short lease or building safety issue can create another obstacle
The sale process may be correctly followed while another issue prevents the buyer from proceeding.
If lease length is causing difficulty, obtain advice specifically addressing the shared ownership arrangement. Do not assume that every lease-extension route available to other leaseholders applies in the same way.
The When I Bought guidance on short leases explains why the remaining term can become important during a sale or remortgage.
Where the obstacle concerns remediation, fire safety information or mortgageability, the relevant starting point may be cladding and building safety problems discovered after purchase.
These issues require their own investigation. Describing a property as “shared ownership” does not identify the precise reason a sale has stalled.
What should have been explained when you bought?
The answer depends on the lease, the information available at the time, the scope of the conveyancer’s instructions and your circumstances.
A useful review would examine whether you received an understandable explanation of:
- The restrictions and procedure governing a future sale.
- The valuation arrangements and relevant fees.
- The conditions and limitations affecting staircasing.
- Restrictions on letting or occupation.
- The remaining lease term and relevant extension arrangements.
- Your liability for rent, service charges, repairs and other expenditure.
Receiving the lease is one part of the process. Understanding the significance of its material provisions is another.
Our article on leasehold problems buyers discover too late considers the wider distinction between supplying documents and explaining their practical consequences.
A later problem does not automatically mean the original advice was wrong
Service charges may increase after purchase. A landlord may subsequently become unresponsive. Market conditions or building safety information may change.
Those developments do not, by themselves, establish a failure by the original conveyancer.
The more useful question is whether the current obstacle arises from a restriction, liability or known issue that existed when you bought, and what you were told about it.
Where unexpected service charges or major works are central to the difficulty, see When I Bought’s service charges and major works guidance.
Start by establishing why the sale is stuck
Ask your current conveyancer to identify the precise restriction or unresolved requirement. Obtain the relevant lease provision, the landlord’s written position and any explanation provided by the buyer’s conveyancer or lender.
If available, keep your original report on title, purchase correspondence, key information documents and evidence of when you first discovered the problem.
Those records can help distinguish a present management dispute from a question about the original purchase advice. You do not need to have every document before starting a conversation with When I Bought.
Did you understand the restrictions when you bought?
If you are struggling to sell your shared ownership home and have discovered a restriction or liability you did not understand, tell When I Bought what has happened.
The starting point is a conversation about your purchase, the problem now preventing your move and what you remember being told. You do not need to decide whether anyone was at fault.
Tell When I Bought about your shared ownership problem
When I Bought is a Lexsure service, not a law firm, and does not provide legal advice. The initial conversation is free. Any introduction to specialist solicitors requires your agreement, and receiving firms pay an introduction fee. Time limits may apply to potential claims.
This article concerns shared ownership in England. Individual leases and schemes differ. Obtain advice on the arrangements applying to your property before selling, letting or changing your ownership share.