Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of registered providers currently offering a ‘downwards staircasing’ policy to their shared owners and whether such policies are accessible and downloadable from registered providers’ websites so that any shared owner can access them.

The Government does not collect data on the number of shared owners, impacted by building safety issues, who have sold or sublet their properties.

A number of steps have already been taken to accelerate the removal of unsafe cladding from buildings and improve outcomes for residents of all tenures, including shared ownership customers. This includes working closely with partners across the social housing sector to identify barriers to remediation and ways to overcome them. Further details of the Government’s plan to increase the pace of building remediation can be found in the Remediation Acceleration Plan, available at: Remediation Acceleration Plan - GOV.UK.

Social housing providers have the option to repurchase homes where shared owners are unable to sell due to building safety issues. This is not an automatic entitlement for shared owners and is available at providers’ discretion. Providers will have their own policies setting out when this option is available, including any relevant eligibility criteria. The Government expects all relevant policies to be published on providers’ websites in a clear and accessible format.