Increasing shares in your home

The amount of rent you pay is related to the amount of equity share that your landlord, Legal & General Affordable Homes, owns. If you staircase to 100%, you will no longer have to pay rent.

If you increase your share to less than 100%, your rent will decrease in proportion to the share you buy and you will pay less rent each time you staircase further.

You will need to get an estimate of the current value of your home, which local estate agents can help you with. This value will give you an idea of how much you'll pay for the extra share.

You will also need to check with your mortgage lender to see if they will increase your mortgage to allow you to buy the extra share. Alternatively, you could find out if you could get a new mortgage with a different provider.

Please contact us and we will then:

• Write to you to tell you we have received your formal request to staircase
• Explain the timescales for you to buy the extra shares. Your lease sets out the time limit and most leases state three months from the date of valuation

You will then need to contact us to tell us if you will be proceeding. If you tell us you would like to go ahead, we will liaise with Legal & General Affordable Homes and instruct our solicitors. You will also need to instruct your solicitor.

You will need to make sure you can meet the costs of:

• The value of the extra share you're buying
• The valuer's fees - you must pay the valuer, even if you decide not to buy the extra share
• Your solicitor's fees
• Our fees

We will reduce the rent you pay from the day you buy the extra shares. You only pay rent on the part of your home that Legal & General Affordable Homes owns, so if you become an outright owner of your home, you will no longer need to pay rent, although you may still need to pay ground and service charges.