The idea is simple: you don’t have to own 100% of the property from the start. Instead, you can gradually increase your share when your finances allow. Eventually, you might own the whole thing.

When you first buy a shared ownership property, you purchase a percentage, say, 30%. The housing association owns the rest, and you pay them rent on that portion. Later, if your income rises or you save up, you can buy a bigger slice. This is staircasing. You can usually increase in increments of 5% or 10%, or make a one-off jump to full ownership. For newer types of shared ownership homes and leases, you can also 'staircase' in just 1% increments at a time.

Remember that any time you staircase, it will be based on the value of the home at THAT time, not based on the original purchase price; this is often why its good to weigh up your options of how much to buy in your initial transaction if your goal is to buy more at a later stage. The more you buy, the less your rent payment will be.