Shared ownership: Fount Spring Place has come on to the market almost two years late. Are house-buyers wising up to the problems of ‘shared ownership’
Even before the latest global economic shock hit the construction trade, house-building in London had slowed to a crawl. JOHNNY DOBBYN looks at one scheme of more than 100 flats in Purley that provides a possible case study to show why government housing targets seem unachievable
Southern Housing is among the country’s largest housing associations and registered social landlords, with 80,000 dwellings across London, the south-east and Midlands, which together house more than 167,000 people.
Fount Spring Place is Southern’s latest development, and forms part of the mega “Mosaic Place” scheme around Banstead Road that also includes sites such as Purley Baptist Church, Russell Hill Parade and on the Brighton Road.
Fount Spring Place is the “South Site”, as opposed to the Purley Tower’s “Island Site” across the road. It is part of a Purley planning saga that stretches back almost 10 years, to December 2016, and has involved a public inquiry and a call-in by the Secretary of State.
Fount Spring Place had planning permission for 106 flats, and construction started in early 2021, but it has been plagued by delays owing to a lack of proper safety documentation and a satisfactory Fire Risk Assessment. The delays have continued and the scheme’s launch announcement in February is now looking premature.
As recently as December 2025, Southern expected the flats to be ready for occupation by the end of January 2026. Yet as of this week, according to Southern Housing’s Banstead Road project update website, continued concerns around fire safety and lifts mean it has still not been able to submit the building for safety registration.
Narrow quarters: the £300,000 flats in Fount Spring Place cannot be described as ‘generous’ in space
Given recent very serious concerns over another, unconnected, development in Croydon, at The Fold near the Town Hall, some caution over the handover of new build property is probably understandable.
It had originally been scheduled for the Fount Spring Place flats to be released – there’s a housing crisis, remember? – in August 2024. Previous delays in bringing Fount Spring Place to the market involved building contractor Thornsett not having supplied the housing association with essential documentation for building sign-off. These documents included a fire-stopping register, servicing agreements and confirmation of fire stopping in the lifts. Also missing was the operation and maintenance manual – basically the handbook that tells the overall owner how to operate a building.
Getting the building legal for sale is just one of Southern’s headaches, as the development contains 12 one- and two-bedroom flats for sale under shared ownership, where buyers can secure 25% of a property that might otherwise be far out of their reach financially. In the case of Fount Spring Place, a 25% share can be had with a typical deposit of £7,600 for a flat valued at £305,000.
Courtyard living: the open space in the middle of Fount Spring Place avoids the flats facing out on to the busy A23 and Purley gyratory
Shared ownership has been seen increasingly as not such a good deal, especially in Croydon, where the council’s discredited housing company, Brick by Brick, was supposed to deliver 50% of its finished homes as “affordable” housing. Most of Brick by Brick’s “affordable housing” have been sold as shared ownership properties. They have proved to be anything but “affordable”.
On March 25, the National Audit Office published the findings of its investigation into the shared ownership model, and raised significant concerns for buyers, landlords and policymakers alike.
Shared ownership is marketed as a bridge between renting and full homeownership. In practice, however, it often shifts disproportionate financial risk onto purchasers while obscuring long-term costs.
It is all inherently complex. Buyers are both homeowner and tenant: holding a lease, paying a mortgage on their share, rent on the remainder and 100% of service charges regardless of size of ownership stake. As the NAO observed, shared owners are “part-owner and part-renter,” yet carry obligations closer to full ownership without equivalent control.
Affordability is a central issue. While costs for first-time buyers may appear manageable, uncapped and variable service charges introduce significant uncertainty. The NAO highlights that rising service charges “can create affordability pressures”, particularly as shared owners must pay them in full, even when owning only a fraction of the property.
A further problem is the information gap. Buyers are typically assessed on initial affordability, but many lack a clear understanding of long-term risks. The NAO identifies persistent “understanding gaps” around future costs, especially service charges and rent increases. As a result, purchasers often enter schemes expecting stability, only to encounter unpredictable and potentially unsustainable expenses.
‘Outdoor space’: even the balconies in Purley appear a little cramped
Higher service charges reduce affordability for prospective buyers, making shared ownership properties difficult to sell or remortgage. This creates a “trapped cohort” of owners who are unable to “staircase” – increase their percentage share of equity – or to move or remortgage.
There are other barriers to staircasing. Each additional equity purchase can involve valuation fees, legal costs and administrative charges, often running into thousands of pounds. These costs discourage incremental ownership and undermine shared ownership’s “dream” of new homeowners gradually acuqiring 40%, 50% or more of their home.
Disputing service charges or management standards can be complicated and expensive. The NAO describes the complaints system as “complex”. Shared ownership inherits many of the weaknesses of leasehold, including opaque charges, limited control over building management and the involvement of multiple parties, such as housing associations, managing agents and freeholders. Accountability becomes blurred.
Inside Croydon spoke to one Croydon resident living in another Southern-managed shared-ownership property who is extremely unhappy with it. “Everything takes ages,” they said.
Waiting for the all-clear: Fount Spring Place is almost two years late in being released on to the housing market
“I had rain pouring down the inside wall of my kitchen for two years before they agreed to seal the roof properly. They did eventually send a guy round to paint over the damage.
“In the living room, rain seeped in and an internal wooden step rotted away as a result. This took four years to fix. I was asked for photos of it months apart, each time I chased. There appeared to be no useful method of record keeping.
“It doesn’t help that staff turnover is so high.
“Recently, I ‘staircased’ and managed to buy an extra 10% of equity in the flat. I got a letter from my solicitor claiming that this had been completed. I got nothing from Southern.
“The electrics still don’t work properly. Most of the fittings are low-quality, cheap and not very robust. About one-third of my windows no longer shut properly. But this is considered ‘internal’ and therefore my problem as a leaseholder.”
Despite these flaws, shared ownership does offer benefits for those looking for a place to call home. It provides access to housing for those excluded from the open market, particularly in high-price areas such as London.
For some, it offers lower monthly costs than private renting and greater security of tenure. Over a 10-year period, the NAO report suggests shared owners may be financially better off than renters, reflecting potential equity gains and house price growth.
But these benefits are conditional. They depend on stable service charges, predictable costs and a functioning resale market – conditions that are not always met.
The NAO report concludes that there is insufficient data to determine whether shared ownership is consistently “affordable and well-managed” over time.
That uncertainty points to a broader issue: a national housing policy operating without a clear understanding of its long-term outcomes.
Read more: How myth of shared ownership has made housing crisis worse
Read more: The Fold folds: Hundreds of tenants given six months to leave
Read more: L&G ‘deeply concerned’ by state of high-rise flats at The Fold
Read more: Ombudsman demands culture change after council flats ‘shock’
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