The Existing Tenants Survey (ETS) is a large and comprehensive survey of social housing tenants owned by the TSA.

Key findings

• Sixty two per cent of shared owners were satisfied with the overall service provided by their landlord; notably lower than satisfaction rates amongst general needs tenants in the ETS 2008 (81%) 
• Ninety per cent of shared owners said they would be likely to recommend shared ownership to someone who was interested in the idea
• The majority of shared owners were aged between 25 and 39 years (41%). This may be explained by shared ownership being a tenure choice for first time buyers trying to get onto the ‘housing ladder’, whom are likely to be in this age group 
• Sixteen per cent of shared owners were from BME groups. This raises a question as to whether shared ownership is being effectively targeted at BME populations 
• Twenty one per cent of shared owners had been living in their home for 11-20 years, which raises questions about shared ownership being a ‘stepping stone’ into full owner occupation
• Ninety two per cent of shared owners had not increased their share since purchasing their property 
• Twenty four per cent of shared owners felt they had no choice of property at the time they bought 
• When asked to rate their satisfaction with opportunities for participation in management and decision making, 40% of shared owners reported ‘no opinion’, ‘don’t know’ or that they were neither satisfied or dissatisfied. This suggests that a significant minority of shared owners are unaware of the opportunities available