b'The investment aspect of shared ownership was highlighted by other interviewees who said that it allows buyers to benefit from capital increases because of house price growth:There are other benefits too, like the advantage of the equity increase. A young person getting into shared ownership in the central city sees higher growth on their equity over the years than they would in the suburbs, and that allows them to buy somewhere else. It is not only about staircasing to 100%. (Interviewee 7)Whilst views on the importance to buyers of staircasing vary, it is clear that what the product offers is flexibility. It opens home ownership at a range of possible price points to households with modest deposits. Shared ownership was also seen as a positive offer for customers because of the security and support provided by Registered Providers:The Housing Association is a positive thing for the ethics, there is some security. Its about quality. (Interviewee 4)Most interviewees described shared ownership as a positive product for customers that offered a lot of benefits, but did note that it was a product of necessity in the face of significant gaps between house prices and incomes and a strong continued preference for home ownership:People dont understand it. They see shared ownership and say nah, why would I want to own 50%? Its a thing of necessity, not something they actively want. Theyll only do it if they cant afford the alternative. (Interviewee 4)There were still concerns that some prospective buyers did not fully understand shared ownership, although this was felt to reflect an overall problem with leasehold, as much as buyers not understanding shared ownership specifically. Some providers felt that there were sometimes poor standards in advice across the country: I think the elephant in the room here is that across the country there are pretty poor standards when it comes to conveyancing and legal advice for people who are buying these products. (Interviewee 3)In the interviews with providers, the issue of declining satisfaction rates over time amongst some shared ownership buyers was discussed. Some providers felt that people can sometimes become disappointed because they do not fully understand what they have bought, or are not able to staircase in the way they had envisaged. Some providers have 3'