b'We have a minimum 40k loan.There is a tipping point between the cost of the loan and the reward. In [city in South East] 10% may be enough to meet the 40k lender minimum but this will not be the case across the nation. (Interviewee 11)Its highly unlikely mortgage lenders will chase after very low loan sizes, the economy of scale will not add up. I suspect those that do will carry large fees and/or higher interest rates. However, I question the real need here, as currently the average share size is closer to circa 40% nationally because shares are maximised, and the volume of sales at 25% is extremely low. (Interviewee 12)Providers noted that the sale of 10% shares changes the overall business model for shared ownership and would reduce capital receipts currently used to cross subsidise rented homes:From a providers perspective, its more challenging. It changes the way that shared ownership performs as a product. You get a very small initial capital receipt, and shared ownership is a product that we use to cross subsidise rented homes. (Interviewee 3)However, despite the reservations expressed about the option of purchasing a 10% share, both lenders and providers were not convinced that many buyers would purchase a 10% share in reality. Because of the requirement to purchase the maximum share affordable, they thought that most potential buyers would be found to be able to afford more than 10%. The average share purchased is just over 40% and that has changed little over time:The amounts of people taking up 10% ownership will be very small. The rules are they have to maximise their share, it cant be a lifestyle choice where they can afford more but just dont want to spend as much. We have to sell them the maximum share they can afford. (Interviewee 1)3.3.2 1% staircasing It was acknowledged that shared owners can find cost and complexity as barriers to staircasing, and so the ability to staircase in 1% increments may reduce these challenges. Providers were a little concerned about the administration costs of managing 1% staircasing and how these costs would be covered. However, most providers and lenders did not see this is a problem as they did not feel that there would be a large uptake in the desire to staircase in 1% increments. Most found that in their experience partial staircasing was limited and most shared owners tended to staircase to 100%, or not at all:9'