About us

The Shared Ownership Council is an initiative set up to drive an independent focus on improvements to the shared owner experience and unlock a stronger and fairer shared ownership market.

We are a time-limited initiative, not a legal entity. We are currently led by our Board, chaired by Ann Santry CBE, and facilitated by Social Finance – a not-for-profit enterprise that provides the capacity and capability to run the Council. We have been funded by grant funding from 34 organisations and are responsible for and remain committed to delivering consumer-focused aims enshrined in our grant agreements.

Our work at the Shared Ownership Council

All activity at the Shared Ownership Council is underpinned by our core purpose of driving meaningful improvements to the shared owner experience, with the ultimate goal of unlocking a stronger and fairer shared ownership market.

Shared Ownership Code

Following extensive consumer and industry consultation, we developed and launched the Shared Ownership Code for housing providers, which is designed to standardise best practices and consumer protection for shared ownership, ensuring it has a sustainable consumer-focused future.

Senior Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE)

We convene our Senior Advisory Group of Experts quarterly, comprising representatives from each of our 34 funder organisations. These groups are designed to communicate progress, understand perspectives and explore new areas of focus and improvement.

The Shared Ownership Council’s independence and cross-sector remit have meant that in response to demand from industry participants, we have expanded from our primary focus on the Code to begin to consider the potential for efforts on data and reform. Focused progress in these areas has made a measured impact:

Data

Improving data and information on shared ownership’s impact is necessary. We reviewed the landscape of effort on data in shared ownership and convened a working group on data and evidence to make recommendations (with a publication forthcoming).

Reform and standardisation

Alongside the rollout of the Code, we believe there is room for thoughtful, targeted reform that helps shared ownership make sense to consumers. We facilitated discussions with members of the SAGE advisory group to identify promising options for government-led reform.

Engagement with Government, public bodies and the wider shared ownership ecosystem

We continue to proactively engage with the Government, public bodies, industry and member organisations, and shared ownership campaigners to foster collaboration in the movement to drive meaningful improvements to the shared owner experience.

Timeline of activity

    • Lloyds Banking Group funded early work to explore appetite for a cross-sector effort to improve experiences of shared ownership.

    • Chaired by Peter Williams, a voluntary group of senior leaders from across the sector came together to guide this work, supported by Social Finance as secretariat.

    • The group published a discussion paper proposing an industry-led framework for shared ownership and invited feedback from across the sector.

    • Widespread support led to efforts to raise funding from a broad range of organisations involved in shared ownership to move the work forward.

    • Social Finance began facilitating the Shared Ownership Council.

    • Ann Santry CBE became Chair of the project Board, joined by Brendan Sarsfield and Paula Higgins, with Janet Pope joining in early 2024. Peter Williams continued as an advisor to the Board throughout.

    • The first draft Shared Ownership Code was published.

    • From June to September, the Council conducted an extensive consultation with shared owners and the sector to gather feedback on the Code and shared ownership experience.

    • Feedback from the consultation shaped a revised version of the Code, published in December 2024.

    • The Council piloted the Code with eight housing providers to ensure it was easy and practical to implement when launched industry-wide.

    • Insights the consultation, pilot, and wider feedback shaped the final Code, published in June 2025. Providers can now register their interest in adopting it.

Board Members

We are pleased to have a Board in place with members who are well-respected and known in the sector, offering a range of insights from many years in the housing space.

  • Ann Santry CBE

    Chair

    Ann has worked in the social housing sector for over 35 years and was CEO of Sovereign Housing until June 2018. She holds NED positions at the housebuilder, Hill Group, and Simply Affordable Homes.

  • Paula Higgins

    Paula is founder of the HomeOwners Alliance, established after 15 years’ experience reforming housing policy within government. She is a respected property commentator and advocate for homeowners.

  • Brendan Sarsfield

    Brendan has over 40 years’ experience in the housing sector, including as Peabody’s CEO (2017-2021). He now has a number of Advisory/NED roles and is Chair Elect of Notting Hill Genesis.

  • Janet Pope

    Janet most recently served as Chief of Staff and Chief Sustainability Officer at Lloyds Banking Group, a Group Executive Committee role. Here she led on a variety of purpose related issues including access to affordable, quality and sustainable homes, inclusion and sustainability. Janet has a number of non executive roles including Chair at Charities Aid Foundation Bank.

  • Peter Williams

    Independent advisor

    Peter has an extensive career, spanning academia, housing and financial service, trade bodies, government research, and public service. Most recently, he was the Executive Director of the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association, having previously served as the Deputy Director General of Council of Mortgage Lenders.

Delivery Team

Activity at the Shared Ownership Council is supported by the core delivery team made up of colleagues from its not-for-profit facilitator , Social Finance, and shared ownership specialist Bernie Conroy.

  • Susan McDonald

    Director, Social Finance

    Susan McDonald leads Social Finance's housing and homelessness practice and has led engagements for them since 2018. 

    She joined Social Finance after 11 years in the financial services sector, primarily as an investment manager at Aberdeen Asset Management. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

  • Madeline Asta

    Associate, Social Finance

    Madeline is a Associate on the Government and Enterprise Team with a background in research and education. 

    Prior to joining Social Finance, Madeline conducted research on family-owned businesses at the University of Oxford and on increasing access to education in Brazil.

  • Bernie Conroy

    Consultant

    Bernie’s career in housing spans over more than three decades, having previously worked at Metropolitan Housing Trust for 28 years, where her final role was Director of Home Ownership. She was also a member of the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) working group that delivered the Shared Ownership Charter. During the pilot, Bernie lead work related to the development of templates and guidance for providers, and worked to ensure the Code is fit for purpose for specialist types of shared ownership.