L&Q said raising the shared ownership income cap can help families remain in London (picture: Hiran Perera)

L&Q has called on the government to lift the shared ownership income cap from £90,000 to £120,000 for families with children in London as they are being locked out of all housing tenures.

The 120,000-home G15 member said the current threshold fails to factor in significantly higher housing and childcare costs faced by London families, forcing some to leave the capital altogether.

Research published last month by London Councils noted that around 90 schools have closed or merged across the city over the past five years, with high housing costs and economic uncertainty cited as two key factors behind declining enrolment numbers.

L&Q is not the first London housing association to call for changes to the shared ownership cap. In February, Clarion said the caps should be lifted to £120,000 in the capital and £110,000 outside – where it is currently £80,000 – to prevent key workers from being priced out of homes.

In July, the G15 Residents’ Group called on housing minister Matthew Pennycook to introduce a shared ownership pilot to reduce interest rates on staircasing, helping more people own homes outright.

Staircasing rates fell to the lowest levels in a decade in 2025, with Mr Pennycook saying then that the government was reviewing potential improvements to the model.

According to L&Q’s analysis, a single parent earning just over £90,000 would need an estimated 131 years to save for a typical housing deposit in inner London. Lifting the shared ownership income cap to £120,000 could open a “realistic” alternative pathway into homeownership for London-based families with children, the association said.

It found that while a couple earning just over £90,000 could save a 10% deposit on a two-bedroom flat in inner London in around four-and-a-half years (or three in outer London), having children would increase this timeframe to 12 years.

The landlord said lifting the income cap would enable families to remain in neighbourhoods, which would keep housing costs more sustainable and boost market mobility by increasing the pool of potential buyers.

Fiona Fletcher-Smith, group chief executive of L&Q, said that while “shared ownership is not the answer to every housing challenge, for many thousands of households it remains one of the only routes into homeownership”.

London’s parents face some of the highest housing and childcare costs in the country, she added.

“Too many are being squeezed into a gap where they earn too much to qualify for shared ownership, but not enough to buy outright,” Ms Fletcher-Smith said. “Raising the cap is a cost-free change that would put homeownership within reach for London parents without access to the Bank of Mum and Dad.”

L&Q is “ready to work with government and partners across the sector to ensure shared ownership continues to support the households it was designed to help”, Ms Fletcher-Smith added.

The housing association said it will publish a wider report and policy recommendations this month. It will be based on its analysis and research conducted with King’s College London that explores how shared ownership can evolve to “better serve the needs of current and future residents”.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “Shared Ownership has an important role to play in supporting families into homeownership who would otherwise struggle to buy a home that meets their needs.

“We keep eligibility for the scheme under review so it remains fair and targeted towards those who need the most support into homeownership.”

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L&Q calls for shared ownership income cap raise for London families with children