Can I increase my monthly payments to buy more of my home, instead of buying in 5% steps?

Your monthly rent payment does not go towards your ownership of your home. 

Paying rent and buying more of your home are two separate things, and paying rent does not increase the percentage of your home that you own.

The process for owning more of your property (also known as staircasing) requires you to purchase additional shares in set amounts, typically of 5%, 10%, 20%, or to buy out the remaining share in full. Each time you want to increase your share, you’ll need to request a valuation, pay the £75 valuation fee, and buy the percentage you want. 

There isn’t an option to "top up" your ownership by paying extra each month beyond your regular rent and mortgage payments. If you wish to own more of your home, you’ll need to follow the formal staircasing process. You can find more details about increasing your share and the steps involved on our Increasing your share page.