Buying a House

Who has the right to buy (or the right to a statutory house sale in Northern Ireland)

As a public sector tenant you will probably have the right to buy if you are a secure tenant of:-

* a local authority
* a non-charitable housing association
* a housing action trust
* in Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Housing Executive or a registered housing association.

You have the right to buy if you have been a public sector tenant for at least two years. However, if your tenancy began on or after 18 January 2005 (in Northern Ireland, after 12 October 2004), you must have been a public sector tenant for at least five years.

As a tenant, you will not have the right to buy if you are:-

* a housing association tenant whose tenancy began on or after 15 January 1989
* a tenant of a property owned by a charity, although you may be entitled to a lump sum grant to help you buy on the open market
* a tenant of sheltered housing or housing specifically designated for older people
* in Northern Ireland, the tenant of a single storey or ground floor property (other than a flat)
* an undischarged bankrupt. If you have rent arrears, you can still apply for the right to buy but you need to clear the arrears before the sale can go ahead.

If you are not sure whether you have the right to buy, you should check with your landlord which category you fit into.

If you are a secure tenant of a local authority, you should be given written information to help you decide about the right to buy. You can also get this information from a government leaflet called (New window) Your right to buy your home.

This leaflet is available in a number of different languages, including Urdu, Arabic, Gujerati, Bengali and Welsh.

You can also get it on audio tape or in Braille if you are disabled. To order a copy, email communities@twoten.com.

Discounts

As a tenant with a right to buy, you will get a discount on the price of the property. If you live in a house the discount will be between 32% and 60%, depending on how long you have lived there. If you live in a flat, the discount will be between 44% and 70%, depending on how long you have lived there. The discount will not exceed the regional upper limits, which, in England and Wales, range from £16,000 to £38,000.

In Northern Ireland, if you have been a secure tenant for 5 years you will get a 20% discount, and a further 2% discount for every additional year you have been a secure tenant. The maximum discount you can get is £34,000.

If you exercise the right to buy and then sell the property within a certain period, you may have to repay some or all of the discount – check the rules with your local authority.

To find out more about how this might apply to you, see the government leaflet (New window) Your right to buy your home, or get advice from an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on (New window) nearest CAB.

How to pay

As a tenant who wants to exercise your right to buy, you should try to obtain a mortgage from a building society or high street bank. You could also contact a mortgage broker to see if they can arrange a mortgage.

However, if you cannot afford to buy the property outright you can still buy under the rent to mortgage scheme. Under this scheme you can buy a share of the property and make mortgage repayments on the amount you have borrowed for this. The landlord will retain ownership of the remaining share of the property.

How to apply

In England and Wales, if you want to apply for the right to buy you should ask your landlord for the Right to Buy Claim Form (Form RTB1). In Northern Ireland, you should ask for a house sales application form. The landlord must provide it.

The right to acquire (England and Wales only)

As a secure or assured tenant of a registered social landlord, for example, a housing association or a local housing company, you may have the right to buy your home under a different scheme called the ‘right to acquire’. The right to acquire only applies to a limited number of properties, for example, homes built with public funds on or after 1 April 1997.

For more information about the right to acquire, in England you should contact your landlord or the Homes and Communities Agency who can be contacted by phoning 0300 1234 500 or by visiting (New window) www.homesandcommunities.co.uk. In Wales, you should contact the Welsh Assembly Government on telephone number 0845 010 3300 (English) or 0845 010 4400 (Welsh), or by visiting (New window) www.new.wales.gov.uk.