Right to Buy

What is Right to Buy?

Originally introduced in 1980, the Right to Buy scheme gives council tenants the opportunity to buy their home at a discount.

The maximum discount you can get is 70% off the purchase price of your home, up to a total of £116,200 in London and £87,200 elsewhere in England.

In June 2022, the government announced that the scheme would be extended to housing association tenants.

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Right to Buy eligibility

If you have spent at least three years living in a council house or flat in England, you can use Right to Buy.

The three-year period doesn't have to be continuous - although you do need to have lived in your current home for at least 12 months.

Joint applications are allowed, so you have the option of buying your home with a fellow tenant or partner. You can also apply with up to three family members, provided they have also lived in the property for the past 12 months.

While the vast majority of council houses can be purchased through Right to Buy, there are some restrictions, so check your property is eligible before applying.

Right to Buy discount levels

Your Right to Buy discount depends on the type of property you're buying and how long you've been a council tenant.

If you live in a house and have been a council tenant for at least three years, you can benefit from a 35% Right to Buy discount. After five years, this discount increases by 1% each year, up to a maximum of 70% if you've been a council tenant for 40 years or longer.

Buyers who live in a flat get an initial discount of 50% after three years, which increases by 2% each year after five years. As with houses, the maximum discount you can get on your council flat is 70% off the purchase price.

Right to Buy mortgages

If you want to use Right to Buy but only have a small (or no) deposit, you may still be able to get a mortgage. This is because many - though not all - lenders will accept the discount you get with Right to Buy as a deposit.

If you're buying a house with a discount of 50%, for example, a lender may offer you a mortgage on the other 50% of the property without requiring a deposit, on the condition that they can repossess the entire property should you fail to make your repayments.

However, these kinds of deals will vary between lenders and may not always be available.

Normally you won't need to take out a specific Right to Buy mortgage, and this means that you'll be subject to the same affordability checks as other mortgage applicants. This means that your income and spending habits will be assessed and you'll have to pass your lender's credit check too.

This credit check will flag any problems with debt, which could disqualify you from buying your house under Right to Buy. You cannot use the Right to Buy if you have:

• An un-discharged bankruptcy
• A pending bankruptcy petition
• An Individual Voluntary Arrangement with people you owe money to
• A debt relief order.

If you're self-employed, you may be asked to provide several years' worth of accounts to prove your income (see our guide to self-employed mortgages for more on this).

How do I buy my home using Right to Buy?

1. Fill out the Right to Buy application form

The first step to buying your home through the Right to Buy scheme is completing the government's online application form.

When filling out this form, you will need the following details to hand:

• Your property's full address
• Your landlord's name
• Full names of everyone on your tenancy agreement
• Full names of any family members you are buying the property with
• Your current and previous tenancy details (as well as those of anyone you are purchasing with)
• Information on any improvements you have made to the property while living there
• All tenants' signatures.

2. Wait for your landlord's response

Once you've submitted the form, your landlord has up to four weeks to confirm whether you have the Right to Buy (or eight weeks if you've been with your current landlord for under three years).

If your application is successful, your landlord should then send you an offer within eight weeks (or 12 weeks if it's a leasehold property). This offer should include the purchase price, the discount, and details of any structural problems.

3. Accept the offer

You will then have 12 weeks to accept the offer. During this time, it is advisable to do the following:

• Secure a mortgage: even if you can afford your home without a mortgage, you should still see if lenders would theoretically offer one on the property itself - if they won't, you may struggle to sell it in the future.
• Get a property solicitor a property solicitor or conveyancer will help with the legal side of the purchase.
• Have a property survey completed: this will identify any issues with the condition of the house.

Once you're happy with the terms and have arranged the finances, you can complete your purchase.

Right to Buy for housing association tenants

In June 2022, the government announced plans to extend Right to Buy to housing association tenants.

The proposal to extend Right to Buy was originally brought forward in 2015, before being piloted in the West Midlands in 2018.

The government says all housing association homes sold under Right to Buy will be replaced with new properties, something that failed to happen during the 2018 pilot.

The government is yet to announce when the extension will come into force or whether eligibility rules will be identical to those for people in council houses.

Alternatives to Right to Buy

If you can't afford to buy your home using Right to Buy, you may be able to instead take advantage of other schemes such as Social HomeBuy.

Social HomeBuy allows you to purchase a share of your council or housing association property and pay rent on the rest of it.

This differs from Right to Buy because, if you use Social HomeBuy, you could receive a discount of £9,000-£16,000. You can find out more with the government guide to Social HomeBuy.