Right to buy

Information, Questions and Answers

1. Do you have the Right to Buy your home?

To qualify for a discount through the Right to Buy you must have been a tenant of a council, housing association or public sector landlord for 3 years. These years do not have to be continuous and could have been in different homes with different public sector landlords. 

However not all secure tenants have the Right to Buy.

2. How is your home valued?

• We will send you an RTB2 notice – letting you know if you have the Right to Buy.
• Once you have the Right to Buy - your contact details are sent to a local Valuers, in order to value your home (They will act on behalf of the Council).
• The Valuers will contact you to arrange an appointment to visit and assess the value of your home.
• The Valuers will not take into account your own improvements to the property. It is important that you list you own improvements on your application form.
• After the Council has received the information from Valuers, you will be sent your Offer Notice (Section 125 Notice).  
• If you do not agree with the valuation, you have the right to request a redetermination of the valuation by the District Valuers. The District Valuers are independent of the Council and do not work on our behalf. Details of how request this can be found on your Offer Notice.

3. Will you be entitled to a discount?

The maximum discount currently is capped at £96,010** (please see right to buy legislation changes at point 4 below). 

Your actual discount will depend upon:

• the valuation of the property – (see question 2) 
• the time you have been a tenant of either a council, housing association or other eligible public sector landlords (see below) 
• if you have previously purchased under the Right to Buy… 
  • If any of the applicants have previously purchased under the Right to Buy and received a discount. The discount you are entitled to will be reduced by the amount of the discount you received the previous time you purchased a property under the Right to Buy.
• the cost of build, purchase, any repairs or refurbishment carried out by the Council in the last 10/15 years –  the ‘Cost Floor’ figure.
• Cost Floor: If the ‘Cost Floor’ expenditure figure comes to more than the value of your home you may not get a discount at all

**The Maximum Discount Cap figure has increased from £87,200 to £96,010 (in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI)). Applications received on or after 6th April 2023 the Maximum Discount Cap of £96,010 applies (where applicable).

4. Right to Buy legislation changes

**The Maximum Discount Cap figure has increased from £87,200 to £96,010 (in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI)). Applications received on or after 6th April 2023 the Maximum Discount Cap of £96,010 applies (where applicable).

On 26th May 2015 the Qualifying Period was reduced from 5 years to 3 years.
(Previous changes: On 6th April 2021 the maximum Discount Cap increased from £84,600 to £87,200)

5. Will you have to repay the discount?

There are some circumstances under which you may have to repay the discount
If you sell your home within 5 years of buying it you will have to pay back all, some or potentially more of the discount you received, based on a percentage of the resale value of the property.

• In the first year you will have to repay all the discount 

• In the second year you will have to repay 80% of the discount 

• In the third year you will have to repay 60% of the discount 

• In the fourth year you will have to repay 40% of the discount 

• In the fifth year you will have to repay 20% of the discount

6. Before selling the property on the open market

If you decide to sell your home that you purchased under the Right to Buy scheme, you must give the Council (or another social landlord in the area as nominated by the Council) the Right of First Refusal to buy the property back, (before you are able to sell your property on the open market). This requirement applies for the first ten year period after the date you purchased your home.

If the Council wishes to buy the property back from you this will be at an agreed market value as at the time of your offer.

7. How much is it likely to cost to buy your home?

In addition to the actual purchase price of your home there are other costs associated with buying a property. These could include:-

• Survey - to identify any current or future maintenance and structural problems with the property. 

• Legal fees - you may need to hire a solicitor or other licensed conveyancer for the legal aspects of your purchase.

• Stamp Duty may be payable - your solicitor should be able to advise you of how much this will be. 

Survey and Legal fees and services vary from supplier to supplier. You may wish to check a number of suppliers before making a decision.

8. How do I apply?

To apply for the Right to Buy you need to fill in a Right to Buy Claim form (RTB1) and send to your landlord.

To receive the form and guides you can:

• contact the Council's Legal Department on 01727 819506

• Download Application Form.pdf and Your Right to Buy Your Home booklet.pdf

• read more information

• request a copy from the Council's main reception. 

Complete the form carefully as the information you give will be used to decide if you have the Right to Buy and how much discount you will receive. 

Within 4 weeks the council will send you a Notice informing you whether you have the Right to Buy. If you don't have the Right to Buy the reasons will be given.
If you do have the Right to Buy you will then receive an Offer Notice (Section 125 Notice). If you are buying a house we will send the Offer notice within 8 weeks of sending out your acceptance Notice and within 12 weeks if you are buying a flat or maisonette. 

The Offer Notice describes 

• the property, 

• the purchase value,

• your discount and how it was worked out, 

• details of any known structural defects, 

• estimates of any service charges and any other charges and 

• the terms and conditions of the sale. 

You will need to make a decision within 12 weeks from the date on the Offer Notice to:

• accept the offer, 

• request re-determination of the value of the property, or 

• withdraw from the process 

Once you have accepted the offer you have 6 months to purchase the property from the date on your Offer Notice

Details of the process can be read in Your right to buy your home: a guide If the Council delays the process or does not return the documents within the statutory timescales, you may be entitled to a reduction in the purchase price. Further information on the delay procedure is available in Your right to buy your home: a guide. RTB6 and RTB8 forms can also be downloaded RTB6 & RTB8 forms & information.