Right to Acquire: buying your housing association home

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1. Overview

You might be able to buy your rented housing association home at a discount through the Right to Acquire scheme. You and your landlord must meet the eligibility requirements to apply.

You can apply to buy your housing association home if you바카라 사이트™ve had a public sector landlord for 3 years. These landlords include:

  • housing associations
  • councils
  • the armed services
  • NHS trusts and foundation trusts

Eligible properties

Your property must either have been:

  • built or bought by a housing association after 31 March 1997 (and funded through a social housing grant provided by the Housing Corporation or local council)
  • transferred from a local council to a housing association after 31 March 1997

Your landlord must be registered with the Regulator of Social Housing.

The home you want to buy must also be:

  • a self-contained property
  • your only or main home

Joint applications

You can make a joint application with:

  • someone who shares your tenancy
  • up to 3 family members who바카라 사이트™ve lived with you for the past 12 months (even if they do not share your tenancy)

Who does not qualify

You cannot use Right to Acquire if:

2. Discounts

You can get a discount of between £9,000 and £16,000 on the price of your property.

The amount of discount you바카라 사이트™ll get depends on where you live in the UK.

Your landlord will tell you what discount you바카라 사이트™ll get when you apply to buy your home. You can also download a table of discounts, broken down by location.

Your discount might be reduced if you바카라 사이트™ve used Right to Acquire or Right to Buy in the past.

3. Applying

  1. Fill in the Right to Acquire application form.

  2. Send it to your landlord.

  3. Your landlord must say yes or no within 4 weeks of getting your application (8 weeks if they바카라 사이트™ve been your landlord for less than 3 years). If your landlord says no, they must say why. You cannot appeal against the landlord바카라 사이트™s decision.

  4. If your landlord agrees to sell, they바카라 사이트™ll send you an offer. They must do this within 8 weeks of saying yes if ²â´Ç³Ü바카라 사이트™r±ð buying a freehold property, or 12 weeks if ²â´Ç³Ü바카라 사이트™r±ð buying a leasehold property.

Your landlord might offer you the choice of buying your home, or another empty one that they own. You do not have to accept the other property and your landlord does not have to offer you one.

4. Your landlord바카라 사이트™s offer

If your landlord agrees to sell, their offer will tell you:

  • the price they think you should pay for the property and how it was worked out
  • your discount and how it was worked out
  • a description of the property and any land included in the price
  • estimates of any service charge (for a flat or maisonette) for the first 5 years
  • any known problems with the property바카라 사이트™s structure, such as subsidence

Deciding to buy

Once you get your landlord바카라 사이트™s offer, you have 12 weeks to tell them that you still want to buy.

If you do not reply, the landlord will send you a reminder (called an 바카라 사이트˜RTA4바카라 사이트™). You바카라 사이트™ll have a reasonable time (at least 28 days) to reply. If you do not, your landlord will send a final reminder (called an 바카라 사이트˜RTA5바카라 사이트™). If you do not reply to that, your landlord can drop your application.

You can pull out of the sale and continue to rent at any time.

If you disagree with the landlord바카라 사이트™s offer

Contact your landlord and tell them why.

If you think your landlord has set your home바카라 사이트™s market value too high, you must write to them within 3 months of getting the offer and ask for an independent valuation.

A district valuer from HM Revenue & Customs will visit your home and decide how much it바카라 사이트™s worth. You have 12 weeks to accept their valuation or pull out of the sale.

5. Selling your home

If you sell your home within 10 years of buying it through Right to Acquire, you must first offer it to your old landlord.

The property should be sold at the full market price agreed between you and the landlord.

If you cannot agree, a district valuer will say how much your home is worth and set the price. You do not have to pay for their valuation.

If the landlord does not agree to buy your home within 8 weeks, you can sell it to anyone.

Paying back your discount

If you sell your home within 5 years of buying it, you바카라 사이트™ll have to pay back some or all of the discount you got.

If you sell within the first year, you바카라 사이트™ll have to pay back all of the discount. On top of this, the amount you pay back depends on the value of your home when you sell it. So, if you got a 10% discount, you바카라 사이트™ll have to pay back 10% of the selling price.

If you sell after the first year, the total amount you pay back reduces. You pay back:

  • 80% of the discount in the second year
  • 60% of the discount in the third year
  • 40% of the discount in the fourth year
  • 20% of the discount in the fifth year

Example

You bought your home worth £100,000 and got a 10% discount (£10,000). You then sold your home after 18 months for £120,000.

10% of £120,000 is £12,000. As ²â´Ç³Ü바카라 사이트™r±ð in the second year, you would repay 80% of £12,000 (£9,600).

6. Help and advice

Ask your landlord about Right to Acquire. They may also be able to help you complete the application form.

Right to Buy Agent service

The Right to Buy Agent service offers free advice on things like:

  • the Right to Acquire process, including delays
  • eligibility
  • filling out your application form
  • where you can get financial and legal advice

Right to Buy Agent service
enquiry@righttobuyagent.org.uk
Telephone: 0300 123 0913
Find out about call charges

Other help

You can also get advice on Right to Acquire from:

  • the website
  • your local