What is right to buy?

Under the Right to Buy (RTB) scheme, most council tenants and housing association tenants have the right to buy their council home at a discount. This is provided that a minimum period has been spent as a council tenant or housing association tenant in the public sector.

This minimum period is:

  • two years if you were a secure tenant before 18 January 2005,
  • five years if your secure tenancy started after 18 January 2005 but before 26 May 2015,
  • three years if your secure tenancy started from 26 May 2015.

You can exercise the RTB with members of your family. The member of family must have lived with you throughout the last 12 months. If the property is not your only or principal home, you can share the RTB with up to three family members who are not tenants.

Discount

The discount is calculated based on a number of factors including the length of tenancy, and any time spent as a tenant of another local authority.

The current maximum discount is £96,000 across England (except in London boroughs where it is £127,900).  

It applies to applications which are served on the landlord by the tenant on or after 6 April 2023.

It does not apply retrospectively to applications made before 6 April 2023.

It could increase each year in April in line with the consumer price index (CPI). The figures were last updated 6 April 2023.

Standard Conditions of Sale

If you sell your property within 5 years of buying it, you will have to repay some or all of the discount you received. If you wish to sell your property within 10 years of buying your property you must offer it to either us or another social landlord in your area, before putting your property on the market.

We have no obligation to carry out certain repairs and maintenance works once a property is subject to RTB, between the time the application is made and the time the purchase/sale actually takes place.