Ownership: right to buy
Under the current legislation (Housing Act 1985), if you are a secure tenant, you may be able to purchase your home at a price lower than the full market value.
This becomes effective once you have spent a minimum of 2 years as a public sector tenant, which may include other local authorities, registered social landlords and the armed forces.
There are exclusions from the scheme, for example, if you are in breach of any court possession for rent arrears.
The discount available starts at 32% for a house and 44% for a flat after the qualifying period. If you are buying a house, then the discount increases by 1% each additional year. Alternatively, if you are buying a flat, this increases by 2% each additional year.
However, in 1999 the Government capped the discount value for the Eastern Region to a maximum of £34,000. If the percentage you are eligible for calculates above the monetary sum of £34,000 you will only receive that maximum discount sum.
Once you have decided to proceed with your Right to Buy, you are then responsible for organising your own mortgage lender and solicitor, taking time to consider all the costs involved and choices available.
For further information, application form and booklet, please contact
Colin Wiles at the Society’s offices
Phone: 01223 312294
Fax: 01223 355394
Email: colin@kingstreeths.org uk
NOTE: Changes to 'Right To Buy' Legislation from 18 January 2005:
From the 18th January 2005, changes to the law affect tenants’ ‘right to buy’. The changes were introduced to try to tackle the shortage of low cost housing and to prevent abuses of the right to buy scheme.
Some of the changes are:
The qualifying period for tenants is increased from two years to five years for tenancies that commence on or after 18 January 2005.
If a person sells their property within five years of buying it from the Society, they will have to pay back a percentage of the discount. The amount of discount that will be repayable will now be a percentage of the sale price when resold.
If a person wishes to sell their property within the first ten years of owning it the property must first be offered to the Society who will have the right to buy it back from them.
A ‘right to buy’ application can be suspended by a court order if the tenant, or a person living in or visiting the tenant’s property has been served with an ASBO.
“Deferred sale agreements” trigger the repayment of discount as soon as they are entered into. A deferred sale agreement is usually an agreement entered into with a company or a relative to transfer ownership of the property to them at the end of the discount period. This does not apply to “deferred sale agreements” entered into before 18th January 2005.
Details of other changes in the legislation or more information on the changesmentioned above can be obtained from the Department for Communities and Local Government.
