Step by step guide to Right to Buy

Step 1 - What happens when I have applied for Right to Buy?

If you have the Right to Buy your property, we will advise you by sending you Form RTB2 within four weeks of receiving your application (this could take as long as eight weeks in exceptional circumstances).

Step 2 - Valuing the property

You will be contacted by our appointed surveyor to arrange a time for your property to be valued. The surveyor will need to gain access to your property to make his valuation. When making his valuation, the surveyor will take into consideration any defects found and compare values of private and recent right to buy properties.

Step 3 – Offer notice

Within eight weeks of your form RTB2 admittance (12 weeks if your property is a flat or maisonette), we will send you the Section 125 notice (Landlord’s Offer Notice). This document shows you the valuation of your home, your discount and the conditions of purchase.

If you are buying a flat we will also include an estimate of service charges you will have to pay during your lease.

If you want to appeal against the valuation, you must do this by completing a RTB5 form within three months of the Offer Notice being issued. 

Step 4 – Your acceptance

If you want to go ahead with the purchase of your property you should let us know within 12 weeks of the issue date of the Offer Notice by returning the Tenants Notice of Intention form to us. If you do not do this you will be sent a reminder asking you to respond within 28 days. If you do not respond your application may be cancelled. If you still want to purchase your home, you will have to start the process again by completing a new application form.

Step 5 – Completing the purchase

When you return the acceptance form with details of your Solicitor, our legal officer will contact your solicitor with a complete set of conveyancing documents and will work towards making formal arrangements for the date of the sale.

Remembe, if you do not keep up the repayments on your mortgage your lender may go to court to apply to take over your home. We may not be obliged to offer you another property if you lose your home in this way.

Selling your home

You can sell your home whenever you like, but you may have to repay some or all the discount you received. The amount you will have to repay depends on when you bought it.

If you sell it within the first five years, you will have to repay some or the entire discount you received.

The amount of discount to be repaid if you sell within five years of purchasing will include a percentage of the resale value of the property, disregarding any improvements you make.

If you wish to sell it within the first ten years, you will be required to ask us if we want to buy it back from you first at full market value. This is known as the ‘right to first refusal’.

If you need a copy of the deeds and you still have a mortgage on your property, please contact your mortgage lender. If you do not have a mortgage, please contact the solicitor who acted on your behalf for the purchase of your home.