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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 you鈥檝e 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 who鈥檝e 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:

• 测辞耻鈥檙别 being made bankrupt
• a court has ordered you to leave your home
• 测辞耻鈥檙别 a council tenant - you may be able to use Right to Buy instead
• you have 鈥楶reserved Right to Buy鈥�

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

The amount of discount you鈥檒l get depends on where you live in the UK.

Your landlord will tell you what discount you鈥檒l 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 you鈥檝e used Right to Acquire or Right to Buy in the past.

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 they鈥檝e been your landlord for less than 3 years). If your landlord says no, they must say why. You cannot appeal against the landlord鈥檚 decision.

4. If your landlord agrees to sell, they鈥檒l send you an offer. They must do this within 8 weeks of saying yes if 测辞耻鈥檙别 buying a freehold property, or 12 weeks if 测辞耻鈥檙别 buying a leasehold property.

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 property鈥檚 structure, such as subsidence

Deciding to buy

Once you get your landlord鈥檚 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 鈥楻TA4鈥�). You鈥檒l have a reasonable time (at least 28 days) to reply. If you do not, your landlord will send a final reminder (called an 鈥楻TA5鈥�). 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 landlord鈥檚 offer

Contact your landlord and tell them why.

If you think your landlord has set your home鈥檚 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 it鈥檚 worth. You have 12 weeks to accept their valuation or pull out of the sale.

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, you鈥檒l have to pay back some or all of the discount you got.

If you sell within the first year, you鈥檒l 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, you鈥檒l 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

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

Other help

You can also get advice on Right to Acquire from:

• the website
• your local