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’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 who’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: you’re being made bankrupt a court has ordered you to leave your home you’re a council tenant - you may be able to use Right to Buy instead you have ‘Preserved Right to Buy ’

You can get a discount of between £9,000 and £16,000 on the price of your property. The amount of discount you’ll get depends on where you live in the UK. Your landlord will tell you what discount you’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 you’ve used Right to Acquire or Right to Buy in the past.

Fill in the Right to Acquire application form . Send it to your landlord. Your landlord must say yes or no within 4 weeks of getting your application (8 weeks if they have been your landlord for less than 3 years). If your landlord says no, they must say why. You cannot appeal against the landlord’s decision. If your landlord agrees to sell, they’ll send you an offer . They must do this within 8 weeks of saying yes if you’re buying a freehold property, or 12 weeks if you’re 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.

Your landlord’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 property’s structure, such as subsidence Deciding to buy Once you get your landlord’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 ‘RTA4’). You’ll have a reasonable time (at least 28 days) to reply. If you do not, your landlord will send a final reminder (called an ‘RTA5’). 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’s offer Contact your landlord and tell them why. If you think your landlord has set your home’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 it’s 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’ll have to pay back some or all of the discount you got. If you sell within the first year, you’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, you’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 you’re in the second year, you would repay 80% of £12,000 (£9,600).

Ask your landlord about Right to Acquire. They may also be able to help you complete the application form. Other help You can also get advice on Right to Acquire from: Money Helper Citizens Advice Shelter your local Law Centre

Right to Acquire: buying your housing association home

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 you’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 who’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:

you’re being made bankrupt
a court has ordered you to leave your home
you’re a council tenant - you may be able to use Right to Buy instead
you have ‘Preserved Right to Buy’

View a printable version of the whole guide

Right to Acquire: buying your housing association home

Overview

Eligible properties

Joint applications

Who does not qualify

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Right to Acquire: buying your housing association home

Overview

Eligible properties

Joint applications

Who does not qualify

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