MORTGAGES
RIGHT TO BUY SCHEME
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Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
What is the Right to Buy scheme and how does it work?
The Right to Buy scheme allows most council tenants to buy their council home at a discount. The size of the discount does vary from home to home, and is determined by a few different factors. How long you’ve lived in the property, whether it’s a flat or a house and also the value of the property.
Who qualifies for the Right to Buy scheme?
There is a really good eligibility checker on the government website, but the main criteria are that it’s your only or main home, that it’s self-contained (you don’t share a kitchen or bathroom) and you have to be a secure tenant. A secure tenant is someone who doesn’t intend to leave the property after purchase. Of course, you also need to be a public sector tenant, which means that you rent from a council or a housing association. You will need to have done so for at least 3 years, but it doesn’t have to be 3 years in a row. You can do a joint application, so long as the other applicant shares your tenancy or has lived with you for the past three years as well.
What’s the process if I do qualify for Right to Buy?
The scheme is quite structured and it’s down to the applicant who wishes to purchase their own home to get things started. The first step is to complete a Right to Buy application form, which can be found on the government website. Once the application has been signed, send it by recorded delivery or deliver it in person and ask for a receipt. When the landlord receives the application is important as there are certain timeframes to keep throughout the whole process, and if the landlord doesn’t keep within them, you could potentially get a larger discount. Once the landlord has the application, they must make a decision within four weeks of receiving it. If they’ve been your landlord for less than three years it can take up to eight weeks to receive an answer to your application. If they decline, the landlord needs to provide a full explanation as to why. In most cases, the landlord will agree to sell the property, and send you an offer. The offer will include the price they think you should pay for the home, how much discount you’ll receive and how it was calculated.
What’s the discount if you live in a house and also if you live in a flat?
The maximum discount is £84,600 in England, but if you’re in London, it does increase slightly to £112,800 for a house. The discount is 35% if you’ve been a tenant for between 3 and 5 years, but after that, it actually goes up 1% for every extra year that you’ve lived there up to a maximum of 70%. For a flat the discount starts at 50% if you’ve been a tenant for between 3 and 5 years and after 5 years the discount goes up by 2% per year. There is still a maximum of saving £84,600 or £112,800 if you are in London. The only time this changes is if the landlord or the council that you’re renting from has spent money maintaining the building.
Can I let my Right to Buy property?
The Right to Buy scheme does dictate that the buyer must live in their home as a main resident for a minimum of five years. After that point they essentially are no longer bound by the terms of the scheme.The property is yours at this point, so if you want to rent it out you’d switch onto a Buy to Let mortgage. If you sold the property within the first five years or rented it out, you would be required to pay back some, if not all, of the discount that was applied. Always speak to a professional, get the advice and run through all of the questions with them before considering any changes to this type of home ownership scheme.The Yellow Brick Mortgages team would be happy to do all the hard work for you.
Can the council refuse my Right to Buy application?
There are a couple of reasons that your application can be denied. The most common being that you don’t qualify for the scheme, but if you go online and check the eligibility first, this shouldn’t happen. If the joint tenant hasn’t given their consent for the other tenant to buy without them, this can cause a rejected application. If they can’t verify your identity or it’s not your main house it can affect your application, and the main reason for rejection is if the property is adapted in some way for elderly or disabled people. We can run through and check the eligibility with you, but more so than often it sails through quite easily with the councils in England.
Your home/property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
Some Buy-To-Let Mortgages are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Are there options if I am refused?
You can appeal to a tribunal which is called a first tier tribunal and they will assess the situation and see what can potentially be done. You must appeal within fifty six days of the council turning down your application, otherwise it’s no longer seen as valid.
What does Right to Acquire mean?
It’s very similar to the Right to Buy scheme, with just a few differences. The Right to Acquire is only for housing association tenants and the discount is different. The maximum discount is £16,000 and it varies depending on where you live. Again, you’ll have to give back some of the discount if you sell the property within five years of buying it. But if you sell between five and ten years, you need to offer it back to the previous landlord first.
What happens if there are any delays in the process of Right to Buy?
If there are delays you could potentially get a larger discount on the property. You can fill in what’s called an ‘initial notice of delay’ form or Right to Buy 6, and send it off to your landlord, who then has a month to act on it. They can either move the sale along within one month or send you accounts notice where they explain why they can’t speed things up. If they don’t get back to you within a month it does get a little bit complicated. You then send the Right to Buy 8 notice also known as the ‘operative notice of delay’. This means that any rent you pay while you’re waiting to hear from your landlord could be taken off the sale price.
Your home/property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
Some Buy-To-Let Mortgages are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Happy Clients
Sharmila Rumpa2024-05-28Excellent and professional service, wanted to call out Bhavna Gover especially, she helped me to sort out a Ltd Company buy to let mortgage. She's very thorough in her work. Please ask for Bhavna if you need a mortgage in future, she will be happy to help for sure.
Kash Anis2024-05-23We approached Mortgage matchmakers regarding to get an options as we alreday tried few brokers before.Mohit introduced Bhavna which helped us out through out our journey.We felt it was difficult as our situation was bit tricky, but Bhavna worked out the best resoultion and sort this out. We have no words to say thank you, as it was amazing support from Bhavna and got the mortgage offer. Bhavna was fantastic,friendly and very passionate person, she is very professional Mortgage Advisor. Once again I would like to say Thanks so much for helping through out my journey to get mortgage for my new house.
Larushhh O2024-05-18It was a pleasure working with Paul over the last few months with my remortgage. He took away the stress of remortgaging with his professionalism and patience till the deal was finalised. I highly recommend him as a broker. Thanks for your support and help once again.
Aromes Bienmaison2024-05-15Paul was very helpful and provided a great guidance throughout the whole process
Shalaka2024-05-14We couldn't have asked for a better mortgage advisor! Mohit has been an absolute asset, always there when we had a question, and believe me, we had plenty! Being first-time buyers, his guidance was invaluable. What we appreciated most was his honesty and the fact that he never made us feel rushed into any decision. We're still in the process, but we already feel confident with his support. Totally recommend him to anyone in need of mortgage advice!
Dinesh Johnson2024-05-13Mohit was simply brilliant and helped us to understand all the options available in the market and choosing the best and importantly the right product for our need. Mohit is very efficient, he goes out of his way to help his clients and keep his client’s interest at top of his priorities. He was very professional and knowledgeable, would certainly don’t think twice to get his service in the future. I would highly recommend him to anyone who needs advice and support in sorting their mortgages. Thank you soo much Mohit for your hard work and support in sorting our both residential and BTL mortgages! Tharaka & Dinesh
Bagya P2024-04-30If anyone looking for hassle-free mortgage process, then I would suggest to discuss with Mohit. Mohit explained the process more in detail, assessed the situation very well and gave perfect suggestions to get the process done. Also, he closely connected with Solicitor and made the whole process easy. Additionally, I would like to thank Bhavana for her exceptional work. She tried many options to get the better deal from different Vendors. She explained all my queries on time and appreciate her professionalism. Thanks a lot once again Mohit and Bhavana for all your support.
Oliver Harris2024-04-24Mohit was a great help with finding my first mortgage. He talked through all options clearly and found the best deal to suit my needs. I'd thoroughly recommend using his services.
Veronica Ihonor2024-03-03The team was very professional with spontaneous delivery in line with agreement. Well done guys
Ogechi Eke2024-01-14If you’re looking for a professional mortgage broker who actually goes above and beyond his role then look no further. Ankur Daru is your main man. He is extremely helpful and knowledgeable. Even when the interest rate dropped for my lender, without prompting, he sent me an updated deed. There are so much more I could write but I’ll sum him up in a few words: Professional, knowledgeable and helpful. Thank you for securing the deal for me Ankur! I look forward to the next one! Ogechi