Buying My Home – Right To Buy Information

You can apply to buy your council home if:

• it’s your only or main home
• it’s self-contained
• you’re a secure tenant
• you’ve had a public sector landlord (for example, a council, housing association or NHS trust) for 3 years – it does not have to be 3 years in a row

You can buy the property with anyone in your family who is a joint tenant.

You can buy the property with up to 3 members of your family aged over the age of 18, who are not joint tenants if the property is their main home. Anyone (except your husband or wife) who is buying the property must have lived with you for 12 months before you apply to buy.

You cannot buy the property if:

• you are subject to an order of the court for possession
• you have made a bankruptcy application that has not been determined or have a bankruptcy petition against you, or are an undischarged bankrupt
• you have made an arrangement with creditors or have legal problems with debt
• you have a ground 2 criminal nuisance order

There are also certain types of property which may be excluded from Right to Buy, for example properties for the elderly or disabled, or properties due for demolition. Please contact us to gain further information.  

You will need to complete a form called an RTB1. Go to the GOV.UK website and download a copy to complete. We will also need to comply with Money Laundering Regulations and further details will be required from you on how you will fund the purchase.

Please then send your completed application to:

Housing Services, Wealden District Council, Council Offices, Hailsham, East Sussex BN27 2AX

Please note: When you make a right to buy application any outstanding repairs or further request for repairs to your home will be suspended. This is to ensure that the valuation remains consistent throughout the process of the right to buy. Only urgent repairs will be completed.

Once you have sent in your form, we will send you a notice, called an RTB2, letting you know if you can buy your home. We will send this to you within 4 weeks, unless we are waiting for evidence of previous tenancies with other landlords to calculate your qualifying period and then it will be within 8 weeks.

Once you have received this, you will then be sent what is called a Section 125 Notice (Offer Notice). This will be sent out within 8 weeks of the RTB2 if your home is a house, or 12 weeks if your home is a flat and will include your discount entitlement. You need to write to the council within 12 weeks of getting your Offer Notice to let us know if you wish to buy your home or to withdraw your application.

The Section 125 notice includes:

• A description of the property
• The price
• Any structural defects
• Terms and conditions of sale

If your home is a flat, it will include an estimate of the annual service charges, which includes building insurance and may include costs for cleaning and grounds maintenance, together with a 5 year forecast for any major repair works to the block in which the property is situated.

If you disagree with the value given to your home, you can appeal to the District Valuer by telling the council in writing within 12 weeks of receiving the Section 125 Notice, together with providing any evidence to support your request. This is called a determination of value.

Please note that the District Valuer could value your home at a higher, lower or equal amount to the Offer Notice. This value is binding on both the landlord and tenant and there are very limited circumstances in which the determination can be appealed by either landlord or tenant.

The council may send you a ‘Default Notice’ if you have not responded to them within 12 weeks of receiving your offer letter.  You will need to respond to this within 28 days.  They may cancel application if they do not hear from you. Where the council considers it reasonable, they may extend the 28-day default notice period.

Once you have accepted the offer, you will still have some time to finalise arrangements for mortgage etc. However, if the council feels you are delaying, they may send you a notice to complete (First Notice). This notice gives you a minimum of 56 days to complete the sale.

If you do not respond to the First Notice, the council may then serve a Final Notice to Complete. This allows for a further minimum of 56 days in which to complete the sale. If you do not respond to the council by the expiry date of the Final Notice, your application can then be cancelled by the council. You can reapply for Right to Buy in the future but would need to start the process again from the beginning.

As set out above landlords must deal with your application within the timescales set out.  If they don’t, you could get a further reduction on the sale price.

If the council doesn’t meet the timescales set out above, or is delaying your application in any other way, you should:

1. Fill in an ‘Initial notice of delay’ form (RTB6)and send it to the council.
2. The council must then either move the sale along within 1 month or send you a ‘counter notice’. The counter notice will say that they’ve already replied or explain why they can’t speed things up.
3. If you don’t get a response to your first notice within 1 month, you should complete an ‘Operative notice of delay’ form (RTB8)and send it to the council. Once you have sent that, the council may have to refund rent monies paid during the delay period – you must continue to pay rent. Any amount relevant to the delay period(s) will be deducted when the sale is completed. Payments in respect of council tax or service charges do not count as rent.

The cost will be the open market value as determined by an Independent Valuer (or District Valuer if it is re-valued) less your discount. The current maximum discount is £102,400 from the 6^{th of} April 2024.

If you have already received a discount under the Right to Buy scheme, this would be deducted from your new discount.

Please note: We do not sell any properties for less than the Cost Floor (the cost of the upkeep of the building for the past 10 – 15 years). If you live in a new build property this will include the cost of building the property and any associated costs.

Before deciding whether to buy, you should get legal advice, Click here to find a local solicitor. You should always find out how much a solicitor will cost before you employ them.

You will also need to get mortgage advice unless you are a cash buyer – make sure that they are regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Other costs associated with buying your home

Remember if you decide to purchase your house or flat you may have to pay for the following fees:

• solicitors fees
• land search fees
• land registry fees
• stamp duty
• conveyancing fees
• survey fee

There are also ongoing cost associated with buying you home. If you buy your home, you will also be responsible for:

• The costs of maintaining your home
• Any repairs, including major structural and routine repairs
• Any improvements to the property

Tenants of houses and bungalows can purchase their property freehold whereas those in flats will purchase a lease with a term up to 125 years. If you want to buy your flat or maisonette, you will be buying the leasehold from us. As a leaseholder you have to pay:

• Your portion of any works carried out to maintain or improve the building.
• Annual Service Charges – this includes costs for buildings insurance, cleaning of the communal areas, grounds maintenance, window cleaning (communal areas), communal lighting charge and other possible charges

If you sell your home within 5 years, you will have to pay back between one fifth and the total amount of the discount. If the value has increased, this may also increase the amount of discount you repay.

If you decide to sell within 10 years of the date of the right to buy purchase, you will have to give first refusal to the council, however it is under no obligation to buy back your property. We will consider your request and notify you in writing within 8 weeks.

For more information or if you have any queries, please email:

righttobuy@wealden.gov.uk

Right to Buy Website

There is a dedicated website for tenants to find out about Right to Buy.  Please visit the Communities and Local Government Right to Buy website  for more information.

Right to Buy Sales

View data relating to the sale of local authority dwellings under the Right to Buy.

Right to Buy Handbook

View our Right To Buy Handbook  which sets out your rights and responsibilities as a leaseholder of a flat purchased under the Right to Buy.