# Right to Buy Your Home



## Pezza4u (Jun 7, 2007)

Are their any council or housing association tenants on here who have bought their homes using right to buy? Just wondering how you found it going from renting to buying? Also did you need a deposit for the mortgage taking into consideration the amount of discount that comes off the property?


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## Beancounter (Aug 31, 2006)

Sorry, no experience of the 'right to buy' but just curious, what sort of discount do you get ? Why is it not the market value?


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## CraigQQ (Jan 20, 2011)

Beancounter said:


> Sorry, no experience of the 'right to buy' but just curious, what sort of discount do you get ? Why is it not the market value?


discount upto 70% according to .gov website.

why? I don't know... there's been a few councils/housing associations who want it stopped.

sorry Rich, no experience of it.


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## Naddy37 (Oct 27, 2005)

Yup, did it several years ago. Had no issues of what I can remember.

Although I think they've changed the amount of discount you get now.

Nor did I have to pay a deposit.


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## Pezza4u (Jun 7, 2007)

When you've been a tenant for 5 years you get 50% off and then 2% for every year up to 70% or £75k, whatever is lower. This is for a flat though, houses have a different discount. 

The value of my flat is around £185k so I should get the full discount. The discounts were revised by the government in April this year and increased, I got a letter about it yesterday.

Seriously considering it with that discount. I know not everyone will agree with it but I might as well go for it if can, be mad not to.


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## CraigQQ (Jan 20, 2011)

definitely be mad not too mate..


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## Gruffs (Dec 10, 2007)

Completely mad not to.

Though it does mean in London that you can get a £1M property for £250K if you are in the right area.

I'm hoping we can buy my nan's bungalow for her. 

Though it's going to really **** me off seeing some of the ****s i went to school with get a healthy discount that they really don't deserve.


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## Naddy37 (Oct 27, 2005)

Pezza4u said:


> .
> 
> Seriously considering it with that discount. I know not everyone will agree with it but I might as well go for it if can, be mad not to.


It's one of the reasons why I did it. It was my parents house, and at the time I was working for the NHS. Basically no chance of getting a mortgage on that salary.

Had the option of buying it, but Dad had to go on the mortgage as well. TBH, like you say, it was stupid not to go for it.

Downside, I've got mother living with me....:lol:


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## Pezza4u (Jun 7, 2007)

neilos said:


> Yup, did it several years ago. Had no issues of what I can remember.
> 
> Although I think they've changed the amount of discount you get now.
> 
> Nor did I have to pay a deposit.


Cheers mate. That's what I've been reading, they can use the discount as the deposit. The mortgage should be cheaper than the rent I pay as well but I will obviously have leaseholder fees to pay, which I'm trying to find out how much that will be.

Who would be the best kind of person to talk this through with, the bank, CAB or a financial advisor and how much do they charge if the latter?


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## Pezza4u (Jun 7, 2007)

Gruffs said:


> Completely mad not to.
> 
> Though it does mean in London that you can get a £1M property for £250K if you are in the right area.


No they won't, maximum discount is £75k.



neilos said:


> It's one of the reasons why I did it. It was my parents house, and at the time I was working for the NHS. Basically no chance of getting a mortgage on that salary.
> 
> Had the option of buying it, but Dad had to go on the mortgage as well. TBH, like you say, it was stupid not to go for it.
> 
> Downside, I've got mother living with me....:lol:


My salary isn't great, the only way I can afford to buy my own place is with any inheritance I will get. I had completely forgotten about the right to buy scheme until this letter arrived.

Most of the flats down my road are now privately owned so I think they're trying to push all tenants to buy.


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## CraigQQ (Jan 20, 2011)

Gruffs said:


> Though it does mean in London that you can get a £1M property for £250K if you are in the right area.


although as Rich mentioned max discount is 75k...

but how many council tenants live in a house in London worth £1Million? :lol:


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## DiscoTD5 (Feb 12, 2010)

One thing to ask your Housing Association about or for you to look in to as its a flat you will be buying the leasehold, so you would only own the inside of your flat not the building. The outside would still belong to the association. You may then as a leasholder have to pay a annual service charge for maintenance or improvements or conturibute to the cost of any major improvements. You would be covered by a policy called a section 20 which means they would need to consult with you first. It depends on the setup as each are different.

I'd go for it though.


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## Gruffs (Dec 10, 2007)

CraigQQ said:


> although as Rich mentioned max discount is 75k...
> 
> but how many council tenants live in a house in London worth £1Million? :lol:


More than you'd think.

It's the area that drives the price more than anything else there. So although they are social housing now, when they become private, the area will determine the price of the flat. As flats, they are week day bolt holes and worth a lot to bankers/politicians/execs etc.


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## Grommit (May 3, 2011)

Hang on a minute here.......you are saying you can get a discount off your house becuase you have been living there?

Wish I could get a nice 70% discount off my house. Id have several houses in various locations if that were the case.

Lucky you.


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## Naddy37 (Oct 27, 2005)

Pezza4u said:


> Who would be the best kind of person to talk this through with, the bank, CAB or a financial advisor and how much do they charge if the latter?


I can't exactly remember how we went about it, it may even of been the council that put us onto a financial adviser for it etc.

If you can, go for it mate. You can't lose...:thumb:


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## mlgt (Apr 11, 2008)

I highly doubt you can get the big discount, as far as I know it stopped some time ago.
In my case it had in the barnet borough. I purchased my dads flat last april as the flat was left empty after my mother passing away a few years back.

We were still paying rent and eventually I decided to see what the price was. I only was allowed £16k discount and I waited til they had refurbished the roof, added double glazing and other bits. The total price I paid was £224k for a 3 bedroom ground floor flat with parking etc. I had a big deposit from the life insurance and decided to put a big lump into this. 

I wished (in hindsight) that we had bought the property and would have been given a bigger discount but I would say research and find out first, then some mortgage lenders are a bit fussy with RTB applications. 

Good luck.


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## Beancounter (Aug 31, 2006)

Grommit said:


> Hang on a minute here.......you are saying you can get a discount off your house becuase you have been living there?
> 
> Wish I could get a nice 70% discount off my house. Id have several houses in various locations if that were the case.
> 
> Lucky you.


Quite .........it's a very emotive subject, on the one hand, I understand why they do it, provides income for the council and allows someone to get their foot on the ladder..............BUT...........why should some people get it and not others


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## SteveyG (Apr 1, 2007)

There is a downside to it though - my partner's aunt bought her flat years ago, but when they perform maintenance on the buildings (new roof, rewiring etc.) she gets billed for her share of it. She's currently trying to dispute the last bill of £40000...


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## Pezza4u (Jun 7, 2007)

DiscoTD5 said:


> One thing to ask your Housing Association about or for you to look in to as its a flat you will be buying the leasehold, so you would only own the inside of your flat not the building. The outside would still belong to the association. You may then as a leasholder have to pay a annual service charge for maintenance or improvements or conturibute to the cost of any major improvements. You would be covered by a policy called a section 20 which means they would need to consult with you first. It depends on the setup as each are different.
> 
> I'd go for it though.


Yes they are legally obliged to provide these service charge details before I buy but I think it's around £500 a year. Although the leaseholders have just had a big bill for insulation work done in the loft and other maintenance work.



Grommit said:


> Hang on a minute here.......you are saying you can get a discount off your house becuase you have been living there?
> 
> Wish I could get a nice 70% discount off my house. Id have several houses in various locations if that were the case.
> 
> Lucky you.


You have to be a tenant for a minimum of 5 years before getting the discount. It is either 70% *or* a maximum of £75k, whichever is less.

You must be living in the property and can only get the discount once so you wouldn't be able to have several houses! If I decide to sell in less than 10 years since buying it I must offer it back to them first, minus some of the discount.



neilos said:


> I can't exactly remember how we went about it, it may even of been the council that put us onto a financial adviser for it etc.
> 
> If you can, go for it mate. You can't lose...:thumb:


I'll ask them then. The only thing is I may not be able to get a mortgage for the whole amount I need after the discount, depending on what they value the property at as well. So I might need to find about £20k on top of the discount.



mlgt said:


> I highly doubt you can get the big discount, as far as I know it stopped some time ago.
> In my case it had in the barnet borough. I purchased my dads flat last april as the flat was left empty after my mother passing away a few years back.
> 
> We were still paying rent and eventually I decided to see what the price was. I only was allowed £16k discount and I waited til they had refurbished the roof, added double glazing and other bits. The total price I paid was £224k for a 3 bedroom ground floor flat with parking etc. I had a big deposit from the life insurance and decided to put a big lump into this.
> ...


They changed the discount levels on 2nd April this year and got rid of the £16k - £38k limit. It was replaced with a minimum of 50% for the first 5 years you have been a tenant regardless of location. Had you of waited until this year you could've got another £59k off the price.

I think it's time to work everything out once the one off costs have been met so I know if I can afford it or not and if I will need any extra money. Still I'm not going anywhere and got plenty of time to raise the money :thumb:


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## Grommit (May 3, 2011)

Beancounter said:


> Quite .........it's a very emotive subject, on the one hand, I understand why they do it, provides income for the council and allows someone to get their foot on the ladder..............BUT...........why should some people get it and not others


Aye, just like Council tax. Just because you buy a more expensive property, you are then to pay more in stamp duty and also in council tax.

All for the privilage of a doctors appointment every so often and your bin emptied once a week.


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## Beancounter (Aug 31, 2006)

SteveyG said:


> There is a downside to it though - my partner's aunt bought her flat years ago, but when they perform maintenance on the buildings (new roof, rewiring etc.) she gets billed for her share of it. She's currently trying to dispute the last bill of £40000...


Welcome to the wonderful world of home ownership ....... 40k per tenant seems a little racey though I'll admit


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## Beancounter (Aug 31, 2006)

Grommit said:


> Aye, just like Council tax. Just because you buy a more expensive property, you are then to pay more in stamp duty and also in council tax.
> 
> All for the privilage of a doctors appointment every so often and your bin emptied once a week.


Don't get me started.........all those costs you mention from already 'heavily' taxed money


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## SteveyG (Apr 1, 2007)

Beancounter said:


> Welcome to the wonderful world of home ownership ....... 40k per tenant seems a little racey though I'll admit


The main problem for her was she has no say in the matter because there were council residents in the small set of flats so the work has to go ahead - bit harsh for a 60 year old though. Council houses as opposed to flats do not generally suffer from this problem though.


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## Grommit (May 3, 2011)

Beancounter said:


> Don't get me started.........all those costs you mention from already 'heavily' taxed money


I hear you brother. :thumb:


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## Alzak (Aug 31, 2010)

WOW shame I can't get decent discount for house I would like to buy ... I have to save for deposit and pay rent at same time ...


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## Beancounter (Aug 31, 2006)

:lol: .....As I said, a very emotive subject 

Seems to be 2 very clear sides of the fence on this one :lol:


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

Beancounter said:


> Don't get me started.........all those costs you mention from already 'heavily' taxed money





Grommit said:


> I hear you brother. :thumb:


Or me...

In fact, I have to pay more than the family of 4 across the road, just because my house is "worth" more...

How the f**k is that fair...

They use far more services than me, let them pay more - their bin is about 4 times the size of mine, and is out every week for a start...! 

:wall::wall::wall::wall::wall:

(just thought I would have a rant... :lol::lol::lol

:thumb:


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## Pezza4u (Jun 7, 2007)

Those of you moaning I do agree with you and can see where you're coming from. I've just happened to find myself in this situation and I'm not going to turn it down cos I think it's morally wrong. How many of you would say no thanks to a 75k discount out of principal!


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## Beancounter (Aug 31, 2006)

Pezza4u said:


> Those of you moaning


I'll assume you mean me :wave:


Pezza4u said:


> I do agree with you and can see where you're coming from. I've just happened to find myself in this situation and I'm not going to turn it down cos I think it's morally wrong. How many of you would say no thanks to a 75k discount out of principal!


Anybody who says they would turn it down on 'principle' I agree is talking complete bs, my issue isn't with the people who benefit from the system (well not all of them ), it's the system itself.

It's the classic case of having to pay more for things and loss of entitlements the higher your earnings. It's part of a much bigger debate that would be wrong to clutter up your thread.

Going back to your original post, and others comments, yes, you'd be mad not to bite their arm off and exercise your right to buy, property in the long term is only going to increase in value, so you have nothing to lose IMHO :thumb:


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## Gruffs (Dec 10, 2007)

No issue with you doing it matey. I would too.

It's more a case of "Where's my £75K". If you take compound interest into account it's a whole **** load more than that as well.


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## S63 (Jan 5, 2007)

My other half's Uncle had no problem turning down a discount on principle.He bought his two bed council flat in Holborn for £19k in 1989. One month ago he put it on the market and accepted an offer within 24 hours....£405k!!

Not a bad days work.


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## rich1880 (May 26, 2010)

Hi, I work in Housing within Local Government so if you have any specific questions just drop me a message. People are right that the legislation changed in April and the level of discount has increased. The other change is that the income generated, after central government have had their cut, goes towards building new affordable housing. They reckon in London for every house they sell, they can build 2 more.


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