Housing association tenants start to buy their homes

Housing association tenants have started buying their homes at discounted prices under the Right to Buy scheme now being piloted in selected areas.

The scheme was previously only available to council house tenants but has now been extended to include the 1.3 million housing association tenants across England.

Discounts under the Right to Buy scheme currently stand at a maximum of £103,900 in London and £77,900 in the rest of the country.

A government spokesman said: “Receipts from selling an owner’s current property will help build replacement affordable homes on a one-for-one basis. This means the number of homes across all tenures will effectively double for each home sold, increasing national housing supply and creating a new affordable home for those in need from each sale.”

Housing associations will have the flexibility to replace rented homes with other tenures such as shared ownership. National Housing Federation Chief Executive David Orr said: “This is a great offer for housing association tenants. It is also a great offer for the country, as our proposal means homes sold will be replaced, delivering an overall increase in housing supply.”

It’s hoped that the pilot scheme will be rolled out to the rest of the country next year.

Right to Buy has already enabled 2 million families buy their council homes. It is part of a broader home ownership programme designed to enable people to get on the housing ladder. Other initiatives include Help to Buy, which enables buyers get over the problem of raising a deposit.

Please contact Gary Baber or Lucie Stewart if you would like advice with the legal aspects of buying or selling a home.