Call us today on: 0161 930 5350
Specialist Right to Buy conveyancing across Stockport, Manchester and the North West
Buying your council home through the Right to Buy scheme can be the most affordable route to home ownership available, with discounts worth tens of thousands of pounds. The process comes with strict deadlines, official notices to review and long term conditions attached to your discount, so it pays to have a solicitor who handles Right to Buy purchases regularly.
Gorvins Residential’s Right to Buy solicitors have helped tenants across Stockport, Manchester and the wider North West become homeowners. As a Law Society Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) accredited firm regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, we guide you through every stage, from your application to collecting the keys.
To get a quote for your Right to Buy purchase, call our team on 0161 930 5350, email enquiries@gorvinsresi.com or fill in our online form.
The Right to Buy scheme gives eligible council tenants in England the legal right to buy the home they live in at a discount on its market value. The scheme applies in England only. Right to Buy was abolished in Scotland in 2016 and in Wales in 2019.
If you were a council tenant when your home was transferred to a housing association, you may have kept your right to buy under what is known as the Preserved Right to Buy. Our solicitors can confirm whether this applies to you.
To qualify, you must currently have been a public sector tenant for at least three years in total. The three years do not need to be continuous, do not need to be in the same property and do not need to be with the same landlord. Time spent in armed forces accommodation can also count.
The property must be your only or main home and must be self-contained. You cannot use the scheme if a court has ordered you to leave the property, or if you are an undischarged bankrupt, have a bankruptcy petition pending or have entered into certain arrangements with creditors.
The discount you receive depends on how long you have been a public sector tenant, whether your home is a house or a flat, and where it is located. Discounts are capped at a maximum cash amount, currently between 16,000 and 38,000 pounds depending on the area, and this cap is reviewed by the government from time to time.
Your discount can also be reduced by the cost floor rule if your landlord has recently built, bought or spent significant money maintaining or improving your home. We will explain exactly how the figures apply to your purchase once your landlord issues its formal offer.
The government has confirmed significant reforms to the Right to Buy. Once the changes become law, the minimum qualifying period is set to rise from three years to ten years, and discounts will be substantially reduced, starting at 5 per cent of the property value and rising to a maximum of 15 per cent. Newly built social homes will also be exempt from the scheme for 35 years.
These changes have not yet come into force, and applications made under the current rules are assessed under the current rules. If you are eligible now and thinking about buying your home, it may cost you considerably more to buy after the reforms take effect. We can help you understand your position and, if you decide to proceed, act quickly on your behalf.
Your Right to Buy journey starts with an application to your landlord on form RTB1. Your landlord must respond within set time limits and, if your application is accepted, will send you a formal offer notice, known as a Section 125 notice, setting out the price, your discount and the terms of the sale.
From that point, our team will:
– Review the Section 125 offer notice in detail, including the price, discount calculation and any conditions attached
– Advise you on the strict deadlines, including the 12 weeks you have to tell the landlord you wish to proceed
– Advise on the valuation and your right to challenge it if you believe the price is too high
– Check the title and raise enquiries, just as with any other purchase
– Review your mortgage offer and deal with your lender’s requirements
– Handle exchange, completion, Stamp Duty Land Tax and registration at HM Land Registry
You will have a named conveyancer throughout, with updates by phone, email or through the Gorvins Residential mobile app.
If your home is a flat, you will buy a long lease rather than the freehold, and you will pay service charges to the council or management company after completion. Your Section 125 notice must include an estimate of the service charges and improvement costs for the first five years, and reviewing this carefully is one of the most important parts of our job. Unexpected major works bills are the most common regret among flat buyers under the scheme, and we make sure you understand the commitment before you exchange.
We provide clear, itemised quotes for Right to Buy purchases covering our legal fees and all third-party costs such as searches, Land Registry fees and any Stamp Duty Land Tax. Call 0161 930 5350 or complete our online form for your quote today.
– CQS accredited, meeting the Law Society’s quality standard for residential conveyancing
– Regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, SRA number 801191
– Experienced in Right to Buy purchases from councils across Greater Manchester and the North West
– Clear advice on deadlines, discounts and the long-term conditions attached to your purchase
– A named conveyancer and proactive updates throughout, including via our mobile app
Yes, but conditions apply. If you sell within five years of buying, you must repay some or all of your discount, and the repayment is calculated as a percentage of the property’s value at the time you sell, not the original discount amount. If you sell within ten years, you must first offer the property back to your former landlord or another social landlord in the area at market value before selling on the open market.
Yes. You can apply jointly with someone who shares your tenancy, or with up to three family members who have lived in the property as their main home for at least the last twelve months, even if they are not named on the tenancy. If a joint applicant has a longer tenancy history than you, the discount can be based on their qualifying period.
Often not. Many lenders will treat your Right to Buy discount as your deposit, meaning you may be able to borrow the full discounted purchase price without separate savings. Lender criteria vary, so it is worth speaking to a mortgage adviser experienced in Right to Buy applications.
The scheme includes built in protections against delay. If your landlord misses its statutory deadlines, you can serve a delay notice, and if the delay continues, the rent you pay during the delay period can be deducted from the purchase price. We can advise you on serving these notices if your application stalls.
You have the right to challenge the valuation in your offer notice. If you and the landlord cannot agree, the price is determined independently by the district valuer. Be aware that the district valuer’s figure is binding even if it comes out higher, so it is worth taking advice before triggering a referral.
Most housing association tenants do not have the Right to Buy, but you may qualify for the separate Right to Acquire scheme, which works in a similar way with smaller discounts. If you were a council tenant when your home was transferred to the housing association, you may instead have the Preserved Right to Buy. We can check which scheme, if any, applies to you.
Be very careful. Some companies offer tenants money towards a Right to Buy purchase in exchange for an interest in the property or an agreement to sell it to them later. These arrangements can breach the scheme’s rules, leave you liable to repay your discount, or result in you losing your home. Always take independent legal advice before signing anything of this kind. We are happy to review any offer you have received.
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Gorvins Residential LLP
Gorvins Residential is the trading name of
Gorvins Residential LLP
Dale House,
Tiviot Dale,
Stockport,
SK1 1TA
