Right To Buy

• If your tenancy began with us, or another public sector landlord, before 18 January 2005 you can apply now

• If your tenancy started on or after 18 January 2005 you will need to be a tenant with us, or another public sector landlord, for five years before you can apply for the Right to Buy your home

Discounts

The Right to Buy scheme gives tenants a discount on the market value of their homes calculated as detailed below but there is a maximum limit allowed by the Government which depends upon the area in which you live. In this local authority area, the discount is capped at £30,000 for a house or a flat and this amount is deducted from the full market price which we obtain from an independent valuer.

For houses or bungalows, discounts start at 35% (to a maximum of £30,000 in monetary value).

For flats or maisonettes, discounts starts at 50% (to a maximum of £30,000 in monetary value). Flats/Maisonettes sold from Council housing stock are normally sold on a leasehold basis. This means the purchaser(s) are buying an interest in the block for a period of time, which is normally 125 years. After this period, the property reverts back to the Council as the freeholder, unless an extension to the lease is granted.

If you just wish to know how much your property is worth, we suggest you pop into a local estate agent, or go on-line to their website to get an approximate idea of the value of a similar property to the one in which you are living.

How to apply

If you would like to apply for the Right to Buy your home, either:-

• Download an application form on the link to the right of this page.  Once completed either email it to us at right2buy.php@poole.gov.uk ; or print it off and post it to PHP

• Email right2buy.php@poole.gov.uk asking for an application form and information pack to be sent to you

• Telephone direct to 01202 264453 and ask for an application form and information pack to be sent to you.

In conjunction with the application form, further information about the Right to Buy Scheme is available in the following Communities and Local Government booklets which can be downloaded by clicking on the relevant link below.

Housing Booklet 'Your Right To Buy Your Home'

Housing Booklet 'Thinking of Buying Your Council Flat?'

Residential Long Leaseholders, 'A Guide to your Rights and Responsibilities'

Exemptions & conditions

Dwellings scheduled for demolition are exempt from Right to Buy.

If you buy your property under the scheme on or after 18 January 2005, then decide to sell within the first 10 years of ownership, you must first offer your home back to your former  landlord, i.e. Poole Housing Partnership at full market value. If they do not wish to take this offer up you may sell it on the open market.

Following a purchase through Right to Buy, if you enter into a "deferred sale" deal, which allows you to sell the property to someone else (often a company), you will be liable to pay back the discount given.

New legislation:  what it means for you

The Government has introduced changes to tackle profiteering from Right to Buy sales and to lessen the impact of Right to Buy sales on the availability of affordable housing.

The Act came into force on 18th January 2005 and applies to all new public sector tenancies taken up from this date forward.

The Act:

• Extends the initial qualification period from two years to five years.  Discount will commence at 35% for a house and 50% for a flat.  Ceiling levels remain unchanged at 60% and 70%. (However, this is capped at £30,000 in our area.)

• Extends the period after sale during which landlords require owners to repay some or all of their discount on early resale, from 3 years to 5 years.  The old repayment taper of 100/66/33% has been changed to 100/80/60/40/20%

• Makes it clear that landlords have discretion to waive repayment of discount (this is designed to address cases where repayment could involve genuine hardship.  The Government will issue guidance on this)

• Requires the amount repaid to be a percentage of the resale value of the property (less the value of any improvements made by the owner since exercising their Right to Buy) rather than the current flat rate basis

• Shortens from 12 months to 3 months the period after which a landlord may serve on a tenant a "first notice to complete"

• Allows landlords to suspend or to exempt dwellings scheduled for demolition from the Right to Buy, to tackle the windfall profits now available to Right to Buy tenants living in areas where regeneration schemes are planned

• Requires tenants who make deals to resell their homes to companies within the discount repayment period, to repay some or all of their Right to Buy discount

• Requires owners who wish to resell properties within 10 years of their home being sold under the Right to Buy to offer them back to the former landlord (the local authority or another social landlord in the area) at full market value. Landlords have always been able to do this for properties in National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and areas designated as "rural" for this purpose, of which there are now 35.  The Act extend this power to other areas

• Requires landlords to give their tenants information on the costs and responsibilities of home ownership