Right
to Buy - Buying your Council House - Mortgage Information
What
is Involved in Buying your Council House - Right to Buy?
Right
to Buy
The Right to Buy scheme was first introduced in 1980, it is aimed
at secure tenants of local authorities (councils) and those assured
tenants of registered social landlords/housing associations who
previously held secure tenancies with local authorities. It is also
open to virtually any secure tenant who can afford to buy.
Tenants
must have at least two years tenancy with a public sector body (or
five years in the case of new public sector tenants who take up
their tenancies after 18 January 2005).
Some
properties are exempt from the Right to Buy. These include dwellings
occupied in connection with a tenant's employment, and housing specially
provided for older people and (in certain cases) people with disabilities.
What is the Right to Buy?
The present Government is totally committed to the principle of
the Right to Buy scheme. It contributes to the Government's aim
of a decent home for all, offering everyone the opportunity of a
decent home and so promote social cohesion, well being and self-dependence.
The
Right to Buy Scheme has helped some 1.6 million council tenants
in England to realise their aspirations to own their homes. In many
cases, it has encouraged more affluent tenants to remain in the
neighbourhoods they have lived in for many years, helping to create
stable, mixed income communities.
The
Right to Buy scheme enables local authority tenants of two years
to buy their homes at a discount. It is targeted at well-established
public tenants, with the discount increasing in rough proportion
to the years they have been paying rent.
Most Right to
Buy sales are of local authority properties. Sales now exceed 60,000
a year. Since the introduction of RTB, in excess of £45 billion
has been generated as a result of the sales of local authority dwellings.
These funds have been used to repay debt and finance further capital
expenditure.
This
scheme is open to virtually any secure tenant who can afford to
buy with the exception of dwellings occupied in connection with
their employment and housing specially provided for older people
and (in certain cases) people with disabilities.
OCIS
provide general financial information, we urge you to consult an
Independent
Financial Adviser ( IFA )
before making any important decisions about your finances. |
