After you submit an application

After we have received your Right to Buy (RTB) application you will receive:

• a response within 28 days
• your Notice of Offer Price within 8 weeks for a house or 12 weeks for a flat or maisonette (from the date of admittance)

When we have provided your offer, you will:

• have 12 weeks to accept or decline your Notice of Offer Price
  • if you accept, it will take several months for the conveyancing process to be completed
  • if you decline, your council tenancy will continue as normal. You can reapply in the future if you wish
• need to organise your legal representative and funding

How we check your application

We have a legal duty to protect public funds, so we check every application and all the documentation of each applicant to ensure the application is genuine. This means any information you provide as part of your application may be shared with other bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds for these purposes.

You will need to sign an anti-money laundering form to ensure the council is not part of a financial transaction that could amount to handling the proceeds of crime (money laundering).

You have a duty to update the council with every change relating to the finance of the purchase, such as a change in mortgage provider. If you knowingly make false statements or misrepresentations in the purchase of your home, you may be prosecuted.

Valuing your property

Once we have all the documentation from every applicant, we can move your application forward to the next stage of arranging a valuation of your property by one of our surveyors. This is a free service. They will contact you directly to arrange an appointment to inspect your home, but in some circumstances will do a ‘desktop’ valuation.

When reaching a decision about how much your home is worth, there are lots of factors considered including:

• how long you have been a tenant in your current home and any previous social housing tenancies you have told us about that we have verified
• the cost to us of buying or building your property
• if you have bought a home through the Right to Buy before and the discount you previously received
• any major works that have been carried out by us to improve your home

Repairs, maintenance and services

Once we have received your application, we will only carry out essential repairs to your property. The property will be excluded from any planned maintenance projects, such as bathroom and kitchen replacements.

Once the sale of the property is complete, you will be responsible for all repairs and maintenance within your property.

If you are buying a house, you will be the freeholder. Usually there are no services provided so no service charges to pay. You may have to pay some service charges if your house is on an estate where services are provided.

If you are buying a flat or maisonette, you are likely to become a leaseholder. Your lease will usually be 125 years and you will be responsible for paying for:

• the day to day costs of providing services to you
• repairs that we carry out to the block and estate
• ground rent
• buildings insurance
• major works - these are repairs and maintenance to your building that cost more than £250 and a Section 20 consultation is required

Page last updated: 24 September 2024