Right to Acquire

You can apply to buy your housing association home if you’ve had a public sector landlord for 3 years or more. These landlords include:

• housing associations
• councils
• the armed services
• NHS trusts and foundation trusts

In addition, your property must either have been:

• built or bought by a housing association after 31 March 1997 and funded through a social housing grant provided by the Housing Corporation or local council
• transferred from a local council to a housing association after 31 March 1997

You can’t use Right to Acquire if:

• you’re being made bankrupt
• a court has ordered you to leave your home
• you’re a council tenant – you may be able to use Right to Buy instead
• you have ‘Preserved Right to Buy’

If you’re a housing association tenant and you’re not eligible for this scheme, you might be eligible for the Preserved Right to Buy scheme.

You can get a discount of between £9,000 and £16,000 on the price of your property.

The amount of discount you’ll get depends on where you live in the UK.

Your landlord will tell you what discount you’ll get when you apply to buy your home. You can also download a table of discounts, broken down by location.

Your discount might be reduced if you’ve used Right to Acquire or Right to Buy in the past.

If you sell your home within 10 years of buying it through Right to Acquire, you must first offer it to your old landlord.

The property should be sold at the full market price agreed between you and the landlord.

If you can’t agree, a district valuer will say how much your home is worth and set the price. You won’t have to pay for their valuation.

If the landlord doesn’t agree to buy your home within 8 weeks, you can sell it to anyone.

If you sell your home within 5 years of buying it, you’ll have to pay back some or all of the discount you got.

If you sell within the first year, you’ll have to pay back all of the discount. On top of this, the amount you pay back depends on the value of your home when you sell it. So, if you got a 10% discount, you’ll have to pay back 10% of the selling price.

If you sell after the first year, the total amount you pay back reduces. You pay back:

• 80% of the discount in the second year
• 60% of the discount in the third year
• 40% of the discount in the fourth year
• 20% of the discount in the fifth year

Right to Acquire is a matter for you to discuss with your landlord in the first instance. You should take your own legal advice about questions such as your eligibility, you can also speak to our agent service. It is also important to give careful thought to the costs and responsibilities of buying your own home. 

The Agent service offers a free, impartial service on things like: 

• the Right to Acquire process 
• scheme eligibility 
• filling out your application form 
• where you can get financial and legal advice 

Right to Buy Agent Service
Email: enquiry@righttobuyagent.org.uk 

Telephone: 0300 123 0913
Find out about call charges 

The Right to Buy Agent service would not be able to assess any decisions your landlord has made, nor your suitability for the scheme. Therefore, you may also need to seek your own legal or financial advice.  

More information about the scheme and homeownership resources can be found on: 

• • GOV.UK 
  • In the Guide to the Right to Acquire 
  • Money Helper 
  • Citizens Advice 
  • Shelter 
  • your local Law Centre