Right to Acquire: buying your housing association home

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Selling your home

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 cannot agree, a district valuer will say how much your home is worth and set the price. You do not have to pay for their valuation.

If the landlord does not agree to buy your home within 8 weeks, you can sell it to anyone.

Paying back your discount

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

Example

You bought your home worth £100,000 and got a 10% discount (£10,000). You then sold your home after 18 months for £120,000.

10% of £120,000 is £12,000. As you’re in the second year, you would repay 80% of £12,000 (£9,600).