The Right to Buy Process
To apply for the Right to Buy Scheme, obtain an application form (RTB1) from Home Ownership Services. The address is at the end of this section. The form must be fully completed and all applicants must sign the form. You should obtain a receipt to ensure that we have received your application form.
After you apply, we must tell you within 28 days if you have the Right to Buy. If you do have the Right to Buy, we must tell you the price (offer of sale) within a further eight weeks if your home is a house, or 12 weeks if it is a flat.
If your home is a flat, then we will advise you of the annual service charges that will be payable and any major works that are planned over the next five years.
If you are happy with the price then you must complete a form advising us that you wish to accept the offer made. We will then prepare plans for the property and other legal documents for your solicitors. This will take up to two months, depending on whether your home is a house or flat on registered or unregistered land.
Your solicitor must sort out all legal formalities with the council solicitors before completion of the sale can take place.
If you are unhappy with the valuation of the property then you have the right to appeal against this by having the price redetermined by the District Valuer who is independent of the council. This right must be taken up within three months of the date of the offer of sale. The decision of the District Valuer is final whether this increases or decreases the valuation.
Please note the inspection carried out by the council’s Valuer or District Valuer is not a full survey. It is carried out only for the purpose of assessing the value of the property and it is possible that there are defects in the property which were not discovered in the course of his limited inspection. Any known defects will be detailed in the offer of sale. It is recommended that you engage the services of an independent surveyor to carry out a full survey before the completion of your purchase.
You are required to write to us within 12 weeks advising us of whether you wish to proceed with your Right to Buy application or withdraw from the scheme. If you do not do this, we will be entitled to serve a notice on you requiring you let us know your intention within 28 days or your application will be withdrawn.
For applications received prior to January 18, 2005, if you have not completed the purchase
having confirmed your wish to do so within 12 months of the date of the Offer of Sale, a notice
will be served on you requiring you to complete within a limited period (usually 56 days).
For applications received on or after January 18, 2005, the period within which you must complete
the purchase is reduced from 12 months to three months. If you do not comply with this notice
or your rent account is at any time four weeks in arrears after it has been lawfully demanded, your
Right to Buy application will be withdrawn automatically by law.
