Right to Buy is a Government scheme in England that allows most council tenants to buy their home at a discounted rate.
People living in council properties can get a discount of up to 70% of the market value of their home, up to a maximum of £87,000.
For homes in London, the maximum discount is £116,200.
Most housing association tenants cannot use Right to Buy to purchase their home in its current form - although there are some exceptions, which are mentioned below.
But in an announcement this afternoon, Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed plans to extend Right to Buy so that most housing association tenants will now be eligible.
There are around 2.5million households, or five million people, in England who rent from housing associations.
The PM said: "It will work for tenants, giving millions more the chance to own their own home.
"It will work for taxpayers, responsibly capped at a level that is fully paid for, affordable within our existing spending plans and with one-for-one replacement of each social housing policy sold."
The Prime Minister didn't specify when the changes to Right to Buy to include housing association tenants would come into place, or if the same criteria as above would apply.
Here, we explain how Right to Buy works right now...
What is Right to Buy?
Under the existing scheme, you might be able to purchase your home at a discounted rate through Right to Buy if you live in a council property, or ex-council home.
You can apply to buy your council home if:
It is your only or main home
It is self-contained
You’re a secure tenant
You’ve had a public sector landlord (for example, a council, housing association or NHS trust) for three years. This doesn't have to be three years in a row.
The maximum discount is £87,200 across England, except in London where it is £116,200. This increases each year in April in line with the consumer price index (CPI) rate of inflation.
The discount is based on:
How long you’ve been a tenant with a public sector landlord
The type of property you’re buying - a flat or house
The value of your home
You get a 35% discount if you’ve been a sector tenant for between three and five years and you’re buying a house.
After five years, the discount goes up 1% for every extra year, up to the maximum levels we’ve mentioned above.
If you’re buying a flat, you get a 50% discount if you’ve been a public sector tenant for between three and five years.
The discount goes up 2% for every extra year after this, again up to the maximum values.
You can use Right to Buy with someone who shares your tenancy, or up to three family members who’ve lived with you for the past 12 months even if they’re not on the tenancy.
If you do buy with someone else, you count the years of whoever’s been a public sector tenant the longest when working out your discount.
You might get a smaller discount if your landlord has spent money building or maintaining your home, or if you’ve used Right to Buy in the past.
If you’re selling up, you’ll usually have to repay some or all your discount if you used Right to Buy five years previously.
What help already exist for housing association tenants?
Some secure council tenants may have a "Preserved" Right to Buy, which works in the same way as the traditional scheme.
To qualify for a "Preserved" Right to Buy, you need to live in a home that was sold from their council to another landlord, like a housing association.
You must have been living in the property when your home was transferred.
It can also apply if you then move to another property owned by the new landlord - but not a different landlord.
If you don’t qualify for "Preserved" Right to Buy, another scheme exists called Right to Acquire.
This scheme offers discounts of between £9,000 and £16,000, so significantly lower than Right to Buy.
The Government previously launched a £200million pilot of a Voluntary Right to Buy scheme across the Midlands in August 2018, which included housing association tenants.
No new pilot schemes have been launched since.
