Right to Buy Solicitors for a Council House
- You can buy your council property with the Right to Buy scheme if you’ve lived in a council home for three years, the property is self-contained, and it's your main or only home.
- The maximum discount you are eligible for varies based on where you live, ranging from £16,000-£38,000. This change came into effect in November 2024.
- You must offer your property back to the council within the first ten years if you decide to sell. If the property was purchased under the Right to Buy scheme and is being sold within the first five years, the council has the right to ask you to pay back some, if not all, of the discount.
- Major lenders will accept zero deposit, taking the Right to Buy discount in its place. Meaning you can take advantage of the scheme with minimal savings.
The Right to Buy scheme allows council tenants to purchase their homes at a discount. The discounted price helps you to get onto the property ladder. This could change soon, however. The Government is proposing changes to the discount percentage, eligibility, and good housing stock available.
This article covers eligibility, the Right to Buy purchase process, and Right to Buy solicitor costs.
Right to Buy eligibility for council tenants
GOV.UK states you will be eligible to purchase your council home through the Right to Buy scheme if:
- It’s your only or main home.
- It’s self-contained.
- You’re a secure tenant.
- you’ve had a public sector landlord (for example, a council, housing association or NHS trust) for 3 years - it does not have to be 3 years in a row.
You can jointly apply with:
- Someone who shares your tenancy.
- Up to 3 family members who’ve lived with you for the past 12 months (even if they don’t share your tenancy).
Right to Buy conveyancing process
The Right to Buy conveyancing process differs slightly from the standard process.
- Right to Buy mortgages - work slightly differently. The discount is typically used as your deposit, meaning the mortgage could make up the total cost . You can, however, purchase the property without a mortgage using savings, a gift, or a loan.
- Tenants wishing to purchase their council home will have to fill in the Right to Buy application form (RTB1 notice) and send to your landlord who will reply within four weeks with an offer.
- The lender and the council will each conduct their own valuation of the property. If there are any discrepancies, you can get an independent RICS valuation.
- If you want a deeper understanding of the condition of the property, you can use a RICS home survey to flag any defects that you'll become responsible for after purchase.
- You need Right to Buy solicitors to handle the transfer of property. The solicitors will review all legal documents, and if applicable, act on behalf of your lender.
- Order property searches such as local authority search, drainage, and environmental.
- There’s no exchange of contracts under the Right to Buy conveyancing process. Once the solicitor is happy from a legal standpoint, and if applicable, you have your mortgage offer, the date can be set for Monday.
Why are Right to Buy solicitors fees more expensive?
The Right to Buy solicitor fees are generally more expensive than a normal property.
Land Registry First Registration (if required)
If the property has not been registered with the Land Registry, they will be required to handle the first registration. Council houses built before 1995 typically need to be registered at the Land Registry. Council homes that were built after 1995 should already be registered.
The first registration requires the solicitor to send a postal submission to transfer the property from the council to you. The postal fees listed by GOV.UK is dependent on the value of the council house:
- 0 to £80,000: £45
- £80,001 to £100,000: £95
- £100,001 to £200,000: £230
- £200,001 to £500,000: £330
- £500,001 to £1,000,000: £655
- £1,000,001 and over: £1,105
Supplemental fees
The solicitor will need to receive Memorandum of Sale from the council, handle council enquiries, provide a copy of the mortgage offer to the council, obtain Authority to Complete and register the council’s restriction at the Land Registry. As long as you tell us your purchase is a Right to Buy property, we will include this in your fixed fee quote.
- Every stage is explained in terms you will understand.
- We hold your hand from start to finish.
- Fixed Fee Conveyancing quotes.
- Accepted by 99% lenders.
- CQS-accredited Right to Buy specialists.
Right to Buy discount price
The Right to Buy discount price is dependent on a variety of factors for both houses and flats. Listed by GOV.UK, on houses, you get a 35% discount if you’ve been a public sector tenant for between 3 and 5 years. After 5 years, the discount goes up 1% for every extra year you’ve been a public sector tenant up to the maximum discount amount.
For flats, you get a 50% discount if you’ve been a public sector tenant for between 3 and 5 years. After 5 years, the discount goes up 2% for every extra year you’ve been a public sector tenant, up to the maximum discount amount.
What is the maximum discount?
The maximum discount you can get is whichever is lower between 70% of the property value or the maximum discount for your region. Here is the discount per region:
Region | Maximum Discount | Exceptions |
| North East | £26,000 | Not Applicable |
| North West | £26,000 | Not Applicable |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | £24,000 | Not Applicable |
| East Midlands | £24,000 | Not Applicable |
| West Midlands | £26,000 | Not Applicable |
| Eastern | £34,000 | £16,000 in the district of Watford |
| South East | £38,000 | £16,000 in the areas of Reading Borough and West Berkshire, Hart District, Oxford and Vale of the White Horse District, the boroughs of Tonbridge and Malling, Epsom and Ewell, and Reigate and Banstead |
| London | £16,000 | £38,000 in the boroughs of Barking and Dagenham and Havering |
The discount gets applied to the current market value of your property. You’ll have to find the funds to cover the price by:
- Securing a mortgage from a lender who will accept the discount as deposit;
- Paying a deposit and getting a Right to Buy mortgage to finance the rest;
- Paying for the amount in full from your savings; or
- Sharing the purchase with other eligible parties to combine your savings.
If you applied to buy your home before the maximum discount changes introduced on the 21st of November 2024, your discount will be the lowest figure between the following:
- 70% of the value of your property.
- £136,400 if your home is in a London borough.
- £102,400 if your home is outside London.
How to apply
You must do the following:
- Complete the Right to Buy application form (RTB1 notice).
- Send it to your landlord.
- Your landlord must reply with a yes or no within four weeks of getting your application (eight weeks if they've been your landlord for less than 5 years). If your landlord says no, they must say why.
- If your landlord agrees to sell, they'll send you an offer. They must do this within eight weeks of saying yes if you're buying a freehold property, or 12 weeks if you're buying a leasehold property.
- Instruct a RICS surveyor to value your home to ensure the price you are paying is correct.
- Instruct a conveyancing solicitor to handle the legal work with the council.
Two things to be aware of in the conveyancing process:
- There is no exchange of contracts - you go straight to completion.
- Invariably you complete on a Monday. If you don't manage to complete it on the Monday planned, you normally have to wait until the next available Monday to finish the process.
Selling your Right to Buy home
Selling your Right to Buy home is an option many ex-council tenants might be faced with, either needing to upsize or due to a change in financial circumstances, even potentially due to the death of the owner.
If you sell your home within 10 years of purchasing it through the Right to Buy scheme, you must first offer it to either:
- Your old landlord; or
- Another social landlord in the area.
Once the intentions to the landlord has been confirmed, then you need to:
- Agree any discount and who you can sell the property to.
- Instruct Right to Buy Solicitors to handle the legal work with the council.
As stated by GOV.UK, 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 independent valuation. You can sell your home to anyone if the landlord doesn’t agree to buy it within 8 weeks.
Limitations on selling rural properties
It can be harder to get a mortgage on a rural Right to Buy property as the council can limit who you can sell it on to. This only applies to homes in:
- A national park.
- An area of outstanding natural beauty.
- An area the government says is rural for Right to Buy.
When applying for Right to Buy, your landlord will tell you if there are limits on the property. For example, they may prioritise local buyers who must have lived or worked in the area for more than 3 years.
Paying back your Right to Buy discount
You'll have to pay back some or all of the discount you got if you sell your property within the first five years.
First Year | Repay 100% of the discount. |
|---|---|
Second Year | Repay 80% of the discount. |
Third Year | Repay 60% of the discount. |
Fourth Year | Repay 40% of the discount. |
Fifth Year | Repay 20% of the discount. |
The amount you pay back depends on the value of your home when you sell it.
Example for repaying your discount
You bought your home worth £250,000 and got a 40% discount (£100,000). You then sold your home after 18 months for £265,000.
40% of £265,000 is £106,000. As you’re in the second year, you would repay 80% of £106,000 (£84,800).
You may not have to pay back the discount if you transfer ownership of your home to a member of your family. You’ll need to agree this first with your landlord and then get a solicitor to do this for you. - GOV.UK
What to expect in 2026
- Longer qualifying period: The minimum time a tenant must have lived in a property to qualify for Right to Buy will increase to 10 years.
- Changes to discounts: The discounts available through the scheme are expected to be smaller than before.
- Reforms to council housing replacement: From 2026–27, councils will be able to keep 100% of sale receipts from Right to Buy properties to reinvest in new housing.
- Increased application numbers: In anticipation of these changes, some local authorities saw a significant increase in Right to Buy applications towards the end of 2025, according to the Local Government Association.
Andrew started his career in 2000 working within conveyancing solicitor firms and grew hands-on knowledge of a wide variety of conveyancing challenges and solutions. After helping in excess of 50,000 clients in his career, he uses all this experience within his article writing for SAM, mainstream media and his self published book How to Buy a House Without Killing Anyone.
Caragh is an excellent writer and copy editor of books, news articles and editorials. She has written extensively for SAM for a variety of conveyancing, survey, property law and mortgage-related articles.
