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Types of properties that won't be sold through Right to Buy

There are some types of properties that your landlord can refuse to sell through the Right to Buy scheme.

Usually they are homes that are provided for the elderly or for people in a specific job, eg some police houses.

These properties are known as ‘exceptions’ to the Right to Buy scheme.

Your landlord will decide if your home can be sold through Right to Buy when you apply for the scheme.

Your landlord must explain why you can’t buy your home through Right to Buy. You can only appeal against the decision if your application was turned down because your home is suitable for the elderly. You can’t appeal if your application was turned down for any other reason.

• Applying to buy your home through Right to Buy

• Problems or delays when buying your council home through Right to Buy

Homes that are suitable for the elderly

Your landlord doesn’t have to sell a property through Right to Buy that:

• is ‘particularly suitable’ for elderly people
• was let to you for use by a person aged 60 or over

Your landlord can decide your property is ‘particularly suitable’ for the elderly if it has:

• easy access, eg a lift if it’s not on the ground floor
• all rooms on one level
• no more than two bedrooms
• enough heating for at least a living room and one bedroom
• easy access to shops and public transport

Appealing against your landlord’s decision

You should appeal to the Residential Property Tribunal Service if your home is in England, or the Welsh Assembly if it is in Wales. You have to appeal within 56 days of your Right to Buy application being refused.

• Appealing if refused the 'Right to Buy' your home

How demolition affects Right to Buy

Your landlord can turn down your Right to Buy application if they have sent you a notice that they are planning to demolish (knock down) your home.

This notice is called an ‘initial demolition notice’ and it lasts for seven years. Although you can still apply for Right to Buy, your landlord doesn’t have to sell you your home.

If your landlord later sends you a ‘final demolition notice’, all Right to Buy applications end.

If you started your Right to Buy application before a demolition notice is served, you have three months to claim compensation. This is for any money you may have spent on legal fees etc so you could buy your home.

Other exceptions to Right to Buy

A landlord can also turn down your application to buy your home if it:

• offers sheltered housing for the elderly or for people with disabilities (sheltered housing means there is usually a warden and a common room)
• is owned by a charity that doesn’t get money from public funds
• is rented to you so you can be near your job, eg you work for the fire service
• is rented to you so you can study full time at university, eg to be a nurse
• is rented to you as a temporary home, eg for less than three months
• is in the grounds of a public building like a school
• is on land that has been bought for development
• is let as part of a business, eg a farm or shop
• has been let from a private landlord

You landlord will tell you if you can buy your home through Right to Buy.

Rural restrictions and Right to Buy

If you live in the countryside, your landlord may set rules (restrictions) on who you can sell your home to later. These rules may affect your Right to Buy application if your home is in:

• a national park
• an area of outstanding natural beauty
• an area the government says is rural for Right to Buy

For example, you may have to sell your home to someone who has lived or worked in the area for more than three years. This may mean you have difficulty getting a mortgage to buy your home.

Your landlord will tell you if there are any rural restrictions on your home when you apply for the Right to Buy scheme.

• Applying to buy your home through Right to Buy

'Defective dwellings' and Right to Buy

By law, a property that needs lots of work or is badly built can be classed as a ‘defective dwelling’. Your landlord must tell you if your home is a defective dwelling when you apply to buy it through Right to Buy.

If you buy a defective dwelling, it can be difficult to sell your home later. This is because anyone thinking of buying your home might have problems getting a mortgage.

You should also get a survey of your home so you know what work needs to be done and that the price of your property is right.

• Property surveys

Useful contacts

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