Options for Residents

Find out more information about Right to Acquire (RTA), Right to Buy and Social HomeBuy.

Right to Acquire (RTA)

This option offers tenants of homes in London that have been developed by or transferred to Housing Associations since 1st  of April, 1997 the opportunity to buy their home with a mortgage and/or savings with a discount of £16,000.

You will need to have been a social tenant for a total of least five years to qualify and you can't buy your home through the Right to Acquire scheme if:

• You are being made bankrupt
• A court has ordered you to leave your home
• You are a council tenant – you may be able to get discounts on buying your home through the ‘Right to Buy’ scheme.

If you are an MHP resident and would like to find out if you can buy your rented home through Right to Acquire please contact the After Sales & Asset Management Team, Monday to Friday, between 9:00 to 17:15 on 020 3535 2700. If you are a tenant with another housing association you must contact your landlord directly to find out if you are eligible to buy your home. 

Download - A Guide to Right to Acquire.

Right to Buy

If you have been a local authority tenant for more than five years you may be able to buy your home, with a mortgage and/or your savings with a discount.

If you sell within five years of buying, you will need to pay back some or all of the discount. If you sell within ten years of buying, you will have to sell your home back to the council (or a local social housing provider). The maximum discount is £16,000 in London, with the exceptions of the London Boroughs of Barking and Dagenham and Havering, where the maximum discount is £38,000.

If you are an MHP resident please contact the After Sales & Asset Management Team, Monday to Friday, between 9:00 to 17:15 on 020 3535 2700 to find out if you are eligible for Right to Buy.

Download – A Guide to Right to Buy.

Social HomeBuy

This gives some local authority and housing association residents the opportunity to buy the home that they rent on a Shared Ownership basis; receiving a discount on the price of the property. With Social HomeBuy:

• The minimum share you can purchase is 25% and if you can afford it, the property can be bought outright at the outset
• You can buy a further share as soon as you can afford to and get further discount depending on the percentage share you buy
• If you come to sell the property within the first 5 years the Council or Housing Association will have the chance to buy it back at market value, or nominate another person to buy it, but you will have to pay back some or all of the discount.

Who can buy?

Not all Councils or Housing Associations offer this option. To find out if yours does and whether you are eligible, please contact your housing provider. As a rule, residents who are facing legal action for anti-social behaviour or breaches of their tenancy agreement cannot take part. Usually, you will need to be:

• A ‘secure’ or ‘assured’ council or housing association tenant (find out what tenancy you’ve got by looking at your tenancy agreement)
• Resident of a landlord is taking part in the scheme
• Live in a qualifying property (some types of homes aren’t covered by the scheme)
• You’ve been a social tenant for at least five years (these don’t have to be consecutive years).