Right to Acquire: buying your housing association home

What is Right to Acquire?

Right to Acquire allows eligible housing association tenants in England to buy their home at a discount. However, not every housing association home qualifies. You, your landlord and the property must each meet the scheme’s conditions.

The discount reduces the price; you fund the balance through a mortgage, savings or both. This guide explains that route from renting to owning. For wider support, explore our overview of first-time buyer schemes.

How Right to Acquire works

Who qualifies for Right to Acquire?

You usually need three complete years with public sector landlords. Earlier qualifying tenancies can count, with gaps between them, so you need not have spent three years in your current home. Councils, housing associations and some other public bodies qualify.

Your housing association must be registered with the Regulator of Social Housing. Ask it to check these eligibility criteria:

• You hold a qualifying tenancy, usually secure or assured. Some fixed-term assured shorthold tenancies also qualify.
• You meet the tenancy-history requirement.
• No exclusion applies, such as bankruptcy proceedings or a court order to leave your home.

Council tenants and tenants with Preserved Right to Buy cannot use Right to Acquire. The scheme is not limited to people who have never owned a home.

Which housing association homes qualify?

The home’s funding and ownership

One qualifying route is where a housing association built or bought your home after 31 March 1997 using a qualifying social housing grant. Alternatively, it may qualify if a local council transferred it to a housing association after that date.

The home must also be self-contained and your only or main home. Its age alone does not establish eligibility: the landlord needs to check its funding and ownership records.

Properties that may be excluded

Exclusions cover designated rural areas and certain specialist housing. However, the rules do not exclude every rural or adapted home. Disabled tenants can also apply if they and their home meet the scheme’s conditions.

Ask your landlord to check the legal position for your home. For example, the type of specialist accommodation and the landlord’s ownership rights can affect whether it qualifies.

How much discount could you receive?

The current Right to Acquire discount ranges from £9,000 to £16,000, depending on where you live. It is a location-based cash allowance, so it does not rise each year with the length of your tenancy.

Your landlord confirms the amount. If you previously received public funding to help buy a home, this may reduce your discount. The discount also cannot exceed half the property’s value. You can check the official discount guidance before applying.

Illustrative example

The £10,000 allowance is an example, not a nationwide entitlement. It reduces the price you pay to buy the home; you do not receive it as cash in your bank account. Purchase costs are extra.

Right to Acquire vs Right to Buy

Both schemes can reduce a purchase price, but they cover different tenants and homes. Your landlord confirms whether Right to Buy or Right to Acquire applies.

Some former council tenants retain Preserved Right to Buy after their home transfers to a housing association. If you hold that right, you cannot use Right to Acquire instead.

You therefore cannot simply choose the larger discount. If you are a council tenant looking to buy your council home through Right to Buy, our separate article explains that route.

Getting a Right to Acquire mortgage

A Right to Acquire mortgage funds the purchase, but scheme approval does not guarantee a loan. Lenders check your income, spending, existing debts and mortgage term to assess whether you can afford repayments. They also review your credit history and the property’s value and condition.

Do I need a deposit for Right to Acquire?

Some lenders take the discount into account, but their borrowing limits may still leave a cash shortfall. Loan-to-value, or LTV, measures the loan against the value the lender uses.

Using the same example, the discounted price is £190,000, and the market value is £200,000. If a lender’s limit were 90% of that value, the loan would be no more than £180,000. You would need £10,000 towards the price, plus buying costs, assuming the lender’s other checks support that loan.

The 90% limit is illustrative, not a rule for every lender.

How to apply for Right to Acquire

1. Ask your housing association to check eligibility and provide the application form, commonly called RTA1.
2. Submit the form and receive the landlord’s decision.
3. Review the offer, including the valuation, discount, property details and any service charge estimates.
4. Confirm whether to proceed, arrange funding and complete the legal work.

The landlord must respond within four weeks, or eight if it has been your landlord for less than three years. After agreeing to sell, it must issue the offer within eight weeks for freehold or twelve for leasehold.

You then have 12 weeks from receiving the offer to say you want to proceed. These deadlines do not promise completion within twelve weeks.

If you think the market value is too high, you can ask for an independent valuation. To do this, write to your landlord within three months of receiving the offer. This reviews the value, rather than your scheme eligibility.

Costs to budget for as an owner

Comparing rent with the mortgage payment alone misses these extra costs, so build a full ownership budget before committing.

Selling your Right to Acquire home

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DISCOUNT REPAYMENT

Selling within the first five years

Selling within five years normally means repaying some or all of the discount. The share repayable reduces each year, but the calculation reflects your home’s value when you sell. As a result, repayment may differ from the original cash discount.

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FIRST REFUSAL

Offering the home to your landlord

Separately, if you sell within ten years, you must first offer the home to your former landlord. If it does not agree to buy within eight weeks, you can sell elsewhere. Ask your solicitor to explain these terms before you buy.

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

Common Right to Acquire questions answered