What is Right to Acquire?

Right to Acquire allows most housing association tenants to buy their home at a discount.

What properties and people are eligible?

To apply to buy your housing association home, you must have had a public sector landlord for five years. This includes housing associations, councils, NHS trusts and foundation trusts and the armed services.

To be eligible to be bought under the Right to Acquire scheme, your property must either have been built or bought by a housing association after 31^st March 1997 and funded through a social housing grant provided by the Housing Corporation of local council, or transferred from a local council to a housing association after 31^st March 1997.

The property must be a self-contained property, and must be either your only or your main home. Your landlord must be registered with the Homes and Communities Agency.

You cannot use Right to Acquire if you are being made bankrupt or if a court has ordered you to leave your home. Council tenants cannot use Right to Acquire, but may be able to use Right to Buy instead. The same applies to those with Preserved Right to Buy (for more information, click here to read our article on the Right to Buy scheme).

Joint applications

You are allowed to make a join application for the Right to Acquire, either with someone who shares your tenancy, or with up to three family members who have lived with you for the past 12 months. The three family members do not need to share your tenancy.

Levels of Discount

With Right to Acquire, you can get a discount of between £9,000 and £16,000 on the price of your property, depending on where in the UK you live. Click here to view a table showing the discounts that are available by area. If you have used Right to Acquire or Right to Buy in the past, the amount of discount you receive may be reduced.

Rollingsons conveyancing department can help with all issues related to buying and selling your home, including Right to Acquire. For more information, click here to visit our website. For information about the government’s Help to Buy scheme, click here to read our online guide.