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Buying Your Home
Can You Buy Your Home?
You may be able to buy your council home. But first you have to find out if you are eligible.
Your Tenancy
If you are still an Introductory Tenant, you are not able to buy your home. When you first become a council tenant in Colchester, you start off as an Introductory Tenant. This means you have less rights than a Secure Tenant. After a year, providing there are no issues, such as antisocial behaviour or owing rent, you will become a Secure Tenant.
If you became a Secure Tenant before 18th January 2005, then you need to have been a Secure Tenant with a public sector landlord for two years.
If you became a Secure Tenant after 18th January 2005, then you need to have been a Secure Tenant with a public sector landlord for five years.
The property you intend to buy must be your main or only home.
If you have a joint tenancy, both parties must indicate if they wish to buy the property.
Other family members or co-habitants must have lived at the property for a year full time before the date of the application if they wish to join the Right To Buy application.
If you get housing benefit, you can still apply to buy your home.
When You Cannot Buy Your Home
You cannot buy your home if:
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You or your visitors behave antisocially
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You are bankrupt
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You have a pending bankruptcy petition against you
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You have an arrangement with creditors (people who you owe money to) and still owe them money
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We have served a Notice Seeking Possession against you (this document is the first stage in the process of taking legal action against a tentant)
Suspended Possession Orders
If you have been served a Suspended Possession Order during your tenancy, you could still buy your home.
A Suspended Possession Order is something a judge grants. It is often done when a tenant owes us rent. In that case, the Order allows you to remain in your home – providing you keep to an agreement to pay back what you owe. If you break the terms, we can evict you without having to go court.
Types Of Properties You Cannot Buy
- sheltered accommodation
- a property which been specially adapted for disabled use
- a home linked with your employment
- any property on school grounds
If Your Home Is Due To Be Demolished
This can affect your right to buy your home.
If you have been served an Initial Demolition Notice, this suspends your right to buy your home for 5 years from the date of the notice. An Initial Demolition Notice is given when a council wants to demolish a home but has not set a date when it will take place.
If you have been served a Final Demolition Notice, which usually happens once a date for demolition has been set, this ends your right to buy your home.
Discounts
The right to buy scheme allows you to buy your home at a discount:
- The minimum qualified period is two years tenancy
- The maximum discount allowed in Colchester is £34,000
- The longer you have lived at the property the most discount you can receive
- If you have already received a discount under the right to buy scheme, this would be deducted from your new application
Getting Legal Advice
Before deciding whether to buy, you should get legal advice, especially if you have any worries about taking such a big step. Click here to find a local solicitor. You should always find out how much a solicitor will cost before you employ them.
Mortgage Advice
We cannot offer you mortgage advice. However, you can click here for more information about mortgages.
Making Your Decision
You need to write to us within 12 weeks of getting your Section 125 notice to let us know if you want to buy your home.
If you have appealed to the District Valuer over the value of your home, you need to tell us within 12 weeks of receiving that valuation.
Before You Decide To Buy Your Home
Buying your own home is the biggest financial decision you will ever make. If you buy your home, you will be responsible for:
- All the costs of maintaining your home
- Any repairs, including major structural and routine repairs
- Any improvements to the property
If you buy your home, it may affect any benefits you receive:
- If you get housing benefit, this will stop once you own your home
- You cannot get housing benefit to help pay your mortgage
- You might be entitled to income support to help with housing costs, but this is not usually paid until nine months after the date of your claim
We have produced a downloadable chart to help you make the decision.
Completing Your Purchase
If you are happy with our terms for buying your home to you and you have arranged to raise the money, you are ready to go ahead and buy.
You need to tell us that you are ready and ask your solicitor for advice on the legal documents and making your payment. It may take a couple of months before you become the owner of your home.
What If You Decide To Sell After You Have Bought Your Home?
If your application to buy your home was made after 18 January 2005 and you sell your home within five years, you will have to pay back between one fifth and the total amount of the discount.
If your application to buy your home was made after 18 January 2005, and you want to sell within 10 years of the date you bought it, you will have to offer the property to your landlord, or other local social landlords. You will be paid the full value of your property.
How Do I Apply?
You will need to complete a form called an RTB1. You can get the form by:
- Telephoning (01206) 282216
- Sending an email to buy@colchester.gov.uk or cbh@colchester.gov.uk
- Downloading it here
Once you have completed the form you will need to send it to:
- Legal Services, Town Hall, PO Box 884, CO1 1FR
Once you have sent in your form, we will send you a notice, called an RTB2, letting you know if you can buy home. We will send this to you within 4 weeks (or 8 weeks if you have been a secure tenant for less than 2 years).
Once you have received this, you will then be sent what is called a Section 125 Notice. This will be sent out within 8 weeks of the RTB2 if your home is a house, or 12 weeks if your home is a flat.
This document is very important as the details on this form could help you decide whether you want to go ahead and buy your home.
It includes:
- A description of the property
- The price
- Any structural defects
- Terms and conditions of sale
If your home is a flat, it will include an estimate of the service charges you will have to pay.
If you disagree with the value given to your home:
- You can appeal to the District Valuer
- Your appeal must be within 3 months of the date of the S125 notice
But be aware that the District Valuer could value your home at a higher level than the S125 notice. This will be the amount you will have to pay.
What Other Costs Will I Have To Think About?
There are some other costs you will have to consider, as well as the actual cost of your home. These are:
Stamp Duty
This is a tax which has to be paid by the buyer of a property. How much you pay will depend on the price of your home. You can find out more here. You should check to make sure you know what you will have to pay.
Legal Fees
You will need a solicitor to process the transaction for you – as buying a house is a legal process. Their fees vary considerably.
Other Costs
When you get a mortgage, the company may ask you to get a survey of the property done. You will have to pay for this survey. There may be a set-up fee for your mortgage.
Regular Costs After You Have Bought Your Home
Mortgage Payments
Do be aware that if you fail to meet your monthly mortgage payments, your lender will repossess your home.
Building Insurance
If you are a leaseholder, we provide buildings insurance. You will pay for this in your service charges.
If you are not a leaseholder, you will need to arrange buildings insurance. Mortgage companies normally insist that you have this as a condition of getting the loan.
Council Tax
You have to pay this every year – but you can do this every month by direct debit.
Service Charges
These will only affect you if you are a leaseholder. You have to pay this every year.
These could include costs for maintenance charges, cleaning, heating, electricity, ground rent, insurance etc. harges may also be incurred for major works carried out to your block or estate.
What Is A Leaseholder?
If you buy a house you will usually buy the freehold. This means you will be the outright owner. If you buy a flat, you will become a leaseholder. Normally, this means that you will be responsible for the interior of your home whilst Colchester Borough Council (your landlord) will be responsible for looking after the structure and the exterior of the block. We will ask you to pay for major repair and improvement works, through service charges.
Useful Information
Your right to buy your home - A Leaflet
Right to buy - information for secure tenants
Decision making chart - to help you decide whether or not to buy your home
RTB1 - This is the form you must fill in to apply to buy a new home
The leaflet "Your Right to Buy Your Home" is also available in Arabic, Bengali, Chinese (Cantonese), Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Turkish and Urdu.
Please contact us on (01206 282557 or (01206 282977 or click here if you require this booklet in any of these languages.
If you require someone to visit you at your home to explain the Right to Buy process to you, please contact us and we will be happy to help.
Links To Useful Websites
| Mortgage Advice | 0845 606 1234 |
| Find a surveyor | 0870 333 1600 |
| Find a solicitor | 0870 606 6575 |
| Citizens Advice Bureau | 0844 477 0808 |
| Child or Working Tax Credit information | 0845 300 3900 |
| Department for Work and Pensions | 01206 288000 |
| Benefit Enquiries for people with disabilities | 0800 882 200 |
| National Debt Line | 0808 808 4000 |
Who To Contact About Right To Buy
Telephone (01206) 282216.
Sending an email to righttobuy@colchester.gov.uk or cbh@colchester.gov.uk
Legal Services, Town Hall, PO Box 884, CO1 1FR.
