Right to Buy

GOV.UK guidance confirms the basic scope of the scheme: 'Right to Buy allows most council tenants to buy their council home at a discount.' Eligibility depends on continuous public-sector landlord history rather than a single tenancy: a tenant must have 'had a public sector landlord (for example, a council, housing association or NHS trust) for 3 years - it does not have to be 3 years in a row.'

The discount rises with years of tenancy and differs for houses and flats. For houses, 'You get a 35% discount if you’ve been a public sector tenant for between 3 and 5 years,' rising 1% for each further year. For flats, 'You get a 50% discount if you’ve been a public sector tenant for between 3 and 5 years,' rising 2% for each further year. In both cases the discount is capped: 'The maximum discount you can get is whichever is lower:' 70% of the property's value or a fixed regional cash maximum.