Right to buy

We offer a Right to Buy (RTB) service on behalf of Bury Council.

Our team will offer you professional advice and assistance should you decide to purchase your home. This service is free to all council tenants in Bury.

This section of our website provides all the information you need to know about buying your property from the Council.

Contact us if you cannot find the information you need or you want to discuss your application further.

Things to consider before you buy:

1.Beware of right to buy companies

Over the past few years, we have become concerned about the methods used by some private companies offering assistance to tenants who wish to buy their home. These companies do not represent Six Town Housing or Bury Council.

You are free to deal with such companies if you wish, but we have received complaints about the methods used by some of them. We feel we should bring this to your attention.

Tenants are normally contacted in person by door-to-door representatives from private companies offering to help them buy their home. They may offer a mortgage, legal services or an “all-in” package that may include improvements to your home after you buy.

By signing documents you have not read properly, you may be entering into a legal agreement which could result in you having to pay the company thousands of pounds.
If you are approached by a person or company offering to help you buy your home, ask for identification, check out what’s in it for them and feel free to talk to us before signing up to any deal.

2. Think about the costs involved

Owning your own home can be expensive.

Only you will know if buying your own home is the right decision for you. If you want more advice, contact us, the Citizens Advice Bureau or a solicitor (please remember that a solicitor may make a charge for the advice they give you).

If you live in a flat or maisonette, you cannot buy the freehold to your property. The long-term lease can however be bought for a fixed period (usually 125 years) with an annual ground rent of £10.

Leaseholders must also pay charges for the upkeep of the structure and communal areas of the building.

These charges are known as ‘service charges’ which can run into several thousands of pounds. As well as major repairs and improvements, service charges also cover things like staircase lighting, caretaking, grass cutting and door entry systems.

If you decide to buy your flat or maisonette, we will give you an estimate of the annual service charges we will make and the costs of any possible planned improvement we plan to undertake to the building.

More information is available from The Leasehold Advisory Service on 0845 345 1993, alternatively you can go to their website.

As well as the initial purchase price there are numerous other costs to consider when buying your home. If you are not paying cash for your property, you will need a mortgage, which will have to be repaid with interest.

We are unable to recommend a mortgage company to you but the Financial Services Authority (FSA) give out free information on the different types of mortgages available. You can telephone the FSA helpline on 0845 606 1234 or click here to view their website.

If you cannot keep up the repayments on your mortgage your lender may go to court to apply to take over your home. We may not be obliged to offer you another property if you lose your home in this way.

There are also one-off costs normally incurred during the purchase of a property which would be your responsibility:

A solicitor or licensed conveyancer to look after the legal side of the purchase. Always ask them for an estimate of how much they will charge for their services.
A property survey.
Most banks and building societies charge for arranging a mortgage, and also for a valuation survey of the property that they are obliged to carry out.
Once the sale is complete you must register with the Land Registry as the new owner of the property.
Stamp duty has to be paid on any property purchases costing more than £175,000. This is 1% of the purchase price.

There are also many other regular costs which home owners normally have to pay:

Water rates
Council tax
Buildings insurance
Mortgage payment protection insurance
Contents insurance
Repair and maintenance costs

3. Repairs and improvements to your home

While you have an active RTB application in progress you will only be entitled to essential and emergency repairs. We will not carry out any improvements works to your home such as replacing your windows, central heating system or any other major works.

If you have submitted a RTB application to purchase your flat or maisonette, a proportion of the costs of any external work we do may be taken into account when your property is valued and be reflected in the overall cost you pay for your home. If you buy your home before the works start, we will write to you confirming what costs you may be required to pay towards the work.

If you have submitted a RTB application to purchase your house or bungalow and you are a potential freeholder, we will not carry out external works to your home under any ongoing programme.

If you withdraw your RTB after the project has started, it may not be possible to include your home in these works. Your home may need to be included in a later project as a one off. If after improvement works are completed and you reapply for your RTB the said works may have changed the value of your property.

Do I qualify?

You may have the right to buy (RTB) your home if:

You are a Bury Council tenant and have had a secure tenancy for a certain number of years. This is known as the ‘qualifying period’. Time spent as a tenant of other Councils, Housing Associations or Armed Forces accommodation may also count towards the qualifying period; or
The house, flat or maisonette where you are a secure tenant is your only or principle home.

The RTB does not apply when your home:

Has been designated as sheltered housing for the elderly, physically disabled or people with mental health issues;
Is particularly suitable for the elderly and was first let (to you or someone else ) before 1st January 1990 to someone aged 60 or over;
Is subject to a demolition order and the Council has served upon you an initial demolition notice; or
Was let to you as a condition of your employment. For example, warden’s accommodation, park house or a cemetery house.

Qualifying period

If your secure tenancy started before 18 January 2005 or you were a public sector tenant before this date, you only need two years secure tenancy to qualify for the Right to Buy (RTB). These tenancies must be continuous.

If you take up a new tenancy on or after this date, or you have no previous tenancies with any other public sector landlord, you will have to wait five years from the date your tenancy commenced before you can apply to buy your home.

If you decide you want to buy your home, you must complete an application form. Click here to downloaded our RTB application form. When completing the form, please include full details of your current tenancy and any previous tenancies which you wish to claim discount for.
The form must be signed by all parties wishing to share the RTB and sent to us. Please visit our Contact us page for details of our address.

Discount rules

If you decide to buy your home, you will be entitled to a discount up to a maximum set by the Government (currently £26,000).

The amount you will receive will depend on the valuation of your property and the number of years you have been a council tenant. This may include time spent in different homes and / or with different landlords.

If you are buying your home with someone who has a longer qualifying tenancy period than your own, you will be entitled to their higher rate of discount. You cannot add together your separate qualifying periods.

The level of discount you receive will also depend on whether your property is a house or flat / maisonette as detailed below:

Houses. The basic discount after two years is 32%. You are then entitled to an extra 1% discount for each extra complete year, up to a limit of 60%.
Flats and maisonettes. The basic discount after two years is 44% for flats and maisonettes. You are then entitled to an extra 2% discount for each extra complete year, up to a limit of 70%.
You will have to pay back some or all of the discount you receive if you decide to sell your home. See below for more information about selling your home.

Contact us if you would like more information about the discount rules.

Step by step guide to buying your home

Step 1 – applying to buy your home

If you decide you want to buy your home, you must complete an application form.
Click here to downloaded our Right to Buy (RTB) application form.

If you have the Right To Buy your property, we will advise you by sending you Form RTB2 within four weeks of receiving your application (this could take as long as eight weeks in exceptional circumstances).

If your request is denied, we will let you know within one week of receiving your application, giving you the reasons why.

Step 2 - Valuing the property

You will be contacted by the valuation office to arrange a time for your property to be valued. The Valuation Officer will need to gain access to your property to make their valuation; this should usually take no more than 45 minutes. In some cases, a Structural Survey will need to be undertaken by the Council’s Structural Engineer. When making their valuation, the Valuation Officer will take into consideration any defects found and compare values of private and recent right to buy properties.

Step 3 – Offer Notice

Within 12 weeks of your application (16 weeks if your property is a flat or maisonette), we will send you the Section 125 notice (Landlord’s Offer Notice). This document shows you the Council’s valuation of your home, your discount and the conditions of purchase.
Last year the average time taken to issue the offer notice was less that 10 weeks for houses and 11 weeks for flats.

If you are buying a flat we will also include an estimate of service charges you will have to pay during your lease.

If you want to appeal against the valuation, you must do this by completing a TRB5 form within 3 months of the Offer Notice being issued. Click here to download the form

Step 4 – Your Acceptance

If you want to go ahead with the purchase of your property, you should let us know within 3 months of the issue date of the Offer Notice by returning the acceptance form to us. If you do not do this you will be sent a reminder asking you to respond within 28 days. If you do not respond your application may be cancelled. If you still want to purchase your home, you will have to start the process again by completing a new application form.

Note: if you buy your home, you can sell it any time – but if you do this within five years of purchase, you will have to pay back a proportion of the discount you were allowed.

Step 5 – Completing the Purchase

When you return the acceptance form with details of your Solicitor and mortgage provider, our Solicitor will contact your Solicitor to make formal arrangements for the date of the sale. Last year the average time taken for the sale of a property was 37 weeks (approximately 21 weeks prior to being sent to the Legal Department and 16 weeks for the legal work to be completed).

Remember!

If you do not keep up the repayments on your mortgage your lender may go to court to apply to take over your home. We may not be obliged to offer you another property if you lose your home in this way.

Click here If you would like a copy of our leaflet which outlines the RTB process, 'Step by step.

Selling your home

You can sell your home whenever you like, but you may have to repay some or all the discount you received. The amount you will have to repay depends on when you bought it.
If you applied to buy your home after the 18th January 2005 and you sell it within the first 5 years, you will have to repay some or all of the discount you received as detailed in the table below:

Length of time after purchase	Discount you must repay if you sell
Within first year	All of your discount
Within 2nd year	Four fifths of your discount
Within 3rd year	Three fifths of your discount
Within 4th year	Two fifths of your discount
Within 5th year	One fifth of your discount
After the 5th year	None of the discount

The amount of discount to be repaid if you sell within 5 years of purchasing , will include a percentage of the resale value of the property, disregarding any improvements you make.

If you applied to buy your home on or after 18th January 2005 and you wish to sell it within the first 10 years, you will be required to ask Bury Council or another social landlord if they want to buy it back from you first at full market value. This is know as the ‘right to first refusal’. Contact us for more information or download the Government booklet - ‘Your Right to Buy your home’ here.

If you need a copy of the deeds and you still have a mortgage on your property, please contact your mortgage lender. If you do not have a mortgage, please contact the solicitor who acted on your behalf for the purchase of your home.

If your lender / solicitor is unable to do this you can contact the Council’s Legal Services Division on 0161 253 5217. There will be an administrative fee for this service.

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