To be eligible for Right to Buy in England, you must be a secure tenant of a council property who has been a public sector tenant for at least 3 years (not necessarily consecutive or with the same landlord). The property must be your only or main home and must be self-contained. Certain property types are excluded, including sheltered housing and some properties built specifically for elderly or disabled residents. You must not be subject to a bankruptcy order or a possession order.
The maximum Right to Buy discount in England for 2025/26 is £96,010 for most areas and £136,400 in London boroughs. For houses, the discount starts at 35% after 3 years and increases by 1% per additional year up to 70%. For flats, the discount starts at 50% and increases by 2% per year up to 70%. The actual discount is whichever is lower: the calculated percentage of market value, or the regional cash cap.
If you sell within 5 years of purchase, you must repay a proportion of the discount on a sliding scale: 100% in year 1, 80% in year 2, 60% in year 3, 40% in year 4, and 20% in year 5. This repayment is calculated as a percentage of the current sale price at the time of sale — so if property values have risen, you could repay more than the original cash discount. After 5 years there is no repayment. After 10 years, the right of first refusal to the council also lapses.
Yes. Most major lenders offer Right to Buy mortgages and many allow you to use the discount as your deposit, meaning you may need little or no cash upfront. Halifax, NatWest, Nationwide, Barclays and Santander all offer Right to Buy products. The purchase price is below market value, which means your loan-to-value ratio is more favourable and you may qualify for better rates than on a standard purchase. A specialist mortgage broker is recommended to compare the full market.
The standard Right to Buy applies to council (local authority) tenants only. Housing association tenants may have Right to Acquire (if the property was built with social housing grant post-1997, offering a discount of £9,000–£16,000) or Preserved Right to Buy (if their home was transferred from the council after they became a tenant, maintaining full RTB discount entitlement). Check with your landlord which scheme, if any, applies to your property.
If you sell within 5 years, you must repay a proportion of the discount. Within 10 years, you must first offer the property back to the original landlord at current market value — they have 8 weeks to decide whether to buy it back. If they decline, you may sell on the open market. After 10 years, there are no restrictions on who you can sell to. Note that the repayment is based on the current sale price, not the original discount amount, so rising property prices can mean the repayment exceeds the discount you originally received.