How to buy your home

The Right to Buy (RTB) Your tenancy must have been a secure tenancy with a Council or housing association that started before 15 January 1989, and you must still live in the same home to which you are applying for the Right to Buy.

The Preserved Right to Buy (PRTB) This is an extension to the Right to Buy and is available to assured tenants who were previously secure tenants of a Council whose homes were transferred to SNG (or its predecessors) by way of an LSVT (Large Scale Voluntary Transfer) on certain dates. 

If you were a secure Council tenant on or before the dates below and your home was transferred to SNG (or its predecessors) on these dates, then you might be eligible:

• Newbury District Council – 30 November 1989
• Christchurch County Council - 28 March 1991
• Medina Borough Council - 26 July 1990
• North Dorset District Council - 6 September 1994
• Vale of White Horse District Council - 9 February 1995
• Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council - 20 March 1995

The reason that the PRTB is an extension to the RTB is because you do not have to be in the same property with the same tenancy as you do with the RTB. With the PRTB you can move into another property so long as SNG remain as your landlord throughout your tenancy history, if you moved outside of SNG to another landlord and then have come back to be an SNG tenant this may affect eligibility. 

There are other common eligibility criteria & exemptions such as:

• You must not be an undischarged bankrupt, have a bankruptcy petition pending against you or have obtained a debit relief order.
• You must not have any outstanding possession orders for rent arrears
• Sheltered properties or homes adapted for a disabled person are exempt.
• You must have been a public sector tenant for at least three years.
• You must not have any suspension orders in place such as those for antisocial behaviour or any demotion orders. 
• Any succession to the tenancy must be valid and will be assessed at the time of an application. 
• SNG must have freehold interest or sufficient leasehold interest with a public sector landlord. 

This is not a complete list of eligibility and exemptions to find out more please see the government guide on this website .

The Right to Acquire is a statutory scheme developed by Government. 

The discount is set by the Government by location. The discounts range from £9,000-£16,000 (for 2023-2024). You can find out what discount is given to your area here . 

The main eligibility requirements are:

• You live in a home that was bought or built by SNG after 1 April 1997 and the property received specific grant funding. 
• You have been a public sector resident for over 3 years. 
• Your tenancy is an assured or secure tenancy (some Assured Shorthold Tenancies are also eligible) 
• Your property must not be in a Designated Rural Area 

There are other common eligibility requirements and exemptions such as 

• You must not be an undischarged bankrupt, have a bankruptcy petition pending against you or have obtained a debit relief order
• You must not have any outstanding possession orders for rent arrears 
• You must not have any suspension orders in place such as those for antisocial behaviour or any demotion orders. 
• Assured shorthold tenancies for a fixed term of less than two years, periodic and those where the rent payable under the tenancy is Intermediate Rent; or Mortgage Rescue rent are not eligible for the Right to Acquire 

If you are ready to make an application please contact us by email at RTBenquiries@sovereign.org.uk to request an application pack.

• Once we’ve received your application we’ll let you know. We’ll also let you know 
  • if we need any more information from you
  • the date by which you can expect to hear from us with an outcome to your application (whether it has been accepted or denied)
• SNG have four weeks to respond to your application. This is extended to eight weeks if we need tenancy confirmation from a previous landlord. The deadlines run from the date we receive your application form.
• At this stage your identification will be verified (along with anyone who is sharing the Right to Acquire or Right to Buy with you). We use a third-party provider of ID checks which is a safe and convenient way to verify your ID. The ID checker provides a secure app that allows you to remotely verify your identity and will supply a full list of acceptable ID.
• SNG will review the information given in your application form, any supporting documents you provide and that we hold, to assess eligibility. Sometimes it takes longer than we would like to let you know the outcome of your application. This is often in cases where we when are dealing with third parties. If this happens, we will let you know and keep you updated.
• SNG will only accept applications that have been signed in ‘wet’ ink (i.e. signed by all parties with a pen).  We will not accept electronic signatures or signatures that have been copied and pasted onto the application form. We can accept a scan/picture of a completed application form emailed to us, but this must clearly show all signatures in ‘wet’ format'.

• SNG will provide you with a form to confirm the outcome of your application.  If you are eligible for the scheme you’ve applied for the form will confirm that it has been “Accepted”.  If you are not eligible for the scheme you’ve applied for then unfortunately the form will confirm that it has been “Denied”. The forms are called Form RTA2 (Right to Acquire) or Form RTB2 (Right to Buy).
• If you are not eligible then the form will confirm the reasons why. This would be the end of the application process.
• If you are eligible, you will receive the form confirming this and we will also send you information about the next steps - the property must be valued by a RICS Surveyor to determine the market value.

• SNG must sell properties sold under the RTA/RTB at full market value (the discount set out by each scheme will be deducted from this).
• SNG work with an external company who use a panel of independent Surveyor’s across the UK. You will be contacted by them to arrange a mutually convenient time for the Surveyor to attend your home to carry out the valuation.
• The Surveyor then provide the report to SNG confirming the market value. The market value is determined as at the date the application was made.
• You will then be given a Section 125 Offer Notice. This will set out the purchase price, which will be the market value minus any discount you are entitled to under the RTA/RTB. It will also set out any estate or service charges that may be payable once you have bought the property.
• SNG have eight weeks from the date of the RTA2/RTB2 Acceptance to send you the Section 125 Offer Notice (s125) if you are buying a freehold property and 12 weeks if you are buying a leasehold property.
• You then have 12 weeks to confirm whether you accept the offer; whether you wish to have the property re-determined by the District Valuer (see more info on our FAQ page); or withdraw your application. Although you have 12 weeks, we ask that you let us know as soon as possible whether you are going to proceed to buy your home or not. It is therefore important to consider how you are going to pay for your home and all associated costs in advance.
• If you decide to withdraw then the file will be closed, and no further action is necessary.
• If you decide to proceed to buy you will need to instruct a legal representative to act on your behalf (Solicitor, Legal Executive etc). Your purchase must proceed to completion in a timely manner, SNG can serve notice to complete if the purchase is not reasonably moving forward.  This sets timescales for completion and if the notices are not adhered to SNG reserve the right to withdraw your application.

• If you have decided you can afford to buy your home and have secured your finance then you need to instruct a legal representative to act on your behalf.
• Let us know your legal representative’s contact details to us so that we can send them all necessary information to progress your purchase. Likewise, you should inform your legal representative that SNG’s Legal Team will be acting on behalf of SNG as the seller and provide the contact details of the member of the Legal Team who is acting.
• At this stage all communication should be directly between your legal representative and SNG’s Legal Team. This is due to professional conduct rules and is standard in any conveyancing transaction. Please see the following link for independent solicitors who are familiar with RTA/RTB sales .

• You need to consider how you are going to fund the purchase, for example by way of mortgage, and whether the mortgage monthly repayments are within your affordability. It is important to remember that keeping up with mortgage repayments is not the same as renting, if mortgage repayments are not kept up with then your home could be re-possessed. It is a good idea to speak with a mortgage advisor at an early stage so that they can help you find the right product and make an informed decision.
• You might be purchasing with money gifted to you or you might have received inheritance.
• The costs associated with buying a home such as solicitors fees, mortgage product fees, stamp duty costs (depending on the value of the property) and survey fees.

• There might some estate charges that are payable for example maintenance of footpaths and roadways if they are not maintained by the Council.
• If you buy a leasehold property (usually a flat) the chances are that you will need to pay service charges for the maintenance of the communal areas. This will be in addition to any mortgage repayments you may have so it’s important to factor this into your monthly budget.
• Once you own a property you will be liable for your own buildings and contents insurance if your property is freehold. Often just contents insurance if you buy a leasehold property as it is common for Landlords to arrange the building insurance, but you will still pay a proportion of this in the service charges.
• You will be responsible for all repairs to your home once you are the freeholder (boiler repairs, roof repairs etc) and all maintenance costs associated with keeping your house in good repair. If you buy a leasehold property, you will still be responsible for certain repairs (inside your own property) and your landlord would be responsible for the other repairs of the building common areas etc but again this will be payable via your service charge.
• We have a list of financial consultants who will be able to assist . Their advice will help you get a better idea of what your future costs are likely to be.

• If you sell your home within 5 years of the completion date you will have to repay a percentage of the discount you were given when you bought your home. If you sell your home within 10 years of the completion date, you will need to give us first refusal to buy back at the current market value.