A tenant's guide- The Right to Buy

Wiltshire Council can refuse to let you buy your home IF:

1. A court makes a possession order which says that you must leave your home.

AND/OR

2. If you are an un-discharged bankrupt, have a bankruptcy petition pending against you, or have made an arrangement with creditors (people you owe money to) and you still owe them money.

AND/OR

3. If your home is particularly suitable for occupation by elderly persons, taking into account its location, size, design, heating system and other features and;

• was let to you or the previous tenant for occupation by a person aged 60 or over, whether they were the tenant or not; and
• was first let (to you or someone else) before 1 January 1990 However when considering if your home is 'particularly suitable' for occupation by elderly persons the council must ignore features that you have provided (for example, a central heating system).

4. Other exceptions. You may not have the Right to Buy in the following cases.

If your home is:

(a) part of sheltered housing for the elderly, the physically disabled, the mentally ill or the mentally disabled. Special rules must be met in these cases. 'Sheltered housing' normally means that the property is one of a group of such dwellings, that a warden service is provided, and that there is a common room nearby. Housing for disabled people means a property that is one of a group and has features that are substantially different from those of ordinary dwellings and with special facilities that are provided nearby.

b) A house or flat on land which has been bought for development, and which is being used as temporary housing before the land is developed.

c) provided because you are an employee who has to live in the home provided by the Council as your employer so that you can be near your work.

d) provided because you are an employee of the council and your home is inside the boundaries of a school, a social service home, another type of operational building or a cemetery.

5. If the council intends to demolish your home, the council may serve on you an initial demolition notice, valid for up to 5 years. Such a notice suspends the council's obligation to complete a Right to Buy purchase. If you have already applied for the Right to Buy, you can still complete if demolition does not in fact take place. You can also make a new application while an initial demolition notice is in force, but the council does not have to complete the sale under those circumstances. However, if the council serves a final demolition notice, then any existing Right to Buy claims are ended and no new applications can be made. The council can only serve such a notice if all other premises that are to be demolished within the relevant area have been acquired or are subject to binding agreements to acquire. This is to prevent tenants from being disadvantaged by unresolved compulsory purchase issues. A final demolition notice will be valid for 2 years, and can be extended on application to the Secretary of State. If you have established a valid claim to exercise the Right to Buy before either an initial demolition notice or a final demolition notice is served, you have 3 months in which to claim compensation for expenditure connected with the conveyance process, such as legal or survey fees. If the council subsequently decides not to demolish the property, then the council must serve a revocation notice on you as soon as is reasonably practicable. If it appears to the Secretary of State that the council has no intention of demolishing properties a notice may be served revoking the initial or final demolition notice on you.

6. Rural restrictions

If your home is in one of the following areas:

• a National Park, or

• a designated area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, or

• an area designated by the Secretary of State as rural for Right to Buy purposes then special rules apply. When you buy in these areas, the sale will be on the condition that you may only resell it to someone who has been living or working in the area for 3 years. Alternatively, the council may require you to offer to sell your home back to the council if you wanted to sell it within 10 years of buying it from the council. The Council would then have to pay you the full value of the property on any re-sale during that 10-year period

You may find it difficult to get a mortgage for your home because of these restrictions on resale.