A tenant's guide- The Right to Buy

The Right to Buy scheme gives secure tenants a discount on the market value of their homes. The longer you have been a secure tenant, the larger discount you get, up to a maximum limit. As previously mentioned, the maximum discount available to secure tenants exercising their Right to Buy in the Wiltshire area is presently £84,600.

Subject to these maximum limits, the level of discount for which you are eligible depends on the time you have spent as a public sector tenant, with:

• this council being your present landlord;
• another 'Right to Buy landlord'.
• and/or with other public bodies

For a full list of Right to Buy landlords and other public bodies see section 13

If you have spent three years as a public sector tenant in order to qualify for the Right to Buy, the discount available to you is 35% for houses and 50% for flats. After five years this discount starts to increase. If you are buying a house, you are eligible for 1% further discount for each extra year, up to a maximum limit of 70%. If you are buying a flat, you are eligible for 2% additional discount for each extra full year, up to a maximum limit of 70%. But whatever percentage you are eligible for, your discount cannot be greater than the maximum discount presently set for the Wiltshire area which is £84,600.

The qualifying period for discount can include time spent in different homes and with different landlords, so long as these were public sector tenancies. You may also be able to count a period when your husband or wife was a public sector tenant or lived in housing provided by the armed forces. If you lived with your parents after the age of 16 and you later became the tenant of the same house or flat, you may be able to count that time too. If you are buying jointly with someone who has a qualifying period longer than yours, you will get their higher rate of discount (subject to the maximum limit). The table below gives some examples of the discount you could receive on a home worth £140,000. You should note that if any percentage means that your discount calculation exceeds £84,600 you will only be allowed a maximum discount of £84,600.