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If you are considering buying your Council property through the right to buy scheme, you will need to have been a secure Council tenant here or with another authority or with a Housing Association for at least three years. You may not have the right to buy if you live in sheltered accommodation or accommodation purpose built for a disabled person. To find out if you can buy, you must complete an application form and after assessing your application, our tenancy services section will make a decision.
The right to buy scheme entitles tenants to a discount on the market value of their property. The amount of discount will depend on how long you have been a secure tenant and whether you are buying a house/bungalow or a flat/maisonette. If your application is received on or after 21 November 2024, the maximum discount you can get is £38,000.
In the event that the Council has spent money in building or acquiring your home your discount will be less. In such cases a 'Cost Floor' rule will apply, see below for further details:
There are two applications forms that you must complete. You can contact tenancy services for the forms to be sent to you or you can download the RTB1 form 
(this is the standard Government form that must be used) and the additional form 
(573 KB) yourself.
If you need further information, you can visit the government website or if you would like to discuss a current application, please contact tenancy services on 01329 236100 or email housing@fareham.gov.uk.
The following information sets out the various stages of the right to buy scheme
We use these forms to check if you have the right to buy and how much discount you are entitled to. You can download both forms using the links above or request them to be sent to you by post from our tenancy services division. To do this please telephone 01329 236100 or email: housing@fareham.gov.uk. Once you have completed the RTB1 and additional information from, please contact to arrange an appointment to bring your forms, supporting documents and identification in.
Your application will be passed to our Investigations Team who will conduct various checks of the information you have supplied, for example credit checks. You will be asked to verify how you are funding the purchase of your home to ensure that the council is not part of a financial transaction that could amount to handling the proceeds of crime (money laundering).
Once both forms (RTB1 and the Council's additional form) have been fully checked we will send you a notice (form RTB2) to tell you if you have been given the right to buy or if not, the reason it has been denied. By law, we must send this information to you within four weeks of receiving your application form. If you are denied the right to buy you should consult your right to buy information booklet or contact our tenancy services team on 01329 236100 for further advice.
If you have a right to buy, we will ask our valuers to carry out a valuation. After this, we will send you details in an offer notice (section 125 notice) including:
It should be noted that in the event that the Council has spent money in building or aquiring your home before or after April 2012 the valuation and your discount may be less as these will be affected by a 'Cost Floor' rule.
If you have spent three years as a public sector secure tenant you will be entitled to a discount of 35% for the first five years and 1% for every other completed year up to a maximum of 70% (40 years as a secure tenant) or £38,000 (whichever is lower).
If you have spent three years as a public sector secure tenant you will be entitled to a discount of 50% for the first five years and 2% for every other completed year up to a maximum of 70% (15 years as a secure tenant) or £38,000 (whichever is lower).
If you are not happy with the full market price shown in your offer notice, you can appeal to the District Valuer, who will carry out an independent valuation of the property. You will have to accept this valuation even if it is higher than our valuation. To have the property re-valued you will need to complete form TRB5, which is available from the Council Offices. This must be done within 12 weeks of receiving your offer notice.
If you would like to discuss anything else about the offer notice, contact us. If you are buying a flat, you may find the lease advice site of interest.
If you decide to go ahead and buy your property you will need to get a mortgage from a bank or building society unless you are paying cash. They may charge you for arranging this and for carrying out the mortgage valuation survey.
Once you have secured a mortgage you will need legal advice. You should take your offer notice (section 125 notice) and draft transfer to your solicitor. You will be charged for this service. Your solicitor will act on your behalf and liaise with our legal department.
You now need to decide what you would like to do:
You must let us know your decision within 12 weeks of receiving your offer notice. If we do not hear from you during this time, we will send you a reminder (form TRB17) which you should complete and return to us. Even if you tell us that you wish to go ahead with buying the property, you may still change your mind at a later date and cancel the application by telling us in writing. If you notify us that you are going to buy you will have 3 months in which to take up the offer and the valuation will remain the same for this time. If we have not heard from you at the end of the 3 months, we will send you a reminder (form 12A) giving you 56 days in which to complete the purchase. If we still do not hear from you, we will send you a final notice (form 12B) to let you know that your application will be cancelled in a further 56 days.
If the Council has spent money in building or acquiring your home before or after April 2012 then this may be subject to a 'Cost Floor'. You will be advised of any 'Cost Floor' at the time of application.
No, in order to give a fair and accurate valuation, you will need to have the property valued by the Council and to have this done you must first complete an application form.
The valuation is usually carried out within six to eight weeks of when we receive your application. However, because of the various legal procedures which must take place, it is usually another four to six weeks before a written valuation can be sent to you.
No, there is no charge for the valuation or any other processes which we have to carry out. However you must pay solicitors and valuation fees when you arrange a mortgage if you decide to go ahead and buy the property.
Yes, you can take into account any secure tenancies you have with other local authorities, housing association and other public sector Landlords.
Up to three members of your family have the right to buy with the tenant/s of the property provided they have lived there for at least one year and do not have a tenancy elsewhere or own a property.
The Government has set a limit on the amount of discount we are allowed to give and in this area the limit is £38,000 or 70% whichever is the lower figure.
If you wish to sell or transfer the property to someone else within five years you will have to pay back to us a percentage of the discount you were given:
After five years from the purchase date, you can sell the property on the open market without having to pay back any discount. In addition, the amount of discount you will need to repay if you sell or transfer within five years will be a percentage of the resale value of your property.
If you sell your home within 10 years of buying it through Right to Buy, you must first offer it to either:
For more information on the right to buy or to get an information booklet, visit our offices or contact Tenancy Services on 01329 236100 or housing@fareham.gov.uk.
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