Right to Buy: How to Buy Your Social Home

You can apply to buy your council home if:

• ✓Yes: It is your only or main home, and it is self-contained
• ✓Yes: You are a secure tenant
• ✓Yes: You have had a public sector landlord (for example, a council, housing association or NHS trust) for 3 years, and it does not have to be 3 years in a row

You can make a joint application with someone who shares your tenancy, or with up to 3 family members who have lived with you for the past 12 months (even if they do not share your tenancy)

The right to buy cannot be exercised if:

• ✗No: You are subject to an order of the court for possession of the home
• ✗No: You have made a bankruptcy application that has not been determined, have a bankruptcy petition pending, or are an undischarged bankrupt
• ✗No: You have made an arrangement with your creditors that remains to be fulfilled
• ✗No: The landlord is a housing trust or housing association that is a charity, or is a co-operative housing association (Schedule 5: the right to buy does not arise at all)

The three year period is set by section 119 of the Housing Act 1985. Schedule 5 to the Act lists exceptions where the right to buy does not arise at all, for example where the home is one of a group particularly suitable for elderly people with a warden.

You can appeal to a tribunal if you are stopped from buying because the home is suitable for housing elderly people, and you must appeal within 56 days of the council turning down your application.

If your home used to be owned by the council but they sold it to another landlord while you were living in it, you may have the Right to Buy. This is called 'Preserved Right to Buy'. Ask your landlord if this applies to you.

GOV.UK's Right to Buy guidance gives the current discount rules below. On 28 April 2026 the government confirmed it will bring forward further reforms, to be introduced when Parliamentary time allows.

• ✓Yes: Houses: you get a 35% discount if you have been a public sector tenant for between 3 and 5 years, and after 5 years it goes up 1% for every extra year.
• ✓Yes: Flats: you get a 50% discount if you have been a public sector tenant for between 3 and 5 years, and after 5 years it goes up 2% for every extra year.
• ✓Yes: The maximum discount is whichever is lower: 70% of the value of your property, or the maximum discount for your region.

If you applied to buy your home after 21 November 2024, your discount will be less if your landlord has spent money building or maintaining your home in the last 30 years. You might also get a smaller discount if you have used Right to Buy in the past. If you are buying with someone else, you count the years of whoever has been a public sector tenant the longest.

Maximum discount by region, for applications after 21 November 2024:

The discount rules announced on 28 April 2026, to be brought forward:

The announcement also confirms an increase in the minimum eligibility period from three to ten years. A 35 year new build exemption period was also announced, so that new social homes cannot be sold under Right to Buy for 35 years after they are built.

The government's 28 April 2026 announcement also confirms that maximum cash discounts have been reduced to £16,000 to £38,000 depending on the area, and that the cost floor protection has been extended from 15 to 30 years.

• ✓Yes: If you sell within 5 years of buying, you have to pay back some or all of the discount
• ✓Yes: You pay back all of the discount if you sell in the first year, then 80% in the second year, 60% in the third year, 40% in the fourth year and 20% in the fifth year
• ✓Yes: The amount you pay back depends on the value of your home when you sell it
• ✓Yes: If you sell within 10 years of buying, you must first offer it to your old landlord or another social landlord in the area
• ✓Yes: You can sell your home to anyone if the landlord does not agree to buy it within 8 weeks
• ✓Yes: Your former landlord may limit who you can sell to if your home is in a national park, an area of outstanding natural beauty or an area the government says is rural for Right to Buy

Some housing association tenants have the Right to Acquire, which is similar to Right to Buy. You can get a discount of between £9,000 and £16,000 on the price of your property, depending on where you live in the UK.

• ✓Yes: You have had a public sector landlord for 3 years, which includes housing associations, councils, the armed services and NHS trusts and foundation trusts
• ✓Yes: Your property was built or bought by a housing association after 31 March 1997 (and funded through a social housing grant), or transferred from a local council to a housing association after 31 March 1997
• ✓Yes: Your landlord is registered with the Regulator of Social Housing
• ✓Yes: The home is self-contained and is your only or main home
• ✓Yes: You apply with the Right to Acquire application form, which you send to your landlord

• ✗No: You are being made bankrupt, or a court has ordered you to leave your home
• ✗No: You are a council tenant (you may be able to use Right to Buy instead), or you have 'Preserved Right to Buy'
• ✗No: You cannot appeal against the landlord's decision

Our social housing guide covers your rights as a tenant before you buy, and our repairs guide covers your repairs rights while you are still a tenant.