Mis-sold our Right to buy from the council !?

cambo13

Just over 3 years ago we purchased our house from the 'council' and we where now under the impression that we could sell it without paying back the discount we recieved on the price.

However it has now come to light that our discount repayment period is 5 years.

At the time we where buying the house , the council house asscociation changed hands and therefore changed policies from 3 to 5 years. I must state that at the time of our application the policy was 3 years and we where assured (unfortunately we have no written evidence) that beacuse we had applied under the old 'rules' the sale would stick to the 3 year policy.

We have now checked the sale documents we recieved at the time of purchase and it does state that 2010 is the end of the discount repayment period. Niavely we musn't have read that at the time as we had took it for granted what we had been told.:o

Does anyone know if there is anychance of us keeping the original 3 years ? It has really hit our family hard to find this out because our daughter is at the age where she now needs her own room (shares with her brother) and as we thought that we where only going to be in the house for 3 years and not 5, we thought we could get by, otherwise we probably wouldn't have bought the property in the first place

It does state in all the right to buy documentation (past and present) that you may not have to pay back the discount if your situation changes, which i think we may have a case for if they go back on their original 'word'.

Thanks in advance for any help or advice :T

lincroft1710

Best thing would be to speak to housing association and explain there are special circumstances. Bear in mind that 2010 isn't that far away and property market is depressed in some areas so your home may not sell that quickly anyway.

Final point how much is house now worth compared to price you bought at.

HazelS_2

Nope - sorry, you don't have a leg to stand on...

It's not the council or the HA that would decide to waiver the RTB discount repayment, it's pretty much set in stone.

You stated that you didn't read the documentation.... oh dear.... NEVER EVER sign ANYTHING without reading it!!!

Richard_Webster

Didn't your solicitor explain it to you? He should have done.

The new rules are different from the old in a number of respects and he should have gone through it all with you. Did you get a written report explaining how the discount payback worked and also the fact that even after the 5 years you still have to offer the property back to the HA/Council (but then at the market price)?

If you didn't get an explanation you might have a case against your solicitor - if you didn't read one you did get, then sorry, you are stuck and no doubt will learn the lesson not to assume that things are the case, just because you think they are.

cattie

I don't think it's fair to title your post as Misold right to buy, as it wasn't misold. You bought at a discount & and didn't research the conditions of rtb, nor did you read the documentation regarding rtb & selling on.

This is not critisism towards you, just pointing out that the council/ha are not at fault.

Would it really be such a big deal to have to stay in the house a bit longer? After all lots of siblings have to share a room untill they are deemed more than old enough to have their own rooms. How old are your children?

Unless they are actually teenagers I'd have thought there is very little chance you'd be considered a specail case & an exception made for you.

ILW

Why not just pay back some of the discount and give the taxpayers a break.

cambo13

cattie wrote: »

I don't think it's fair to title your post as Misold right to buy, as it wasn't misold. You bought at a discount & and didn't research the conditions of rtb, nor did you read the documentation regarding rtb & selling on.

This is not critisism towards you, just pointing out that the council/ha are not at fault.

Would it really be such a big deal to have to stay in the house a bit longer? After all lots of siblings have to share a room untill they are deemed more than old enough to have their own rooms. How old are your children?

.

I would say that we have been mis-sold the right to buy, it was our fault for not realising on the final sale document that it said 5 years, and we feel very stupid for not checking it, but at the end of the day we had spoke to the council on numerous occasions to confirm that we would be buying under the 'old terms' ie 3 years and not the 5 years. With a bit of luck we won't be the only people who bought when the housing changed hands...

It is such a big deal to stay in the house for another 2 years, the area is going rapidly down hill.

ILW

cambo13 wrote: »

I would say that we have been mis-sold the right to buy, it was our fault for not realising on the final sale document that it said 5 years, and we feel very stupid for not checking it, but at the end of the day we had spoke to the council on numerous occasions to confirm that we would be buying under the 'old terms' ie 3 years and not the 5 years. With a bit of luck we won't be the only people who bought when the housing changed hands...

It is such a big deal to stay in the house for another 2 years, the area is going rapidly down hill.

Are you looking to sell at what you actually paid, or expecting a profit?

cambo13

ILW wrote: »

Are you looking to sell at what you actually paid, or expecting a profit?

We're expecting profit, why ?

ILW

cambo13 wrote: »

We're expecting profit, why ?

So you think the local council tax payers should be giving you a nice little earner? Why?

tbs624

cambo13 wrote: »

I would say that we have been mis-sold the right to buy, it was our fault for not realising on the final sale document that it said 5 years, and we feel very stupid for not checking it, but at the end of the day we had spoke to the council on numerous occasions to confirm that we would be buying under the 'old terms' ie 3 years and not the 5 years. With a bit of luck we won't be the only people who bought when the housing changed hands...

For goodness sake take some personal responsibility - if you are taking up an RTB then you cannot expect the Council to hold your hand though the process. You presumably employed a solicitor to act on your behalf, you must have signed the contract - the time to have queried this was via your solicitor prior to signing that contract. Richard Webster has already given you good advice.

cambo13 wrote: »

It is such a big deal to stay in the house for another 2 years, the area is going rapidly down hill.

Often a problem when you exercise the RTB on a former council property, although not exclusively so. If you do have to stay put and your children "need" separate rooms is there any way of dividing up one of the current bedrooms with temporary screens/floor to celing blinds, ikea style shelving units etc?