Looking at Buying Council House. Not Eligible for Right to Buy?

kiis102

Hello, just need help please.

My Mom is looking at purchasing her (Coventry) Council House which is currently under the Midland Heart Association and she's lived in there since 1993 (I'm assuming it was built in the 1980's).

The reason she wants to purchase it is because rent is becoming unaffordable as she's on a low income and we heard the Right to Buy discount is increasing from £26k to £50k shortly. The house itself is valued at about £80,000 (the next door one sold for £79k last year). We have worked out that we should get the 50k discount due to how long she's lived there but then reduced it to £35k discount if we assume that £15k worth of repairs have been done on the property since she moved in. (In reality it's probably half this).

I have decided I'd give my Mom £10k out of my savings towards purchasing the property and We have family abroad who would be willing to lend us the remaining amount so we can buy the house outright without getting a mortgage/interest payments.

I've just called Midland Heart on her behalf just to get some general Info on the process and find out about things I may have missed. They informed me that the property isn't eligible for Right to Buy due to it being built before 1997 (??) and the agent emailed the selling department who will call tomorrow.

I'm a little worried that there isn't a way to buy the house but maybe it's just because they said it's not eligible for RTB so I've assumed that's the only option and it's been denied so I'm probably panicking over nothing.

Does anyone know what the process could be now as it's unlikely we're eligible for the normal RTB scheme. I've read up a little about Right to Aquire and Preserved Right to Buy, would these also come with the discount? Sorry if it all sounds a little confusing, this is a huge step for us and we've never spent more than £400 on anything. Any help would be great, I'm sure people have brought council houses before which we're built before 1997 but no idea what's involved.

greenhill

googling led me to this link .

Hope it's a bit of help.

kiis102

greenhill wrote: »

googling led me to this link .

Hope it's a bit of help.

Hi, thanks but I saw that link already. There might be a small hope that we'd qualify for Right to Acquire (won't know until they call) but the discount for that won't be high enough for us to buy the house.

The rent at the moment is 320 a month (raising to 340 shortly) and we're already having to cut back on food just to barely meet the monthly payments. We meet all the requirements of right to buy except the house being built after 1997. If we can't buy the house, I'm scared about what could happen

Tixy

From reading the website it sounds like mother doesn't qualify because its a charitable housing association that owns the property not because of date it was built.

Certainly lots of people have bought their council houses owned by the council that were built before 1997, but perhaps not from charitable housing associations.

Does mother live alone? have you checked she is getting all the benefits she is entitled to, which might make her rent more affordable?

Hump

The first question is who was her landlord when she moved into the property in 1993? If it was Midland Heart then she will not have the RTB. The 'preserved RTB' only applies to people who were already Council tenants when their property was transferred from the Council to an ALMO / Housing Association (now called a Registered Provider).

The main Coventry 'stock transfer' took place about 12 years ago, which is after your mum became a tenant and it went over to a new company called Whitefriars Housing.

Hence it's likely your mum was a Midland Heart tenant from the start with no RTB.

It's worth getting the Housing Association's response in writing

leveller2911

If its a HA house built between 1989-1997 she won't have the RTB. This is because of the Government policy at the time and it would take an Act Of Parliament to change it..

The reason I know this is that we also live in a HA house built in 1993 and don't have the RTB..

BigAunty

Have you double checked if you are entitled to any benefits? Put your details into the Turn2us online benefit calculator to see if you are entitled to any housing benefit or other benefits.

Is your mum retired? Are you in employment?

kiis102

Hi, well I'm pretty sure she originally moved in (with me and my younger brother who's at the local Uni atm but still living at home) while I believe the property was run by the council but was then shifted to FOX housing group who then a few years ago merged with Midland Heart who are now our owners.

She's working PT (16hrs a week) and was getting child benefit till a month ago for my brother but it should have stopped when he started at Uni but we didn't know this. Once CB was stopped, she would be entitled to a discount on rent/council tax (both of which have taken all her wages since sept so she's living off whatever the benefit payments are). Now they stopped CB and want her to pay back all it they have overpaid which obviously isn't possible at all.

I'm working PT for 2days a week, I think I'll be moving back in but I'm scared that after 20yrs that we could be homeless soon. We have a meeting at the council tomorrow to find out what they can do but buying the property at a discounted price would have removed out main worry of being kicked out

xylophone

‘Right to Buy’ is a government scheme allowing qualifying customers to buy their homes at a discounted price. However, we have charitable status and so the Right-to-Buy scheme is generally not available. However, you can check whether it applies to your home by calling our customer service centre.

If you are eligible to buy your home, the amount of discount you will receive depends on the length of time you have been a tenant, up to a limit set by the Government. It also depends on the area you live in and the original cost of building your property.
Making your home yours – the right to acquire.

There is a separate scheme if you live in a home that was built or substantially improved after April 1997, called the ‘Right to Acquire’. This lets you buy the home you rent for a fixed discounted price, which is worked out by the area you live in. The scheme only applies to certain properties where we received a specific grant when we refurbished or built the property. Call our customer service centre to confirm if your home is eligible and they will guide you through the application.

The above states the facts relating to the case. You have stated that mother moved in in 1993 so the house can't have been built after 1997 but perhaps it was "substantially improved"?

With regard to the overpaid CB perhaps your mother will be allowed to repay in instalments?

Soot2006

But if you are able to raise £35,000 to buy this house, why can this amount not go towards rent help?

Joyful

I am confused. If you can give £10,000 towards the cost of buying why can you not add on £20 a month to the rent? also if things are that tight your Mum will not be able to pay any repairs to the property when needed. At least now her Landlord covers this.
Make sure she is getting all the benefits she is entitled to. It may be she will need to up her hours to 24 now to get extra help with Working tax credits.