New right to buy scheme...

MCMXCV

Hi guys,
I have read that at the beginning of this month there was a bit of a shake-up to the right to buy scheme. The problem is I cant seem to find much information on who exactly is entitled to buy. My home is owned by Synergy H/A in Dorset and was owned by the council about 10 years before I moved in. I was never a tenant of the 'old council'.
All I can gather from direct.gov is :
The Right to Buy scheme helps social tenants in England to buy their council home at a discount.
You can apply for Right to Buy if you’ve been a council or public sector tenant for five years (it doesn’t have to be five years in a row). You are a public sector tenant if you have lived in properties provided by a housing association, the armed services or a public body like an NHS trust.
You can make a ‘joint application’ to buy your home through Right to Buy with someone who shares the tenancy with you or with members of your family. They must have lived with you for the past 12 months.
You can’t buy through the scheme if:
the property isn't your main home
the property isn't self-contained (has a shared kitchen or bathroom)
there's a court order saying you must leave your home
you're an 'undischarged bankrupt'
you're being declared bankrupt
you owe money to creditors

Nothing there would bar me from buying.

I just can't see how the government can force a housing association to sell me their property at a reduced rate....

Anyone know any more about this?

MCMXCV

Sorry for bumping this but does anyone have any idea who I would speak to to get advice on this?

seven-day-weekend

MCMXCV wrote: »

Sorry for bumping this but does anyone have any idea who I would speak to to get advice on this?

Synergy HA?

MrMrsR

It will say in your original contract with the HA whether you have the right to buy, as far as I'm aware most HA properties do not give right to buy discounts only council owned properties do and you have to have been a tenant for in excess of 5 years (and can not subsequently sell for a further 4 years without paying back all or part of the discount).
hth

bunnybunnyrabbit

It is most likely you will not have the Right to Buy. Tenants of charitable Housing Associations may have the Preserved Right to Buy but only if they were secure tenants of the local authority before they transferred their housing stock over to the HA. BUT, the only sure-fire way of finding out is to call your HA to confirm :-)

kingstreet

"Right To Buy" for ex-council tenants transferred to HAs.

"Right to Acquire" a possibility for HA tenants.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/finding_a_place_to_live/Buying_and_selling/right_to_acquire

Totally different kettle of fish TBH. Ask HA which applies.

MCMXCV

I had spoken to synergy before posting. They told me I was not eligible for RTB as I was never a tenant of the old council. I was just checking to see if they were correct.
Referring to the link from direct.gov I posted. Specificallly this paragraph:
You can apply for Right to Buy if you’ve been a council or public sector tenant for five years (it doesn’t have to be five years in a row). You are a public sector tenant if you have lived in properties provided by a housing association, the armed services or a public body like an NHS trust.
I may not be a council tenant but by their reckoning I am definitely a public sector tenant....

kingstreet

They should differentiate between Housing Associations which are "normal" and those which are the HAs used to take the hived-off housing stock from local authorities. Hence the RTB and RTA differences.