Right to buy

rob3001

My girlfriend has been a council tenant for 16 years and wants to buy her house under the right to buy scheme. She can't afford the full mortgage on her own so I would be helping her, so it would be a joint application. I have been living with her officially for 14 months. I have a flat from before I met her which I now rent out. Could the application be rejected because I own another property even though it is no longer my main home and she has no financial interest in it?
Thanks

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

I hope so. Why should I subsidise your property empire?

Dan-Dan

rob3001 wrote: »

My girlfriend has been a council tenant for 16 years and wants to buy her house under the right to buy scheme. She can't afford the full mortgage on her own so I would be helping her, so it would be a joint application. I have been living with her officially for 14 months. I have a flat from before I met her which I now rent out. Could the application be rejected because I own another property even though it is no longer my main home and she has no financial interest in it?
Thanks

Is there a reason you cant sell your flat , pool your resources and buy somewhere for the both of you , leaving the property for someone else who might need it as much as your girlfriend did 16 years ago ?

marksoton

Not again..........

Dan-Dan

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

Does anyone remember the days when if you owned your house and started a relationship with someone in social housing, they would leave that place and move in with you?

I hope and pray that your name being anywhere near that application will result in it being turned down flat.

You could just give your girlfriend the money and let her buy it herself, but I presume you don't trust her enough for that so want your name on the deeds. Which is fortunate for the taxpayer.

Senior_Paper_Monitor

What the OP is planning is totally acceptable under the Housing Act - and should be achievable provided provided that the other property is on a BTL mortgage or has Permission to Let and the income is declared under self assessment (otherwise it will impact on affordability).

The RTB will be a second property (for the OP), therefore an additional 3% SDLT will fall on the discounted RTB price.

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

Senior_Paper_Monitor wrote: »

What the OP is planning is totally acceptable under the Housing Act - and should be achievable provided provided that the other property is on a BTL mortgage or has Permission to Let and the income is declared under self assessment (otherwise it will impact on affordability).

The RTB will be a second property, therefore and additional 3% SDLT will fall on the discounted RTB price.

That doesn't surprise me, given that the purpose of the Housing Act was to sell off as much social housing as possible, and to ensure that public assets ended up in the hands of the wealthy as quickly and for as cheap a price as could be arranged.

csgohan4

Another can of worms... Sigh

Cheeky_Monkey

rob3001 wrote: »

My girlfriend has been a council tenant for 16 years and wants to buy her house under the right to buy scheme. She can't afford the full mortgage on her own so I would be helping her, so it would be a joint application. I have been living with her officially for 14 months. I have a flat from before I met her which I now rent out. Could the application be rejected because I own another property even though it is no longer my main home and she has no financial interest in it?
Thanks

Are you on the tenancy agreement? If, as I suspect you're not, then you can't make a joint application anyway.

Senior_Paper_Monitor

Totally incorrect Mr Monkey - an applicant who has resided at the property with the tenant as a principal place of residence can apply with them:

Extract from the DCLG Guide for Landlords (many others available):

Certain family members have the right to join in a Right to Buy application, even if they are not tenants. In order for a family member to exercise their right to join in the Right to Buy they must satisfy all 3 of the following requirements:

1. They must be a relevant family member who are specified as:

The spouse or civil partner of the tenant; or the tenant and that person live together as if they were husband and wife or civil partners, or

The tenant’s parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece.

2. They must live at the property as their only or principal home.

3. They need to have been living at the property for 12 months immediately preceding the date of application, except in the case of spouses or civil partners where the 12 month residential requirement does not apply.