Right to buy - Deceased Mother

mojo384

Background: My mother was settled into the council house that I was born and raised in over 25 years ago after arriving in the UK as a refugee. My brother and I sadly lost our mother in 2019, and the right to succession has been somewhat impeded due to COVID-19. As a single mother raising two children, my mother struggled financially and home ownership was never considered an option; the logistics of secure tenancy never made sense to her and hence my brother and I were never included in the tenancy. The council has agreed to transfer the secure tenancy to me after lengthy discussions, but the house is in desperate need of repairs, which I am happy to make, but I would first like to purchase the house to never risk losing it again, especially the money I would like to spend on repairing everything. I have a small sum saved after working multiple jobs a day for several years, and I would like to use it to purchase the house.  

Unfortunately, the area I live in is "gentrifying", and I cannot afford to buy the house without a discount. Having lived in the house alongside my mother I feel like I am entitled to the right to buy privilege she was entitled to but never able to fulfil due to the financial constraints of raising my brother and I. The transfer of secure tenancy has jeopardised this and I am unsure how to reclaim the right to buy. Has anyone ever been in a similar situation?

p00hsticks

mojo384 said:

 the house is in desperate need of repairs,

Is it not the landlord's responsibility to carry out those repairs ?

[Deleted User]

mojo384 said:

Background: My mother was settled into the council house that I was born and raised in over 25 years ago after arriving in the UK as a refugee. My brother and I sadly lost our mother in 2019, and the right to succession has been somewhat impeded due to COVID-19. As a single mother raising two children, my mother struggled financially and home ownership was never considered an option; the logistics of secure tenancy never made sense to her and hence my brother and I were never included in the tenancy. The council has agreed to transfer the secure tenancy to me after lengthy discussions, but the house is in desperate need of repairs, which I am happy to make, but I would first like to purchase the house to never risk losing it again, especially the money I would like to spend on repairing everything. I have a small sum saved after working multiple jobs a day for several years, and I would like to use it to purchase the house.  

Unfortunately, the area I live in is "gentrifying", and I cannot afford to buy the house without a discount. Having lived in the house alongside my mother I feel like I am entitled to the right to buy privilege she was entitled to but never able to fulfil due to the financial constraints of raising my brother and I. The transfer of secure tenancy has jeopardised this and I am unsure how to reclaim the right to buy. Has anyone ever been in a similar situation?

If you lived with your mother, which presumably you did since the tenancy has succeeded to you now, then you could have made a joint application with your mother for RTB whilst she was still alive even if you weren't named on the tenancy agreement.

You certainly do seem entitled...

Right to buy after a council tenant dies
Successors to secure tenancies can exercise the right to buy and count their own period of occupation before they succeeded to the tenancy for the purposes of calculating the minimum period for the exercise of the right, and the discount.
Where a secure tenant dies during the right to buy procedure, a successor can require that the transaction is completed on the same terms (including the discount) as would have been available if the tenant had lived. However, if no one qualifies to succeed, the right to buy usually ceases to exist as the tenancy is no longer secure, even where the council has been guilty of delaying the transaction.

Source

Were you and your brother still living with your mother in 2019?

AdrianC

It sounds as if the council is viewing your tenancy as a new one from 2019, not a succession of the original 1990s one. Correct?

If that's the case, then you start to qualify for the 35% discount next year, three years after your new tenancy started. After five years, 2024, that goes up by 1% per year. Your mother would have been entitled for a discount of ~60% by now, rising to the maximum 70% in about ten years time. That, of course, is unless the discount hits the maximum of £85k or £112k in London.
https://www.gov.uk/right-to-buy-buying-your-council-home/discounts

So, really, you're arguing with them over a ~20% difference, at most.

Let's look at the really important questions here...
What is the house valued at?
How much equity do you have, and how much do you earn?
If you only have a "small sum" saved after "multiple jobs per day", will anybody lend you enough to buy?

What work is needed?
If there are actual structural repairs needed, then they are currently the council's problem. Cosmetic improvements would always have been the tenants'.

You say that your mother never understood the value of a secure tenancy - do you...?

Would you buying with your brother?
What happens if one or the other of you hits financial trouble, or wants to start a family?
Or you fall out with each other?

princeofpounds

You are being granted a secure tenancy. You will not lose the house, as long as you pay the (doubtless cheap) rent.

As for RTB - that right is based upon occupation, for a qualifying period. Read the link below in detail to understand it - there are lots of small details about succession to the tenancy when the previous tenant has died, but basically if you actually occupied the property then you should be fine.

https://england.shelter.org.uk/legal/home_ownership/buying_la_and_prpsh_housing/the_right_to_buy_scheme

If you didn't occupy the property, then continue with the secure tenancy for a few years and you'll regain the right. No need to panic.

Whether you feel you are entitled to the right to buy privilege is totally irrelevant.

macman

Why are you  not requesting that the LA make the  'desperately needed' repairs before you even consider taking ownership?

Murphybear

A secure tenancy is worth having.  Unless you refuse to pay the rent you should be able to stay there for life.  If your income is small and you struggle to pay the rent you should be entitled to some housing benefit.  As the council owns the house they will have to carry out repairs, not you.  

If you buy the property you will be liable for every problem large or small. Installing a new heating system in the winter is no joke.  You can’t get housing benefit for a mortgage, but if you are on certain benefits may be able to get some financial help but this is a loan and has to be repaid.  If you can’t pay the mortgage the house could be repossessed.

You need to think very carefully about buying it, and consider the benefits of having a secure tenancy.  

ssparks2003

mojo384 said:

Unfortunately, the area I live in is "gentrifying", and I cannot afford to buy the house without a discount. 

Why is it unfortunate that people are coming into the area, tidying it up, spending money on local housing, shops and amenities that will benefit all? Perhaps you would prefer to live somewhere down at heal with boarded up shops etc just to get a cheaper property. 

Edi81

Gentrifying could mean compulsory purchase orders in the future.

KxMx

Many councils do not allow inter family joint tenancy arrangements. My local council isn't alone in allowing joint tenancies between couples in a relationship only.

You have succeeded the tenancy anyway and should consider yourself fortunate.