Buying housing association house built prior to 1st April 1997

Iwanttobefree

Hi, my cousin lives in a housing association house, has lived there for years.

She wants to buy it if she can, loves the house. She's been waiting ages to get the go ahead as the company  her current housing association bought the house off, couldn't find the paperwork.  It was verbally implied she would be able to go ahead (and has saved a nice deposit) once the current housing  association had the paperwork from the previous one.

She has just been told, quote

......

I'm afraid however that the property is not eligible to be purchased under the Right to Acquire legislation.

The reason for this is because we acquired the property from Housing 21 in 2013 however they developed and built the property using grant funding but this was prior to 1st April 1997.

In order to qualify for the right to acquire, the developing Registered Provider, in this case Housing 21, must have built the property using Social Housing Grant funding on or after 1st April 1997.



Please accept my apologies for the length of time it has taken to reach this conclusion. As previously mentioned, as we did not build the property, we only acquired it, we have been reliant upon Housing 21 providing us with the information needed and as so much time has passed since it was developed, this has proved difficult

......

She is devastated, it's literally a couple of minutes away from where her dad lives, he has dementia, and she has spent a lot of money decorating and furnishing the house over the years.

Is there any other scheme she can use to buy or has she run out of options?

Many thanks

martindow

She may be disappointed, but devastated?!

She can continue to live there with a secure lease to be near her father and enjoy her decorations and furnishing.  Her reaction reads as if she is being forced to move out.

Iwanttobefree

Well devastated is my word not hers and I stand by it.  You don't know what her lifes been like, you din't know what she's been through etc etc.

She's lived there for well over 10 years, was really excited at the prospect of buying it, it's taken over a year for the current association to get the info from the previous one (previous one said they couldn't find it) , hence for over a year she's been led to believe that as soon as the paperwork comes through, she was ready to go.  She didn't have to worry about the chain falling through as there obviously wasn't one,  in the same way she didn't have to worry that the sellers would pull out.  Hence when she's told that as soon as her current association gets the paperwork from the previous one, she can start the process, to me it's far far more than simple disappointment. 

Personally I would have thought the current housing association could find out in minutes when the property was built, hence told her at the outset that she couldn't buy. 

All I wanted to know if there was another scheme/law she could use to buy.  Not justify my use of words

wilfred30

Iwanttobefree said:

All I wanted to know if there was another scheme/law she could use to buy.  Not justify my use of words

As far as I'm aware, no there isn't.  Not buying it will not diminish her enjoyment of the property one iota so it's not really a big deal IMO.

martindow

I'm sorry if my post upset you; it is rather curt on re-reading, so apologies for that.

Your cousin is disappointed as she clearly had her heart set on buying, but there are positives here.  A housing association tenancy gives her long term security and it is the lack of security in most people's tenancies that drives them towards ownership.  She is able to continue living in the house for as long as she wants exactly as before.

Renting has advantages in that she does not face unexpected bills for repairs, if the heating needs replacing or the roof starts leaking, for example.

Once she has recovered from hearing this unwelcome news I am sure that it will seem less disastrous.

deannagone

It is a bit crushing, but she still has the place she loves to live in.  Its not like the HA will evict her like a private LL can.  She can enjoy her decor and the things she's done to the place, and has done for 10 years as she's done things to make it to her taste.  She just doesn't own it.

I am sorry if you don't like the answers, and I do appreciate that right now she's very very disappointed, but its important she still enjoys the place and doesn't get things out of perspective.  I'm afraid researching social housing origins always does take time (probably not only have to deal with their own chaotic way of storing info but Housing 21's way of storing info), but it does look like the HA have tried their best, albeit a bit slower than is helpful.

I'm sure your friend can put the money she's saved towards some other wonderful thing she's always wanted to do, when she is ready.  Its a real achievement and still is.  Nothing can take away from that.  If she can't buy the place, it doesn't matter what source of funding she finds out about.., she can't buy it.  I'm sorry. 

Chandler85

She could offer to buy it off them at full market value (not that they necessarily want to or will sell it) or she could buy another house nearby to her father on the open market.  No one has stopped her buy a home if she wants to and can afford to.

No one has stopped her having the right to buy either, but if the house was paid for using a grant that then means it isn't possible to use right to buy then that's the case.  There was someone on her recently who lived in a house that was originally owned by the an education department at the council so they couldn't use right to buy on that.

She's essentially devastated that she can't get a discount on a house (like most of society can't), she still has a house with a secure tenancy that she can enjoy.  If the property cannot be sold through right to buy as it doesn't qualify then it doesn't qualify, that seems unlikely to change.

carefullycautious

The only other option is to exchange with someone in local authority housing if they are still allowing right to buy. Although I am unsure if you can still take into account the length of time she has been with the HA when the transfer took place.

Iwanttobefree

Thanks everyone I will let her know.

HampshireH

carefullycautious said:

The only other option is to exchange with someone in local authority housing if they are still allowing right to buy. Although I am unsure if you can still take into account the length of time she has been with the HA when the transfer took place.

Not really an option as it's the decor and money invested etc she wants to keep at the current place.

She is no worse off so she can continue to enjoy her lovely house in the knowledge it will remain her lovely house

Norman_Castle

Iwanttobefree said:

All I wanted to know if there was another scheme/law she could use to buy. 

Voluntary Right to Buy could be an option at some future date but she may have a long wait.