Right to Buy scheme

The Right to Buy scheme gives you the right to purchase your home at a discount. 

If you have purchased under the Right to Buy scheme before, the amount of discount you got then will usually be deducted from your discount when you buy again.

Including someone else in your application

You may be able to buy your home jointly with members of your family who have lived with you for the past 12 months, or with someone who is a joint tenant with you.

If your home improvements will be included in the Right to Buy evaluation

If you detail your improvements on your right to buy application these will not be included in our valuation.

The scheme is open to secure tenants of at least 3 years.

You cannot buy your home if:

• you live in sheltered housing
• your home is not self-contained
• your home has been specially adapted
• you work for us and your home is part of your conditions of service
• you have been ordered to give up possession of your home by a county court and have broken the conditions of that order
• you are an undischarged bankrupt, have a bankruptcy petition pending against you, or you have an arrangement with creditors (people you owe money to) and you still owe them money

If you've got rent arrears

If the Council has obtained a court order for possession in respect of your arrears, your right to buy may be denied at any time prior to completion of the sale.

If you have rent arrears you will not be allowed to complete the sale unless the arrears are cleared in full.

If your Right To Buy can be affected by anti-social behaviour

If you, members of your household or visitors to your home are responsible for anti-social behaviour, then your Right to Buy may be denied or suspended in certain circumstances.

The percentage of discount you get depends on the length of your tenancy.

The minimum discounts are 35% for a house and 50% for a flat (3 to 5 years inclusive).

The maximum discounts are 70% for a house (up to 40 years tenancy), and 70% for a flat (15 to 30 years tenancy).

The maximum discount which was available up to the 20 November 2024 was £102,400.

The maximum discount available from the 21 November 2024 is £22,000.

Request an application pack online

Or: 

1. Complete the Right to Buy application form
2. Email to RTB@southtyneside.gov.uk

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You can sell your home whenever you like, but you may have to repay some or all of the discount within the first five years following completion of the sale.

Any discount to be repaid will be based upon the resale value of your home, minus the value improvements you have carried out following your purchase.

If you choose to sell your home within ten years of buying you will need to first offer the property back to South Tyneside Council who may choose to buy it from you at the full market value.

If, before the purchase or within the discount repayment period, you enter into an agreement to transfer your property to a third party in the future then this will start repayment of your discount from the point you enter into this agreement.

If we plan to demolish your home, we may serve an initial demolition notice.

This is valid for up to five years and will suspend the landlord's obligation to complete the sale in respect of any Right to Buy application made before the notice was served.

It will also remove the need to complete any following application.

If we then serve a final demolition notice any existing Right to Buy applications are ended and no new applications can be made.

A final demolition notice is valid for 2 years, and can be extended on application to the Secretary of State.

If you have made a valid claim to exercise the Right to Buy either before an initial or final demolition notice is served, you will have three months in which to claim compensation for expenditure connected with the process, e.g. legal or survey fees.

If we then decide not to demolish the property then a revocation notice must be served to you as soon as possible.

If you buy a flat or maisonette you buy a leasehold interest.

This means you have the right to live in your home for a certain amount of time without having to pay rent, except for a small ground rent.

The period is set out in the lease. As a leaseholder you:

• only buy the right to live in your own flat
• have to pay a share of the costs of the upkeep and repair of the building and the estate where your flat is situated

The lease is the legal contract between you and South Tyneside Council and is a very important document.

Once you and South Tyneside Council have signed the lease you both have to carry out your responsibilities as it sets them out.

Your lease describes the flat that you have bought and has a plan showing the flat plus any garden, garage or shed.

It also shows the building containing the flat and the estate it is on.

We are responsible for the upkeep, maintenance, repair and improvement of the building as a whole and the estate, and you are responsible for paying your share of these costs through your service charge.

Find out more about being a leaseholder.