Right to Buy mortgages

The Government’s Right to Buy Scheme is designed to help people living in council housing to get onto the property ladder and buy their home, often at a heavily discounted price.

In some cases, you can get a mortgage on the Right to Buy scheme without putting down a deposit.

Getting a Right to Buy mortgage is pretty similar to getting a regular mortgage. You can also apply with another person. Most lenders (but not all) will accept the discount you get on your property as a deposit. 

There isn’t a specific ‘Right to Buy’ mortgage product, so you’ll need to pass the same affordability checks as other mortgage applicants. Your income and spending habits will be looked at closely to see if you can afford the mortgage repayments. You’ll also have to pass the lender’s credit check.

If you have an undischarged bankruptcy or IVA, you won’t be able to use the Right to Buy scheme. If you’re self-employed, you might be asked to provide a few years’ worth of accounts. Read more in our bad credit and self-employed mortgage Guides. 

If you’re thinking of buying your council or housing association home, you should get advice from a specialist broker before starting a mortgage application. Especially if your situation isn’t straightforward. Our Mortgage Experts know the market and have experience getting mortgages for people just like you.

Make an enquiry to find out your options.

There’s a few factors that affect the discount that you can get on a Right to Buy property. These are:

• How long you’ve lived in the property

• Whether you’re buying a house or a flat

• The value of the property 

Any money that your landlord has spent on the property

On a house, you can get a discount of 35% when you’ve lived there between 3 and 5 years, with this increasing by a further 1% every additional year. 

On a flat, you can get a discount of 50% when you’ve lived there between 3 and 5 years, with this increasing by a further 2% every additional year. 

Use the official Right to Buy calculator to work out your discount.

It depends on the lender, but most lenders won’t need a deposit to give you a Right to Buy mortgage. They’ll usually be willing to use the discount you received on your home as a deposit. Because of this, the Right to Buy scheme is a good way to get on the property ladder if you have a low income or can't save up lots of money.

However, some lenders might ask you to put down some cash up front (around 5-10% of the property value) regardless of the Right to Buy discount. That’s why finding the right lender is so important when applying for a mortgage.

Yes, it’s possible to get a Right to Buy mortgage with bad credit. But, it’ll be more difficult than if you had an ‘Excellent’ or ‘Good’ credit score. Bad credit is a term used if you have a low credit score. It can be caused if you’ve had any issues in the past with repaying credit cards, utility bills, a mortgage or any missing payments on any of your bills. 

Once your landlord has agreed to sell your council home to you, the Right to Buy mortgage application process is basically the same as it would be if you were buying a house on the open market.

Mortgage lenders will look at your credit history when you apply for a Right to Buy mortgage. Issues like CCJs or defaults will be more concerning to a lender than missed or late payments. 

Lenders will also look at the circumstances around your credit issues, like how much money was involved and how long ago it took place. You can get an idea of how much you could borrow on a mortgage with our Bad Credit Calculator.

As with all mortgages, the better your credit rating, the more options will be open to you. But how your credit score impacts your ability to get a mortgage will depend on your unique situation. Working with a specialist mortgage broker means you’ll get access to the perfect lender for you.

Read more in our Guide: Can I Get a Right to Buy Mortgage if I Have a Bad Credit Score?