• General Information
• What is the modernised right to buy?
• What is the original right to buy?
• Changes for all tenants
• How long do I have to be a tenant before I have the right to buy?
• What happens to my right to buy if I move home?
• More information on the right to buy

General Information

There are currently two different sets of rules relating to the right to buy. Your entitlement to the right to buy, and whether you get the original or modernised right to buy, depends on when your tenancy started. This is because the rules governing right to buy changed when the new Scottish secure tenancy was introduced on 30 September 2002. There are also some situations when you won't have the right to buy, even if you have a Scottish secure tenancy. The main exceptions to this are:

• tenants of all sheltered houses and other tied tenancies;
• short Scottish secure tenants;
• all houses adapted for the disabled;
• houses with housing support; and
• tenants in an area where the right to buy has been suspended because the council has been awarded pressured area status, due to a shortage of affordable housing

The Housing (Scotland) Act 2001, made substantial changes to the right to buy (RTB). These changes came into force on 30 September 2002. The most important changes are to the terms and conditions attached to the right to buy, including changes to the initial qualifying period and to the way in which entitlement to discount is calculated. There have also been changes to the types of houses which cannot be purchased through the right to buy and to the procedures involved. For example, the new requirement to show that you have no arrears of rent or council tax. These changes are known as the modernised right to buy.

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What is the modernised right to buy?

These changes mainly affect tenants who have started new tenancies on or after 30 September 2002. If you started your tenancy after this date you will have the modernised right to buy. The following terms will apply:

• you will qualify for discounts only after you have lived in a tenancy of a social landlord for a period of five years;
• you must have five years continuous period of occupation of a house or a succession of houses with a local authority or registered social landlord;
• discounts will start at a level of 20% and rise annually by 1% per year to a maximum of 35% of the market value of the house;
• discounts will be capped at a cash level of £15,000;
• all outstanding rent arrears for both current and former tenants and any council tax arrears must be cleared before your application to purchase is accepted; and
• applications will be refused if legal action is being pursued on the grounds of antisocial behaviour.

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What is the original right to buy?

You are likely to have the original right to buy if:

• your council tenancy began before 30 September 2002, or
• you succeeded to a tenancy (that is, inherited it) when your husband, wife, civil partner or partner died, or a joint tenant died, and this tenancy began before 30 September 2002; and
• you continue to stay in the same house.

This means that you can apply to buy your home after a two year qualifying period. Your discount will be a minimum of 32% rising by 1% a year up to a maximum of 60% if you stay in a house or from 44% rising by 2% a year up to a maximum of 70% if you stay in a flat.

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Changes for all tenants

There are some other changes in the rules which apply to all tenants.

• Refusals

• Council loans

• Rent to mortgage scheme

The Rent to Mortgage Scheme is abolished.

• Fixed price option

If you buy your home, you may have communal liabilities for areas such as communal stairways, communal grass areas, drying areas. You should also ask us about any liability you may have for the cost of other shared repairs such as the roof, drains and pipes. For more information, please see our leaflet ‘Shared repairs’.

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If you have the original right to buy, you only need to have been a tenant for two years.

If you have the modernised right to buy then you will need to have been a tenant for five years.

You do not need to have lived in the same home for all of those two years or five years, nor do you have to have been with the same landlord. You may have moved from the council to a housing association or vice versa. Time spent in accommodation provided by the armed forces or the Forestry Commission or in council housing in England, Wales or Northern Ireland can count too.

Your time spent in these kinds of accommodation must be continuous in order for it to count, although your landlord may decide not to count an interruption in your residence if it was brought about by something beyond your control, for example, a fire or flood.

If you inherited the tenancy when someone in your household died, you can also count the time you lived in the home with them. However, you cannot count any time you lived with them when you were under the age of 16.

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What happens to my right to buy if I move home?

If you had the original right to buy and you move home, you will lose this right to buy and only qualify for the modernised right to buy, even if you stay with the Council. This means that:

• you will have to be a tenant for five years instead of two years before you have the right to buy, and
• if you do buy, the discount you receive will be smaller.

If you have to move home because your we need you to, for example because your home has to be demolished, then you will keep the original right to buy.

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More information on the right to buy

If you are thinking about applying to buy your home or want more information, please contact us.

The Scottish Executive has published leaflets giving advice to tenants wanting to buy their home. More advice is available from the Scottish Executive 

• Thinking about buying – a guide to house purchase in Scotland
• How to buy a home in Scotland

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