A tenant's right to buy the property of which they are the tenant was first introduced in the Tenant's Rights ETC (Scotland) Act 1980. This was superseded
by Sections 61 and 84A of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 which has been substantially changed by the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001.
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Administration of Council House Sales
The Committee Services Officer within Committee Services undertakes the administration of Council House sales from the first point of contact to the acceptance of an offer when it is then passed to Legal Services to complete the transaction including the preparation of title deeds. The Administration Officer or, in their absence, any other member of Committee Services deal, initially, with all enquiries relating to Council House sales.
An application form and booklet explaining the Right To Buy (RTB) process is available on request from the Committee Services Officer, Committee Services, Council Access Points, Area Housing Offices or from the Scottish Executive Development Department on 0131-244-2105 requesting form APP1. An electronic version of the form is not available.
On receipt of a completed application it is checked to ensure all sections have been completed correctly and, if necessary, further information/clarification may be sought. Where an applicant has been given the opportunity to rectify a material error in the completion of the application form and fails to do so a notice of refusal must be served within 2 months of the application having been received giving the reasons for the refusal.
The tenancy details are checked with the Housing Section and, if appropriate, other bodies eg other local authorities or the
Armed Services. A rent and council tax check is also carried out and if either or both are in arrears the application would
normally be refused. Once the arrears have been cleared the tenant(s) may re-apply.
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Once all the necessary checks have been carried out a property value is sought from the District Valuer, who is appointed by Scottish Ministers. On receipt of a valuation any discount the tenant is entitled to is calculated and an offer is prepared, in consultation with the Principal Solicitor (Commercial & Conveyancing), and issued to the tenant. The Council has 2 months from receipt of an application to the issue of an offer in order to comply with the RTB legislation.
Where the Council disputes a tenant's right to buy it must give notice of refusal to sell within 1 month of receipt of the application. If the applicant if not satisfied with the response they have 1 month to refer the matter to the Lands Tribunal.
Where the Council intends to seek authority from the Scottish Ministers to refuse an application because the property has been adapted for special needs, in terms of section 69 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 it must do so within 1 month of receipt of the application. If approved the notice of refusal must be served within 1 month of the authority being granted by the Scottish Ministers.
On receipt of an offer the applicant/tenant has 2 months to decide whether or not to accept. If there is no response to the offer on the expiry of the 2 month period the application is automatically withdrawn. If the applicant responds after the expiry period they will require to complete a fresh application and start from scratch albeit, depending on the time between the expiry period and the response, the checking and valuation process would be much shorter.
On acceptance of an offer the paperwork is passed to the designated solicitor within the Commercial & Conveyancing team within Legal Services to conclude the transaction including the preparation of title deeds.
Committee Services
The Moray Council
Council Office
High Street
Elgin
Moray
IV30 1BX
Tel: 01343 563014
Email committee@moray.gov.uk