Thinking of buying your Trent & Dove home?
Here’s all the information you need to know
If you are a tenant who transferred from East Staffordshire Borough Council in March 2001, then you may have the Preserved Right to Buy.
What is the difference between the “Right to Buy” & the “Preserved Right to Buy”?
An assured tenant of a registered provider does not have the Right to Buy. The Right to Buy is only for tenants who rent from a local authority (for example South Derbyshire Council).
However, if a tenant was previously a ‘secure’ tenant of a local authority and became an ‘assured’ tenant because ownership of their home was transferred to a Registered Provider of Social Housing (for example Trent & Dove) then they may have what is known as the “Preserved Right to Buy”. This only applies if they were living in their home when it was transferred.
The ‘preserved’ right only remains if they continue to rent from Trent & Dove.
Trent & Dove tenants can apply for the Preserved Right to Buy if their tenancy began on or before the 26 March 2001 when Trent & Dove took over the housing stock from East Staffordshire Borough Council. These tenants are known to us as “Transferring Tenants”.
A tenant cannot buy their home if they have one of the following orders against them:
Additional family members sharing the Preserved Right to Buy
Tenants may be able to exercise the right jointly with members of their family who have lived with them for the past 12 months or with their husband/wife.
Houses
Tenants can get a discount of 35 per cent after three years’ tenancy. It is also 35 per cent after year four and five. For each extra year after that, they get another one per cent for each year of tenancy up to a maximum of 70 per cent.
Flats
Tenants can get a discount of 50 per cent after three years’ tenancy. It is also 50 per cent after four and five years. For each extra year after that, they get another two per cent for each year of tenancy, up to a maximum of 70 per cent.
Whatever percentage the tenants are eligible for; their discount cannot be greater than £102,400.
The qualifying period for discount can include time spent in different homes and with different landlords. This does not have to be continuous, as long as it was a public sector tenancy.
The Right to Acquire is similar to the Preserved Right to Buy with respect to the process and an assured tenant can apply if they have been a tenant for a minimum of three years with a public sector landlord.
The Right to Acquire is available to Trent & Dove tenants who did not transfer from East Staffordshire Borough Council in March 2001 and their tenancy began after this date.
Discount
The discount is fixed at £9,000 for this area and does not increase depending on how long a person has had a tenancy for.
Exemptions
Properties excluded from Right to Acquire include the following:
Some examples of local rural areas are:
Newton Solney, Yoxall, Ridware, Woodville, Willington, Rocester, Mayfield, Melbourne, Repton, Branston, Ravenstone, Church Leigh (within Leigh), Abbots Bromley, Some areas within Barton under Needwood.
A tenant cannot buy a property through the Right to Acquire if the property was built using only Trent & Dove funding (no grant).