If you currently rent your home from us and are thinking about buying it, you may have a few different ways you can do this. It depends on the type of tenancy agreement you have and if we’ve previously been given funding to build, buy or maintain your home. Some of the options you may have include buying your home at a discounted price or on a shared ownership lease.
You may have the ‘Preserved Right to Buy’ if:
You can find out more information on the Government’s Right to Buy webpage or speak to one of the Government’s official Right to Buy agents on 0300 123 0913.
Apply online or download an application form.
Email your completed application form to HomeOwnership.Services@orbit.org.uk.
Alternatively, you can post the form to:
Orbit Homeownership Services,
PO Box 6406,
Coventry,
CV3 9NB.
If you want to check your eligibility before you apply, contact us. We can carry out some basic checks and let you know our initial findings, but our final decision cannot be made until after you have submitted a full application and this has been reviewed.
Housing association tenants may be able to buy their rented housing association home at a discount through the Right to Acquire scheme. The discount available ranges between £9,000 and £16,000 and will depend on where you live.
To apply to buy your home through the scheme, you must meet the following criteria:
You can find out more about the Government’s Right to Acquire webpage or speak to one of the Government’s official Right to Buy agents on 0300 123 0913.
If meet the above criteria and you’d like to apply for the Right to Acquire (RTA) scheme, you may download and complete an application form along with RTA insolvency declaration.
Email your completed application form and declaration to: HomeOwnership.Services@orbit.org.uk.
Alternatively, you can post the form to:
Orbit Homeownership Services,
PO Box 6406,
Coventry,
CV3 9NB.
If you want to check your eligibility before you apply, contact us.
When we receive your application, the Right to Buy or Right to Acquire process will start. Here is a summary of the process and the timescales that both parties need to meet:
We’ll only carry out essential maintenance to your home after you submit your application. Once you become the homeowner, you’ll be fully responsible for all repairs and maintenance, other than communal and external repairs if you live in a flat – and you’ll continue paying a contribution for these maintenance costs.
If you’re accepted for the Right to Buy or Right to Acquire scheme, we’ll need you to confirm how you'll be funding the purchase, in line with anti-money laundering laws. If you’re using savings to purchase your home, we’ll need to see evidence of where this money came from.
Your purchase may be delayed if you don’t provide information when requested or respond satisfactorily to any questions we ask you.
In some cases, we may also use an identity verification agency to confirm your identity.
We strongly advise you to seek independent financial advice before applying to buy your home. This advice will help you understand what your future costs are likely to be if your application is successful.
Once you buy your home, you're responsible for paying the mortgage as well as maintenance and repair costs.
At least one tenant must want to buy the home. Family members (occupants) are not able to buy it on the tenant’s behalf.
All applicants must have a legal interest in the property, as they’ll be included in the mortgage and legal documents.
Before you decide to buy your home, you may want to have a full structural survey carried out on the property. This is a thorough examination that should highlight any issues that could present a problem in the future. You will need to pay for this survey.
You will also be expected to pay for your own solicitor's fees and any charges your mortgage provider gives you. For example, the arrangement fee.
Any improvement that you want to be taken into consideration must have been previously approved by us.
These improvements must have been paid for by you and we’ll need to see proof of this.
Not all improvements are considered to add value to the home. For example, redecoration or general maintenance.
If you sell your home within the first five years, you’ll need to pay a percentage of the discount you were originally given. Please contact our customer service hub for advice on what that will be.
If you sell within the first ten years, we must get first refusal to buy it back at the current market value. 'First refusal’ means we have the right to decide whether or not we buy your home back before it can be sold to any other third party.
If you don’t qualify for Right to Buy or Right to Acquire, you may still be able to buy your home or buy a share in it. This is because of the type of agreement you have or because your home was funded by a grant from the 2021 to 2026 Affordable Homes Programme.
When you signed up for your home, you will have been told if your agreement is an Aspire to Buy, Rent to Buy or London Living Rent agreement. All of these let you buy a share in your home, or, if you can afford to, buy it outright.
If your home is a new build, it may have been funded by the 2021-2026 Affordable Homes Programme. If you live in a home built with this type of grant funding, you may have the right to shared ownership with some restrictions.
If you want to buy your home, but don’t think any of the above options apply to you, please contact us. If you don’t qualify for any of these options, we may consider a voluntary sale of your home, but this depends on how your home fits into our 2030 strategy.