If you are a tenant of Greenfields and want to buy your home, you may be entitled to do so through one of two schemes. The schemes are called:
As a new homeowner, you would have new responsibilities to deal with including:
- Monthly mortgage repayments
- Building insurance
- Service charges (if you are buying a flat or maisonette)
- Any repairs or maintenance, not covered by your insurance
- Water rates
- Council Tax and other utility services
You may also wish to take out a mortgage insurance policy, so that your repayments are met if you become ill or unemployed .
There are also other costs involved in purchasing your home, such as:
- Appointing a solicitor to act for you in the purchase
- Carrying out a survey
The Preserved Right to Buy
- The Preserved Right to Buy is open to tenants who were formerly secure tenants of Braintree District Council and transferred to us on 12th November 2007.
- If you are eligible, you will qualify for a discount – the amount of your discount will depend on the length of your tenancy. The qualifying period of the Right to Buy is two years if you were a public sector tenant before the 18th January 2005. For anyone else, you do not have the Right to Buy until you have been a tenant for five years. You may also be able to count tenancies with other local authorities, time spent in armed forces’ accommodation and certain other housing associations.
- The discount will be based on the market value of your home. If you are buying a house, the discount starts at 30% and rises by 1% for each year you have been a tenant, up to a maximum of 60% of the property value. The minimum period for a flat is 40%, rising by 2% for each year, up to a maximum of 70%. The Government has limited the amount of discount in the eastern region to £34,000.
Right to Acquire
If you became a tenant of Greenfields for the first time since the 12th November 2007, you may be able to purchase your home under the Right to Acquire scheme, but both you and your home must qualify. If your home is situated in a government ‘Designated Rural Area’ you will not be able to purchase your home under this scheme. Your home must be self contained and be your only or principal home.
For your home to qualify, it must:
- Have been transferred by Braintree District Council to us on 12th November 2007
- Have been built or bought by us with a grant from Homes and Communities Agency (formerly the Housing Corporation)
For you to qualify:
- If you held a tenancy with another qualifying landlord before transferring to Greenfields, which began before the 18th January 2005, you will only require two years’ tenancy
- If you became a public sector tenant for the first time on or after the 18th January 2005, you will need a minimum period of five years to qualify
The discount you will receive is a fixed rate of £10,000 (for the Braintree Area) regardless of how many years’ tenancy you have accrued. The discount will be deducted from the market value of your home.
You will not qualify for the Right to Buy or the Right to Acquire Schemes if:
- We have a Court warrant for possession of your property
- There is a bankruptcy petition pending against you or one of the persons to whom the Right to Acquire belongs, or you or that person is an un-discharged bankrupt
- You are subject to a formal creditors agreement made under the Insolvency Acts
- Your tenancy has become demoted because of an Anti-Social Behaviour Order against you
- Your home is due to be demolished and we have served on you an ‘Initial Demolition. If we have served a ‘Final Demolition Notice’, then your existing Right to Acquire application will be immediately ended and no new application can then be made
- You are living in housing specially designed for people with disabilities
- You are living in housing that was specially built for elderly people and is let to people aged 60 or more.
Applying for the Right to Buy or the Right to Acquire is free of charge and it is not necessary to pay a company to deal with your claim on your behalf. Each property is valued individually.
To find out more, you can contact us direct:
Tel: 01376 535400 ext 4109
E-mail: Caroline.Lewin@GreenfieldsCH.org.uk
Write to: Caroline Lewin, Greenfields Community Housing, Greenfields House, Charter Way, Braintree, Essex, CM77 8FG
Other useful links you may wish to visit:
