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Right to Buy - buying your council home

Under the Right to Buy scheme you may be able to buy your home from Dudley Council.

Can I buy my council home?

You have the Right to Buy if:

  • You are a secure tenant of Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council (DMBC) and you have been a public sector tenant for a minimum of three years
  • The property is your only or principle home

You do not have the Right to Buy if:

  • You have a court order for possession of the property. How to apply to discharge a court order
  • You have an order suspending your Right to Buy because of Anti-Social Behaviour
  • You are an undischarged bankrupt, have a bankruptcy petition pending against you or have an arrangement with creditors who you still owe money to
  • You owe money to any department within DMBC. If it is the case that you owe money to DMBC this must be cleared before you can complete your Right to Buy
  • Your property has been specifically adapted for the elderly, people with disabilities or people with other support needs
  • Your tenancy forms part of your employment contract with DMBC
  • Your property is due to be demolished or has been identified by DMBC for future development

How is my discount calculated and how will I know if I can afford to buy?

Your discount is calculated by the total number of full years that you have held a public sector tenancy.

For further information if your Right to Buy is affordable to you, please use the Right to Buy calculator.

What initial costs can I expect when buying my council home?

The Council does not charge any fees for processing your Right to Buy application. However, you will incur other costs associated with buying a property such as:

  • Solicitor/Legal fees: You will need to instruct a licensed solicitor or conveyancer to represent you to complete the purchase
  • Property surveys: The council recommend that you have a survey of your property undertaken
  • Land Registry fees: To register you as the new owner
  • Stamp Duty: Depending on the price of your property, you may be required to pay stamp duty

I want to go ahead with my Right to Buy, how do I do this?

You will need to fill in a Right to Buy application form and all supporting documentation.

Please follow the Guidance Notes to ensure that you correctly fill in your Right to Buy form.

If you require assistance with filling in your Right to Buy application, please call the Right to Buy and Leasehold Team on 01384 815096 where a telephone or face to face appointment can be arranged.

Once you have completed your Right to Buy application form, you and all those listed on your Right to Buy form will need to hand deliver it along with ID and proof of residence for all interested parties to Dudley Council Plus, 259 Castle Street, Dudley, DY1 1LQ.

You are required to provide these documents in person so that your identification and wish to exercise your Right to Buy can be verified.

I have handed in my Right to Buy form, what happens now?

If you have the Right to Buy, the Council will issue you with an admittance notice (RTB2) within four weeks of the date we received your application, or within eight weeks if you have had previous tenancies with another social landlord. If you do not have the Right to Buy, the Council will issue you with a Denial notice within the same timeframes.

If you have the Right to Buy, the Council will then arrange for your property to be valued, do a discount calculation based on that valuation and then issue you with an offer letter (S125). The offer will be issued to you within eight weeks of the date of the admittance if your property is a house or within 12 weeks if your property is a flat or maisonette.

You will then have three months from the date of your offer to accept by completing the Notice of Intention form. It is at this point that we will also ask you to provide proof of how you will be funding the purchase of the property. If you do not return the form within three months, you will be issued with a 28 day reminder.

If you do not agree with the valuation you can request in writing to us that an independent valuation is undertaken by the District Valuer.

When you have provided the Council with your notice of intention form and proof of funding, the Council’s Conveyancing team will then make contact with your Legal representatives to arrange a completion date for the purchase.

Please note that while your Right to But application is active, Dudley MBC will only carry out emergency repairs and will cancel all minor repairs scheduled or underway.

For more information, please see the government Right to Buy guidance.

I’ve changed my mind and want to cancel my Right to Buy. Can I do that?

Yes. you can cancel your Right to Buy application at any point during the process. To cancel the Right to Buy, you will need to provide us with a signed letter confirming you wish to cancel. You can e-mail this to RTB@dudley.gov.uk or post it to: Right to Buy team, 4 Ednam Road, Dudley, West Midlands, DY1 1HL.

If my property was bought under Right to Buy within the last 10 years, can I sell it?

Yes. You can sell a property bought under Right to Buy anytime you wish, however, if the property was purchased within the past 10 years then you must first offer Dudley MBC the opportunity to buy the property back. The decision on whether we would proceed with buying your property back depends on our current requirements for particular property types, location and available funding.

If I sell my property, do I need to pay back any of the discount I received?

If you sell your property within five years of it being bought through Right to Buy then you are required to pay back some or all of the discount that you have received. You can find out more information as to how this is calculated here:

My property was bought under Right to Buy within the last 10 years, and I want to sell it. What do I do now?

Before you advertise to sell your property on the open market, you must complete the Buy Back notice form and email it to RTB@dudley.gov.uk or return by post to, Right to Buy team, 4 Ednam Road, Dudley, West Midlands, DY1 1HL.

We will then issue either an acceptance or rejection notice within eight weeks of the date on which we received your offer notice.

If you are issued with a rejection notice, you are free to sell the property. Please note that the rejection notice is valid for 12 months or until you sell your property.

If you are issued with an acceptance notice we must enter into a binding contract with you:

  • not later than 12 weeks after the date on which the acceptance notice is served on you
  • not later than four weeks after the date of receipt of written notification from you that you are ready to complete – whichever is later

These time limits exclude the time taken during an appeal by either party to the District Valuer to decide on the valuation of the property.