Buying your home

The Preserved Right to Buy (PRTB) scheme is available exclusively to residents who were once council tenants and became emh residents through a housing transfer. If you were a local authority tenant when your home was sold to emh, or one of its predecessor organisations, you may be eligible to buy your home through this scheme.

To qualify, your property must be your only or main home, and you must have been a tenant for at least three years. This tenancy period doesn’t have to be continuous with the same housing association - it can include time with a local authority or the armed forces.

However, certain restrictions apply. If you live in sheltered housing or a property specifically designed for older or disabled residents, you will not be eligible. You must also not have significant debt issues or any outstanding possession orders. And if your home is scheduled for demolition, you will not be able to apply for the scheme.

Read more about the Preserved Right to Buy on the Shelter website.

For Preserved Right to Buy, please contact the Customer Services team on 0300 123 6000, who will send you the form by post.

The Right to Acquire (RTA) scheme offers some housing association tenants the opportunity to buy their home, but eligibility depends on when the property was built and how it was funded.

To qualify, your current home must have been built or purchased by a housing association on or after 1 April 1997 and funded through a social housing grant (government funding). We will confirm this when you apply. You must have had a social housing tenancy for at least three years (including housing associations, councils, the armed forces and NHS trusts or foundation trusts).

Your property must also be your only or main home, and certain restrictions apply. If you live in sheltered housing or accommodation specifically designed for older or disabled residents, you will not be eligible. You should not have any significant debt issues or outstanding possession orders. And if your home is scheduled for demolition, you will not be able to apply for the scheme.

Read more about the Right to Acquire on the government website.

For Right to Acquire: download an application

Our appointed surveyor will contact you to arrange an appointment to value your home. The surveyor will need to have access inside your property to make the valuation.

Usually within eight weeks of receiving your application form (or 12 weeks if your property is a flat or maisonette), we will send you the Landlord’s Offer Notice. 

This confirms the valuation of your home, the discount you're entitled to and the conditions of purchase.

If you want to go ahead with buying your home, you should let us know within 12 weeks of the offer notice date, by returning the Tenant’s Notice of Intention form. 

If we don't hear from you, we'll send you a reminder asking you to respond within 28 days. If you do not respond, your application may be cancelled. After this, if you still want to buy your home, you will have to make a new application.

When you return the acceptance form with details of your solicitor, our solicitors will contact them with a complete set of conveyancing documents and will work towards arranging the date of the sale. 

Your solicitor is responsible for advising you about your purchase.

If you are approved for the Right to Acquire, Right to Buy or Preserved Right to Buy, we must comply with anti-money laundering laws to check how you will fund the purchase. If you're using savings, you must provide evidence of their source. It may delay your purchase if you do not provide this information. 

We may also use an identity verification agency to confirm your identity and carry out credit checks to assess your eligibility.

Once you've applied to buy your home, we will only carry out essential maintenance. We cannot do any improvements, such as replacing windows or heating systems. As a homeowner, you will be responsible for all repairs and maintenance. If you own a flat, you must also contribute to shared maintenance costs.

You will need to complete one of these forms, depending what you're eligible for:

• Right to Buy (RTB) application form
• For Preserved Right to Buy, please contact the Customer Services team on 0300 123 6000, who will send you the form by post.
• For Right to Acquire: download an application form.

You will also need to complete these other forms:

• Access details form
• Armed forces form
• Bankruptcy form
• Form of authority
• Housing Benefit/Universal Credit declaration
• Anti-money laundering
• Credit check form

Once you've completed and signed the forms, please send them to:

emh Home Ownership Team, 
Memorial House,
Stenson Road,
Coalville,
Leicestershire,
LE67 4JP

If you sell your home within one year of buying it, you must repay the full discount. After that, the amount you repay decreases each year, based on your home’s value at the time of sale, not the original discount amount:

Year 2: Repay 80% of the discount

Year 3: Repay 60%

Year 4: Repay 40%

Year 5: Repay 20%

For example, if you bought your home for £100,000 with a 40% discount (£40,000) and sold it after 18 months for £120,000, the 40% discount would now be worth £48,000. Since you're selling in the second year, you would repay 80% of £48,000.

If you sell your home between five and ten years after buying it, emh has the first right to buy it back at the current market value.

The government’s Right to Buy Agent service provides free and impartial advice for housing association tenants considering purchasing their home.

Whether you're unsure about your eligibility, need help calculating your discount, or want guidance on the costs involved, their advisers are there to support you throughout the process. They can also help you complete your application form and make it easier to navigate the steps of buying your home.

For more details go to the government website.

If you qualify for the Right to Buy, Preserved Right to Buy, or Right to Acquire, we will value your home and calculate your discount. Your offer will include the valuation, discount and final purchase price.

You will also need to consider the following costs:

• Valuation & mortgage fees – emh provides a free valuation, but mortgage lenders may require their own valuation at your expense
• Survey costs – we recommend a structural survey by a qualified surveyor, as we do not conduct one
• Stamp Duty – this tax is based on the property’s value. Your solicitor can confirm if it applies.
• Legal and Land Registry fees – You will need to cover solicitor/conveyancer fees and costs associated with registering your ownership.

As a homeowner, you will be responsible for mortgage payments, maintenance, insurance and repairs. You may also be required to pay a service charge depending on your property type. We strongly recommend seeking financial advice to ensure you can cover the ongoing costs of running you home.

Further information is available on the government website:

Affordable home ownership schemes - GOV.UK

If there are any delays buying your home, please visit the links below:

https://www.gov.uk/right-to-buy-buying-your-council-home/delays

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/initial-notice-of-delay