Right to Buy

Many tenants of housing associations (registered social landlords) such as Clydebank HA have the right to purchase their homes at a discounted price. There are various qualifications, conditions and exceptions to this, depending on when the tenancy began, the type of property or whether the tenancy transferred from another landlord, to name just a few.
As a result of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001, substantial changes were made to the Right to Buy scheme (RTB). These changes came into force on 30 September 2002.

Clydebank HA tenants who had the Right to Buy before 30 September 2002 will be able to exercise it at any time and are not affected by the changes.

The most important changes are to the terms and conditions attached to the Right to Buy, including changes to the initial qualifying period and to the way in which the entitlement to discount is calculated. There have also been changes to the types of houses which cannot be purchased through the Right to Buy and to the procedures involved.  These changes are known as the “modernised Right to Buy”.

The Act exempts all of our stock from the Right to Buy for up to ten years from 30 September 2002. From that date, tenants who currently have no Right to Buy will be able to start accruing discount entitlement where they have built up five years’ continuous tenancy with one or more housing association(s). You may be able to exercise the modernised Right to Buy from 30th September 2012 but this cannot be guaranteed and further updates will be issued nearer this date.

This is a complex issue and the above information is intended as a guideline only. Please contact us at the office for a talk about individual Right to Buy entitlements and further information on our policy can be obtained from our download section.