sold Right to buy and right to acquire

sold Right to buy and right to acquire

2 The Westward Group is committed to treating all people with fairness and respect. We aim to actively help remove barriers and open doors for our customers and staff and foster good relations within the communities we serve. Unless specified Westward refers to Tarka and Westcountry tenants.

3 Unless specified below the collective term Right to Buy will be used for tenants who have the Right to Buy or the Right to Acquire INFORMATION ON THE RIGHT TO BUY AND THE RIGHT TO ACQUIRE Who is eligible for the Right to Buy Scheme? There are three ways that you could be eligible under the Right to Buy: 1. If you were a tenant of Torridge District Council and transferred to Tarka Housing on 10 December 2007 and still have that tenancy, you have a preserved right to buy from your time as a Torridge District Council Tenant. or 2. If you had a Secure Tenancy agreement with Westcountry Housing prior to gaining charitable status on 16 July 1997. or 3. If you have exercised the right of succession from a joint tenancy to a sole tenancy and the joint tenancy existed with Westcountry Housing on 16 July 1997 you have the right to Buy. Right to Buy application form: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/notice-claiming -the-right-to-buy

4 WHO? Who is eligible for the Right to Acquire scheme? You must be a secure or assured tenant of Westward and living in a property which qualifies for the scheme. You will need to check with us to see if your property qualifies but they were usually those built or bought by Westward using public funds on or after 1 April 1997. There are a number of exceptions though. You must also meet the qualifying tenancy period which is: Tenants with current Westward tenancies starting before 18 January 2005 having lived in the property for at least 2 years. Tenants with current Westward Tenancies after 18 January 2005 having lived in the property for at least 5 years. Right to Acquire application form: https://www.gov.uk/government/ publications/right-to-aquire

5 Who does not have the Right to Buy? The Housing Act 1985 states that the following tenants will not be able to buy if: they have a bankruptcy order against them their landlord has obtained a possession order requiring them to give up their home their landlord intends to demolish the tenant s home and has served on them an Initial or Final Demolition Notice their tenancy has been demoted due to anti-social behaviour their right to buy is suspended under a court order due to anti-social behaviour their tenancy is only an assured shorthold tenancy, licence or other non-qualifying tenancy in the case of Right to Acquire, your home is in a defined rural area. Other exceptions to the Right to Buy There are other rules as to when tenants cannot buy their home: Tenants cannot buy if their home is: on a sheltered housing scheme or is otherwise particularly suitable for use by the elderly designed for people with physical or mental disabilities part of a building not used only for housing and they live in that home in connection with the work they do for their landlord There are some other less common exceptions. We will check all applications against all exceptions, before we confirm that you are eligible for either scheme.

6 How do I apply to buy my home? You need to obtain an application form which can be found on our website http://www.westwardhousing.org.uk/buying. You need to return this form to us as we need to look at your application form and tenancy details before we can tell you whether you qualify. You will need to give details on the form of your past housing association and council tenancies and state who in your family wants to buy your home. If you have difficulty in filling in the form please speak to your housing officer and we can arrange for someone to assist you. How is the price I have to pay worked out? The value of your home is based on what it is likely to be worth, if sold on the open market. There are, however, some special assumptions: it is assumed that your home will be sold with vacant possession and not subject to your tenancy it is assumed that you have looked after the property to a reasonable standard under the terms of your tenancy the value of improvements you have made to the property as the tenant are not included in the overall value of your home if you think the valuation Westward gives is too high, you can ask for an independent valuation by the District Valuer. If they determine a higher value, you must accept the higher value under cost floor rules, if the house is valued at less than Westward has paid to buy, refurbish and maintain it, then the house cannot be sold.

7 Right to Buy You are entitled to a discount on the market value of your home, depending on how long you have been a housing/council tenant. Right to Acquire You are entitled only to a fixed amount of discount based on the region the property is in. These levels are set by government and Westward has no control over the amount of discount. Repayment of discount If you have bought your home under the Right to Buy, you can sell it whenever you like, but if you sell within the discount repayment period of 5 years you will usually have to repay some or all of the discount. For example, if your home was valued at 100,000 at the time you bought it from your landlord, and you received a discount of 20,000, that means your discount was 20% your home is valued at 150,000 when you wish to sell it, and you want to sell within the second year of purchase, you will have to repay 150,000 x 20% discount x 4/5 i.e. 24,000. What happens after my house is valued? We will send you an offer notice. This tells you how much you have to pay to purchase your home. It also sets out all the other terms of the sale. The offer notice also provides, where applicable, an estimate of charges that we may make in future for the maintenance of communal gardens, paths, sewers etc. Also, in the case of flats, services charges for minor and major works and other estate services provided to the flat.

8 How quickly will my landlord take to process my application? There are rules, including time limits, which we and you must follow, after an application is made. There are also rules which apply if either you or we cause delay to the procedure. If you do not reply within 12 weeks from the date of the offer notice, We can serve notice on you, requiring you to reply. We can also serve notice when you have decided to buy but do not complete the purchase. The period within which you should have completed the purchase is 12 weeks from when you receive the offer notice. It is important that you respond to any notice, or your application will be terminated. You can serve notice on us, if we do not deal with your application within the legal time-scales. We should let you know if you have the Right to Buy within 8 weeks from when we receive your application. We should send you an offer notice with the price to be paid and all other terms of the sale within a) 8 weeks of letting you know you have the right to buy a house b) 12 weeks of letting you know if you have the right to buy a flat, or if we need to check previous tenancies you have held with another landlord. If we can give no good reason for the delay, you can make a claim to be refunded rent for the period of delay.

9 What costs will I have to pay if I buy my home? When you buy you will need to pay: legal fees to your solicitor in dealing with the purchase usually, but not always, an arrangement fee to the bank, building society or other lender for providing the mortgage the cost of the valuation, which the lender will arrange, in order to verify that the house is worth the purchase price the cost of any additional survey or valuation you may decide to arrange yourself stamp duty land tax costs 1% of purchase price for homes sold between 175,000-250,000. And 3% between 250,000-500,000 Administration charges some companies specialise in helping tenants through the Right to Buy process, charging fees of up to 2,000 +VAT. They sometimes hide these charges by adding them on to your mortgage. You can gain help and advice from Westward staff or from Citizens Advice Bureau, a local solicitor, or a bank or building society to avoid paying Right to Buy companies. It is a good idea to gain advice from as many people as possible and work out all your costs before you decide to buy. costs

10 What does it mean to be a home owner? If you purchase your home you need to consider the regular payments which will be required as a home owner and these include: to be a home owner? mortgage payments remember that interest rates can increase over the life of the mortgage mortgage payment protection insurance to cover the risks of losing a job, suffering serious illness or other major problem life insurance to cover the risk of death of one of the people paying the mortgage buildings insurance council tax water, sewerage, gas, electricity and other utility services keeping the property maintained and in good order will likely incur costs, which may include service charges in respect of any estates services.

11 Home owners should take notice: You are at risk of having your home repossessed and becoming homeless if you do not maintain regular mortgage payments. Limitations of the information The legislation regarding right to buy is very detailed and complex. The information provided here is only a guide to the rules. For more information on Right to buy: https://www.gov.uk/government/ publications/notice-claiming-the-right-to-buy and Right to acquire: http:// righttobuy.communities.gov.uk/applying/ Under the Housing (Right to Buy) (Information to Secure Tenants) (England) Order 2005, social landlords are obliged to publish a document providing information to their tenants about the Right to Buy and Right to Acquire. The Order is made under Section 189 of the Housing Act 2004.

sold Westward Housing Templar House, Collett Way, Newton Abbot TQ12 4PH Housing: 0300 100 1015 Income Services: 0300 100 1012 Email: info@westwardhousing.org.uk www.westwardhousing.org.uk @WestwardComms Westward includes: Westcountry Housing and Support, Tarka Housing, Horizon Homes and Help to Buy South West. Westward Housing Group Ltd (exempt charity), Templar House, Collett Way, Newton Abbot TQ12 4PH. Westcountry Housing Association Ltd (exempt charity),address as Westward. Tarka Housing Association Ltd (exempt charity), Tarka House Clovelly Road Industrial Estate Bideford EX39 3HN. July 2014